Learning Object INCLUIR
UCS/FAPERGS
_______________________________________________________________________
The Sign Languages
Cláudia A. Bisol
Carla Beatris Valentini
The American linguist William C. Stokoe demonstrated, in the 1960s, that sign
languages are real languages, with a structure similar to that of the oral languages.
Before his pioneering researches, sign languages were considered a collection of
gestures, a pantomime.
Sign languages are independent of oral languages, therefore they are not a
spelling or a translation of words from other languages (they are much more than a
manual alphabet). They have their own territorial limits, favoring the visual character
instead of the hearing character and using a spatial and gestural modality: the
configurations of the hands, the movements in different directions, ways and
frequencies, and the different points of the movement articulation (places on the body
of the signer where the sign is accomplished). Thus, just like oral languages, sign
languages have a structure in the phonological (sound/signs), morphological (form),
syntactic (sentence structure) and semantic-pragmatic (meaning and use) levels.
Therefore, a sign language is an abstract system of grammatical rules: it is a tongue, a
language, a system of signs, and not a language (linguagem) (generic term for any set of
signs or forms of expression that serve to communicate, such as visual language, body
language, gesture language, etc.) .
Deaf communities have developed different sign languages in each country. In
Brazil, Libras: Língua Brasileira de Sinais [Brazilian Sign Language]. In the United States,
ASL: American Sign Language. In France, LFS: Langue des Signes Française. And so on!
When deaf people who identify themselves with the deaf language and the deaf
community are gathered, a positive and valued form of standing in the world and seeing
themselves prevails and communication flows naturally.
In Brazil, Law no. 10.436 dated April 24, 2002, recognized the Brazilian Sign
Language as a legal means of communication and expression, stipulated the support to
the use and diffusion of the language and its mandatory inclusion in teacher formation
courses in the secondary and higher education levels and in Speech and Hearing Therapy
courses.
Bibliography
BRASIL. Lei nº 10.436, de 24 de abril de 2002. Diário Oficial da União (Brasília, DF), 24
abr 2002.
Quadros, R.M. & Karnopp, L. Língua de Sinais Brasileira: Estudos Lingüísticos. Porto
Alegre: Artmed, 2004.
Stokoe, WC. Sign language structure: An outline of the visual communication system of
the American deaf. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 10:3–37, 2005.
How to cite this text:
Bisol, C. A. & Valentini, C. B. The sign languages. Learning Object Incluir – UCS/FAPERGS,
2011. Available at...... (mention the URL). Accessed on .... (mention the date).