Numerais cardinais em linearidade e incorporados em língua gestual portuguesa

Abstract

In the literature, studies that systematically describe the elements, structures and function of Portuguese Sign Language (LGP) are rare. Being an officially recognized language in the teaching of deaf children (Decree of Law N.o Lei1/97, no2, article 74o h), it is important to develop studies of grammatical description so that LGP can be metalinguistically taught and learned, besides being linguistically known. In order to describe and understand the use of cardinal numeral quantification in LGP, the present study systematically analyses the distribution of the cardinal numeral quantifier (QC) in the nominal syntagma (SN) based on the LGP Reference Corpus (Projeto Corpus & Avatar da LGP (Ref. PTDC/LLT-LIN/29887/2017). Until then, nominal quantification had only been addressed by Amaral and colleagues (1994), where, based on the production of data by a limited number of gesturers, the post-nominal position of the QC in the SN is attributed as the correct order in LGP and the pre-nominal position of the same is identified in Portuguese-influenced LGP structures. In the quest to systematically analyse and describe the position of QC in the SN in LGP, 177 SN quantified with QC that were produced by 39 LGP signers between 1992 and 2019 from mainland Portugal and the Madeira Archipelago were analysed. In this corpora linguistics analysis, a trend of occurrence of QC in pre-nominal position in LGP was identified across all the gesturers and the syntactic function of the SN, observing that the highest percentages of occurrence were recorded as the discourse became more naturalistic. Given that the prenominal position of the QC in the SN had already been identified in Amaral and colleagues (1994), these results may reflect a transition or consolidation phase of the prenominal position of the QC in the SN in LGP. A process of linguistic evolution typical of natural languages.

Date of Award	16 Dec 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Mara Moita (Supervisor) & Celda Maria Gonçalves Morgado (Co-Supervisor)