The Ancient Origins of Sign Handshapes
2002
This article discusses the common origins of written scripts and sign
handshapes in tally scores, the board abacus, and finger counting.
The early roots of numbers in magic, prognostication, and religious
numerology are shown to have resulted in familiarity with alphanumeric
code switching particularly in the superstitious practice of fadic
addition. The breakthrough of using handshapes for letters, not merely
numbers, occurred in eighth-century Northumbria, where Bede recorded
a one-hand finger alphabet and showed how number shapes
could be used as signs as well as for the transmission of spoken languages
by fingerspelling. The possible links between the ancient Celtic Ogham script, the
seventeenth-century Century Scottish Glove Alphabet, and the present-day
two-hand British and Australian finger alphabet are given as
a particular example of the influence of number on the evolution of
handshapes.
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