In the composition of the handshape, fingers do not behave uniformly. An important distinction is that between selected and unselected fingers. In the sign exist-not, which has been discussed in the previous section, the selected fingers are thumb and index, while the unselected fingers are middle, ring, and pinky.
Selected fingers differ from unselected fingers because of three properties. Selected fingers can: i) change during the articulation of the sign (e.g. opening or closing), ii) contact a location, iii) be specified for marked finger configurations (PHONOLOGY 1.1.1.2). On the contrary, unselected fingers cannot have internal movement, cannot contact any location, and can only assume two finger configurations, namely fully open or fully closed. The three properties characterising selected fingers are exemplified by the LIS signs go_away (a), moon (b), and obligation (c), respectively.
a. go_away
b. moon
c. obligation
These three signs share the same finger selection because all three of them select the thumb and index as active fingers. In the sign go_away the selected fingers are subject to internal movement, from flat open to flat closed. In the sign moon, the selected fingers contact the signer's face. In the sign obligation the selected fingers are bent, hence adopt a specific configuration.
As for finger selection, LIS allows for a limited number of combinations. The table below shows that the selected fingers range from one to five and there is a limited number of possible combinations. In most cases the unselected fingers are flexed, but there are also a couple of cases in which they are extended (3/5, F, and 8 handshapes). For the sake of simplicity, the handshape names are in line with those typically used in LIS dictionaries.
Table: Finger selection
In the remainder of this section, relevant minimal pairs are reported to show how finger selection can create minimal contrasts in LIS signs. To show clear comparisons, all handshapes included in the minimal pairs are in extended configuration, the most common one (except handshapes 3/5 and F, and 8 which, by nature, do not have extended selected fingers).
Handshapes S and 5 are contrastive in the minimal pair tournament - pantomime.
a. tournament (handshape S)
b. pantomime (handshape 5)
Handshapes V and Y are contrastive in the minimal pair twelve - yes.
a. twelve (handshape V)
b. yes (handshape Y)
Handshapes F and I are contrastive in the minimal pair correct - thread.
a. correct (handshape F)
b. thread (handshape I)
Handshapes 3/5 and 5 are contrastive in the minimal pair nausea - satisfaction.
a. nausea (handshape 3/5)
b. satisfaction (handshape 5)
Handshapes G and I are contrastive in the minimal pair nobody - never.
a. nobody (handshape G)
b. never (handshape I)
Handshapes L and 5 are contrastive in the minimal pair luxurious - information.
a. luxurious (handshape L)
b. information (handshape 5)
Handshapes 3 and 4 are contrastive in the minimal pair king - queen.
a. king (handshape 3)
b. queen (handshape 4)
Handshapes U and 3 are contrastive in the minimal pair joke - formula_one.
a. joke (handshape U)
b. formula_one (handshape 3)
Handshape 8 is an exceptional handshape in that it is included only in some signs articulated with closing and opening hand-internal movements (1.3.2) and in a few regional lexical variants used in Trieste.
A few signs allow for two distinct lexical variant forms articulated with different handshapes. This possibility is exemplified by the sign train, which can be realised either with 2 selected fingers (handshape V) or 3 selected fingers (handshape 3).
a. train (handshape V)
b. train (handshape 3)