1.1.1. Contrastive handshapes
As its name clearly indicates, the handshape of a sign is the shape the hand adopts. This shape is defined by the number of fingers that are selected, and their position within the hand and with respect to each other. Therefore, on the one hand, finger selection will indicate which fingers are active when articulating a sign. On the other hand, finger configuration indicates the position of those fingers. These two characteristics are important when defining handshapes, since they form its internal structure. In the next subsections we will show an exhaustive list of contrastive handshape configurations in LSC, both regarding selected fingers and finger configuration.