How do you sign the letter R in BSL?

Name: How do you sign the letter R in BSL?
Uploaded: 2026-08-07T06:36:34.541012+00:00
Description: Passive hand open, palm up. Bend your dominant index finger and rest the bent finger on the passive palm. No movement. R is the 18th letter of the two-handed BSL alphabet.

Passive hand open, palm up. Bend your dominant index finger and rest the bent finger on the passive palm. No movement. R is the 18th letter of the two-handed BSL alphabet.

The sign, demonstrated on video by a Deaf teacher.

R suggests the lowercase r: one bent finger on the palm, where L is a straight one. The bend is the whole difference — make it clear.

You will fingerspell R in names like Rosie, Ryan and Ruby and places like Reading, Rochdale and Ripon. Practise it next to Q and S, its neighbours in the alphabet.

Related signs

Letter P
Letter Q
Letter S
Letter T

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