Brazilian Sign Language
| Brazilian Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Libras | |
| Native to | Brazil and Brazilian diaspora |
| Region | Urban areas |
|
Native speakers
|
3 million (no date)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bzs |
| Glottolog | braz1236[3] |
Brazilian Sign Language (BSL), also known as "Libras" (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈlibɾɐs], from "Língua Brasileira de Sinais" [ˈlĩɡwɐ bɾaziˈlejɾɐ dʒi siˈnajs]) and variously abbreviated as LSB, LGB or LSCB (Brazilian Cities Sign Language),[4] is the sign language used by deaf communities of urban Brazil.
Contents
Recognition and status[edit]
Brazilian Sign Language is well-established; several dictionaries, instructional videos and a number of articles on the linguistic features of the language have been published. It has dialects across Brazil reflecting regional and sociocultural differences.
A strong sign language law was passed by the National Congress of Brazil on April 24, 2002, and (in 2005) is in the process of being implemented.[5] The law mandates the use of Brazilian Sign Language in education and government services.
Educational approaches has evolved from oralism to Total Communication and bilingualism.
Alphabet[edit]
BSL fingerspelling uses a one-handed manual alphabet similar to that used by the French Sign Language family.[6]
There are 44 distinct handshapes used in the language.[4]
Transcription of the alphabet using SignWriting has been in place since at least 1997 with the SignNet Project in Porto Alegre and Fernando Capovilla's dictionaries in Sao Paulo. The University of Santa Catarina at Florianopolis (UFSC) has required courses in SignWriting as the preferred form of LIBRAS transcription.
SignWriting is cited as being useful in the pedagogy of young children. http://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs6/sw0580_BR_Aquisicao_Escrita_Sinais_2007.pdf
Deaf and sign language organizations[edit]
The most important deaf organization is FENEIS, the Federação Nacional de Educação e Integração dos Surdos (National Federation of Deaf Education and Integration). There are a number of regional organizations in Curitiba, Caxias do Sul and Rio Grande do Sul.
Classification[edit]
Wittmann (1991)[7] posits that Brazilian Sign Language is a language isolate (a 'prototype' sign language), though one developed through stimulus diffusion from an existing sign language, likely Portuguese Sign Language and/or French Sign Language.
See also[edit]
- Ka'apor Sign Language, an unrelated Indigenous sign language of Brazil.
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ Brazilian Sign Language at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
- ^ Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215–88.[1]
- ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Brazilian Sign Language". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ^ a b Ferreira-Brito, Lucinda and Langevin, Rémi (1994), The Sublexical Structure of a Sign Language, Mathématiques, Informatique et Sciences Humaines 32:125, 1994, pp. 17–40
- ^ LIBRAS law (in Portuguese)
- ^ LIBRAS manual alphabet
- ^ Wittmann, Henri (1991). "Classification linguistique des langues signées non vocalement." Revue québécoise de linguistique théorique et appliquée 10:1.215–88.[2]
References[edit]
- Gama, Flausine José da Costa: Iconographia dos Signaes dos Surdos-Mudos.[Iconography of Signs for the Deaf-Mute]. Rio de Janeiro : E.+H.Laemmert 1875
- Capovilla, F. C., and W. D. Raphael, eds. 2001. Dicionário enciclopédico ilustrado trilíngüe da Língua de Sinais Brasileira: Vols. 1 (Sinais de A a L) & 2 (Sinais de M a Z). [Trilingual illustrated encyclopedic dictionary of Brazilian Sign Language, Vols. 1 and 2] São Paulo: Edusp, FAPESP, Fundação Vitae, Feneis, Brasil Telecom. Volume One: ISBN 85-314-0600-5 Volume Two: ISBN 85-314-0603-X
- Xavier, André Nogueira and Sherman Wilcox. 2014. Necessity and possibility modals in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras). Linguistic Typology 18(3): 449 – 488.
External links[edit]
 |
Brazilian Sign Language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator |
- CulturaSurda.net - Brazilian Deaf Cultures (lots of things about deaf cultures).
- Full list of online dictionaries (English) – (French)
- Collection of links by "The Interpreters Friend".
- Entrevista Com o Surdo Gay – IMDB info on movies in Brazilian Sign Language.
- Site from Brazil – info from Brazil, very good.(Portuguese)
- Campanha Legenda Nacional – Video, in Portuguese and Brazilian Sign Language with captioning, from the Brazilian campaign to promote captioning.
- Dicionário de Libras Colaborativo – Collaborative Dictionary of Brazilian Sign Language.
- Wikisigns.org Dicionário de Libras Colaborativo – Wikisigns.org Collaborative Dictionary of Brazilian Sign Language.
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