Handshape A

In the A handshape, the fingers are held into the palm.

Variant A Usage
The A handshape has two main variants: the thumb may be held touching the side of the index finger or resting across the fingers. The choice is partly individual, but may also depend on the form of the sign. Where there is contact involving the index finger side of the hand as in cough and coffee, the thumb is held out of the way, i.e. across the fingers. A has several different classifier functions in the productive lexicon and also appears as a classifying element in established signs: - it is used as a size and shape classifier to represent round or spherical objects such as a ball as in bounce of a ball or a person's head as in feel small. It can combine with the lower arm to represent the leg and foot of a large animal (downward orientation of the fingers) or the head and body of a person (upward orientation of the fingers); - it is used as a handling classifier to indicate the handling of long, narrow, cylindrical objects, such as a snooker cue in snooker or a ski pole in ski, or shorter, narrow objects such as handles, as in jug or case; - it can be used as an instrumental classifier to represent implements, tools or utensils with a solid, round or cylindrical end, such as a polo hammer, croquet mallet or a large pestle; - it can be used as a touch classifier to indicate the action of the fist(s) in meanings such as hit and thump. A express the letter a in the Irish and American manual alphabets. As such, is is used in initial letter handshape signs borrowed from Irish Sign Language (ISL) and American Sign Language (ASL). Examples include assist from ISL and Atlanta from ASL. The variant in which the thumb is held across the bent fingers (sometimes known as the As variant) expresses the letter s in the Irish and American manual alphabets. As such, it occurs in initial letter handshape signs such as shop from ISL and state from ASL.