Explore Cued Speech cue combinations
Choose a consonant handshape and vowel placement to explore how Cued American English combines manual and mouth information.
Enable JavaScript to select handshapes and placements in the interactive workspace. The reference pages remain available below.
Why a handshape and placement are not the whole message
A handshape can represent multiple consonants, and a placement can group multiple vowels. The mouth information distinguishes the intended sounds. The workspace lets you inspect those possibilities without treating a manual pairing as a unique word.
Try a familiar pairing
Handshape 1 includes /p/, and mouth placement includes /ee/. Those components can contribute to “pea” when paired with the appropriate mouth information. The same manual components are compatible with other sound combinations.
For moving vowels, notice both the beginning and the end of the path. The ending handshape and placement matter along with the selected consonant information.
Explore an actual word →