A parallel manipulator (PM) is a closed-loop kinematic mechanism whose end-effector is connected to the base by several kinematic chains. PMs have attractive features of high speed, high accuracy, high pay load ratio and low inertia. However, lack in workspace dimensions, more complex direct kinematics and singularities within the workspace make the applications of manipulators difficult. Singularity is the most serious among these drawbacks, because the manipulator loses or gains mobility and becomes uncontrollable in this condition. To overcome singularity conditions, the concept of joint-coupling (JC) is introduced and studied in this work. The idea behind JC is to couple the movement of several joints together with a single actuator by mechanical or electronic means while preserving the mobility of the manipulator. In this work, planar PMs with JCs are studied to illustrate the advantage of this approach for singularity management. In instantaneous kinematics of the PM with JC, the jacobian matrices of the manipulator become functions of coupling coefficients. Consequently, singularity manifolds (loci) of the manipulator can be fine-tuned by changing the values of coupling coefficients. The dynamics of PMs with JCs is formulated based on Lagrange formulation for the study of joint torque distribution in JCs. In selecting appropriate coupling coefficients, two methods are proposed: (1) the task-based approach, which uses kinematic property of the manipulator, (2) the motor torque limit approach, which requires the dynamic model of the manipulator. Simulation and experiment results indicate that the both methods are feasible. Two types of coupling devices are developed for experiments. A mechanical JC device is designed using a differential planetary gear mechanism with a fixed coupling ratio. A more flexible and adaptable electronic JC device is also designed based on an electronic gearing concept, which uses a microprocessor to synchronize the motors in the inputs joints at any arbitrary coupling ratio. Experimental work is conducted to verify the kinematic performance of the manipulator and to show the altering of the direct singularity. It is shown that PMs with JC can manage the singularity either mechanically or electronically. The JC concept can also be extend to spatial manipulators. The potential application of JC concept allows PMs to deal with the more dexterous tasks.