scholarly journals Visual sonority in Brazilian Sign Language literature

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-305
Author(s):  
Marilyn Mafra Klamt
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Visual Salience ◽  
Trunk Movement ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Performance Space ◽  
Ping Pong ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language ◽  
Language Literature ◽  
Ping Pong Ball

ABSTRACT The idea of sonority in sign languages was treated by Perlmutter (1992) as perceptibility, a property of a segment that uses movement rather than one in which the hands stay in the same position. Sandler (1993) states that the visual salience of movement in sign languages plays a role similar to sonority in spoken languages. For Brentari (1998), perceptually, a sign is visible from considerable distances, and measurement of its visual sonority is based on the joints involved in its production. This work focuses on visual sonority in literature in Brazilian Sign Language and considers the relevance of manual and non-manual elements, rhythm, symmetry, the scale of signs, and the effect of video on this concept. Two signed stories “The King’s Parrot” and “Little Ping Pong Ball” were analysed, highlighting specific signs in which the use of joints, non-manual features, and other resources are influenced by the size of the performance space and the distance of the audience from the signing. Three types of ‘sonority’ were observed: in the movement of the whole body on the stage, in the size of arms and trunk movement, and in the hands. In addition to the joints, non-manual features, rhythm and symmetry play an important role in visual sonority and influence the viewer’s experience.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Teaching-Learning Process of Brazilian Sign Language as a Second Language in Higher Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
Roberto Cesar Reis da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Pedagogical Issues ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language ◽  
Teaching Learning

The focus of this paper is to propose an evaluation tool to assess the teaching-learning process of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) to hearing students in Higher Education. The current Brazilian laws dealing with the accessibility of the deaf and the teaching of Libras will be concisely posited and argued, and after that an overview on linguistic aspects of Libras will be highlighted prior to discussing the teaching of this language as a Second Language (L2). Also, it will be discussed briefly the relevance of using strategies to Libras teaching as L2 and then the proposal to evaluate teaching and learning processes of the language at stake will be finally described. As a conclusion, developing tools as well as presenting proposals for the teaching of sign languages might be ways to highlight and discuss pedagogical issues about the teaching of the sign languages. The paper outcomes are useful for scholars and learners who are researching and implementing tools for Libras teaching as L2.

scholarly journals Word classes in sign languages

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waldemar Schwager ◽  
Ulrike Zeshan
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Village Community ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
German Sign Language ◽  
Language Literature

The topic of word classes remains curiously under-represented in the sign language literature due to many theoretical and methodological problems in sign linguistics. This article focuses on language-specific classifications of signs into word classes in two different sign languages: German Sign Language and Kata Kolok, the sign language of a village community in Bali. The article discusses semantic and structural criteria for identifying word classes in the target sign languages. On the basis of a data set of signs, these criteria are systematically tested out as a first step towards an inductive classification of signs. Approaches and analyses relating to the problem of word classes in linguistic typology are used for shedding new light on the issue of word class distinctions in sign languages.

Assessment of the Treatment of Grammatical Aspects of Machine Translators to Libras

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luana Silva Reis ◽  
Tiago Maritan U. De Araújo ◽  
Yuska Paola Costa Aguiar ◽  
Manuella Aschoff C.B. Lima ◽  
Angelina S. da Silva Sales
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Machine Translation ◽  
Machine Tools ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language ◽  
Significant Weakness

Currently, a set of technologies has been developed with the aim of reducing barriers to access to information for deaf people, such as machine tools for sign languages. However, these technologies have some limitations related to the difficult of handling some specific grammatical aspects of the sign languages, which can make the translations less fluent, and influence the deaf users experience. To address this problem, this study analyzes the machine translation of contents from Brazilian Portuguese (Pt-br) into Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) performed by three machine translators: ProDeaf, HandTalk and VLibras. More specifically, we performed an experiment with some Brazilian human interpreters that evaluate the treatment of some specific grammatical aspects in these three applications. As a result, we observed a significant weakness in the evaluation regarding the adequacy treatment of homonymous words, denial adverbs and directional verbs in the translations performed by the applications, which indicates the need for these tools to improve in the treatment of these grammatical aspects.

Negation and polar question–answer clauses in South African Sign Language

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Huddlestone
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
South African ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Language Literature

Abstract This paper contributes to the typological debate of whether sign languages should be divided into manual versus non-manual dominant languages, w.r.t. negation, a distinction that has recently been challenged (Johnston 2018) or argued to be too radical (Oomen & Pfau 2017), by providing a characterization of negation in South African Sign Language (SASL). It has also been observed in several sign languages that a construction which consists of a yes-no question followed by a negative fragment answer, both produced by the same speaker, can be used to negate a proposition. While this question-answer pair construction has received attention in the recent sign language literature, it is only mentioned in passing in the literature on negation. In this paper, I provide an analysis of these polar question-answer clauses as a grammaticalized negation strategy in SASL, following Caponigro and Davidson’s (2011) analysis of this construction in ASL.

Insights into person deixis

2002 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norine Berenz
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Personal Pronoun ◽  
Personal Pronouns ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Pronominal Reference ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language

Widely accepted analyses of personal pronouns in sign languages present systems that differ in a crucial way from pronominal systems in oral languages and violate linguistic universals proposed by Benveniste, Bühler, Lyons, and others. These analyses argue that the two necessary conversational roles — sender and recipient — are not grammaticized in first and second person pronouns, respectively. This paper presents findings of a detailed analysis of pronominal reference in video-recorded, naturally occurring Brazilian Sign Language conversations which show consistent pairings of form and meaning. On this basis, I argue that the LSB personal pronoun system encodes the two necessary conversational roles. A re-examination of several ASL examples provides additional evidence. I conclude that, in LSB and ASL personal pronouns, space is only epiphenomenal, an idea first articulated by Padden (1990:118).

scholarly journals Os sinais de nome atribuídos no contexto acadêmico: uma abordagem Antroponomástica

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-82
Author(s):  
Gabriele Cristine Rech ◽  
Fabíola Sucupira Sell
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Deaf Education ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
Visual Characteristics ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language ◽  
The Individual

Este trabalho faz parte do projeto de pesquisa em andamento denominado “Estudos Onomásticos da Língua Brasileira de Sinais”, e tem por objetivo analisar a atribuição de um sinal de nome para alguns autores/pesquisadores, cujos sinais de nome foram pesquisados no Manuário Acadêmico e Escolar elaborado pelo Instituto Nacional de Educação de Surdos. Tal pesquisa se insere nos estudos onomásticos das línguas de sinais, uma vez que em muitas comunidades de línguas de sinais, é comum a atribuição de um sinal para que o indivíduo possa ser reconhecido como integrante daquele grupo. Estes signos, que denominamos “sinais de nome”, utilizam-se de características visuais, e são sempre motivados. Salienta-se que sinais de nome também são atribuídos para pessoas que não fazem parte da comunidade surda, mas que precisam ser referenciados constantemente, como é o caso de pesquisadores, autores, filósofos etc., relacionados ao ambiente acadêmico. Para tal análise, utilizamos a taxonomia proposta por Barros (2018), a qual identificou quatro principais taxes para classificar um sinal de nome: Empréstimo da Língua oral, Aspecto físico, Aspecto Comportamental e Aspecto Social. Como resultados preliminares podemos observar que a maioria das atribuições de sinais se relacionam a características físicas dos nomeados e pouco se relacionam com suas atuações profissionais.The name signs attributed in the academic context: an Anthroponomical approachAbstract This work is part of the ongoing research project called “Brazilian Sign Language Onomastic Studies”, and its purpose is to analyze the assignment of a name sign to some authors/researchers, whose name signs were searched in the Manuário Acadêmico e Escolar prepared by the National Institute of Deaf Education. Such research is part of the onomastic studies of sign languages, since in many sign language communities, it is common to assign a sign so that the individual can be recognized as part of that group. This sign, called “name signs”, uses visual characteristics and is always motivated. It is noted that name signs are also assigned to people who are not part of the deaf community, but who need to be constantly referenced, such as researchers, authors, philosophers, etc., related to the academic environment. For such analysis, we will use the taxonomy proposed by Barros (2018), which identified four main taxes to classify a name sign: Oral language loan, Physical appearance, Behavioral aspect and Social aspect. As preliminary results, we can observe that most of the signal assignments are related to physical characteristics of the nominees and little to their professional performance.Keywords: Sign language; Anthroponomastics; Name signs.

scholarly journals Brazilian Sign Language corpus: Acre Libras Inventory / Corpus da Língua Brasileira de Sinais: inventário de Libras do Acre

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 805
Author(s):  
Ronice Müller de Quadros ◽  
Alexandre Melo de Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
The State ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language ◽  
Language Corpus

Abstract: This paper draws on the theoretical methodological proposal of a Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) corpus to be developed under the scope of the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) Inventory in the region of Rio Branco municipality, in the State of Acre project. First, we address some issues regarding corpus definitions and characteristics, some aspects of Libras, and documentation of sign languages. Second, we address the methodology used in gathering, transcription and analysis of data from Brazilian Sign Language Inventory focusing on the Region of Rio Branco – Acre, shedding light on the contributions of the gathered data to identification, recognition, valuing, and documentation of the Brazilian Sign Language in use in the State of Acre.Keywords: Inventory; Brazilian Sign Language (Libras); Rio Branco; Acre.Resumo: Este artigo se baseia na proposta teórico-metodológica de um corpus de Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras) a ser desenvolvido no âmbito do projeto Inventário de Língua Brasileira de Sinais na Região do município de Rio Branco, no estado do Acre. Em primeiro lugar, abordamos algumas questões relativas às definições e às características do corpus, alguns aspectos da Libras e documentação das línguas de sinais. Em segundo lugar, abordamos a metodologia utilizada na coleta, transcrição e análise de dados do Inventário Brasileiro de Língua de Sinais com foco na Região de Rio Branco – Acre, destacando as contribuições dos dados coletados para identificação, reconhecimento, valorização e documentação da Língua Brasileira de Sinais em uso no Estado do Acre.Palavras-chave: Inventário; Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras); Rio Branco; Acre.

scholarly journals Doubling of the number of hands as a resource for the expression of meaning intensification in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras)

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-181
Author(s):  
André Nogueira Xavier
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Signed Languages ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Brazilian Sign Language ◽  
Language Literature

Signs, the lexical items of signed languages, can be articulatorily characterized as one or two-handed (Klima and Bellugi, 1979). It has been observed in the signed language literature that some one-handed signs can undergo doubling of manual articulator to express meaning intensification (Johnston and Schembri, 1999). This work reports the results of an experiment designed and carried out (1) to elicit intensified forms of some signs of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) and (2) to check the extent to which the doubling of the number of hands in signs typically produced with only one hand is employed as a resource for expressing the intensification of their meaning. The analysis of the data obtained revealed that subjects were consistent in changing their facial and body expressions as well as the aspects of their hands’ movement when producing the intensified forms of a sign. However, the same did not seem to hold true about the doubling of the number of hands in one-handed signs for the same purpose. Out of 12 deaf subjects, users of Libras, only 6 produced a few one-handed sign with two hands when intensifying their meaning and mostly not for the same sign.

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