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synkinesis:
What do you call it when you try to form a fingerspelled letter but when you bend some of your fingers to form the letter it causes another finger or fingers to bend when you don't want them to?
A word that can be used to label that situation is: "synkinesis."
syn = "together"
kinesis = move
In other words "move together."
The word synkinesis is sometimes used in regard to physiology to describe conditions in which a voluntary (muscle) movement causes the simultaneous involuntary movement of another body part. For example if you try to make a specific facial expression but end up making a different facial expression due to unintended muscle contractions.
To be specific in regard to fingerspelling we can use the phrase: intra-manual synkinesis to describe a condition in which moving, bending, or contracting one part of the hand causes another part of the hand to also move, bend, or contract.
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