Explorar as características da categoria fonológica movimento na Língua Gestual Portuguesa

Abstract

In the absence of investigations on movement phonological category in PSL, an analysis of thiscategory was carried out based on a case study of a Deaf individual, a native signer from Lisbon,using a sign eliciting task. 182 signs in PSL were analyzed, distributed over seven semanticfields, selected according to the PSL curriculum program, in pre-school age (Carmo et al., 2007)and seven minimal pairs distinguishable regarding the movement phonological category in PSL,identified by Carmo & Moita (2018).Thus, gestures articulated by H1 and typology 1, 2 and 3, defined by Battison (1978), wereidentified, corroborating the predominance of H1 as a manual articulator. The importance ofH2 was observed with the role of copy of H1, articulated simultaneously with H1, or with thesupporting role of H1.Based on the typologies of the Brentari (1998) movement category, we identified the types ofsimple local movement, simple path movement and the complex types of Local+Local andPath+Local movements, with the type of simple movement being the most frequent,corroborating the principles of simplicity and economy mentioned by several linguists and,within the simple type, the path movement as the most frequently produced.The distinctive features and types of features that describe the movement phonological categoryin PSL were identified, according to the Prosodic Model (Brentari, 1998; Brentari et al., 2017).The type of distinctive feature with the highest number of occurrences and correlations was thepath feature, followed by the setting feature. The type of distinctive features with feweroccurrences and correlations were the orientation feature and the aperture feature. It wasconfirmed that the setting and path features are always associated with signs with the type oftrajectory movement and the orientation and aperture features are always associated with signswith the type of local movement.Based on the Prosodic Model (Brentari, 1998; Brentari et al., 2017), the analysis of the sevenminimal pairs distinguishable according to the movement phonological category, identified byCarmo & Moita (2018), allowed to confirm the minimal pairs ANIMAL - LEITE, BEER - TUNA,DAY - NIGHT and PARROT - PERIQUITO and to contest the ALHO - COUVE, KNIFE - INTERESTINGand POLICE - DOG pairs, since the latter do not have minimum properties capable ofdistinguishing them.In the present study, it was found that the Prosodic Model (Brentari, 1998; Brentari et al., 2017)makes it possible to encompass the most important characteristics with regard to the segmentalstructure of the sign in PSL and the movement phonological category.It is believed that the present investigation is a truly relevant contribution to the identificationof a phonological inventory of PSL.

Date of Award	7 Apr 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Mara Moita (Supervisor) & Maria João (Co-Supervisor)