Experimental study of the expression of focus of new information and replacing contrastive focus in Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS)

Author(s)

Letícia Kaori Hanada

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
• Defense date: 2024-03-06

Examining board members

Plinio Almeida Barbosa; André Nogueira Xavier; Guilherme Lourenço

• Advisor: Plinio Almeida Barbosa

Abstract

The present study is part of Experimental Phonetics and aims to analyze and describe the use of Manual Signs (MSs) and Non-Manual Markers (NMMs) by Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) signers from the deaf community of São Carlos (São Paulo, Brazil) when expressing Focus of New Information Focus (FNI) and Contrastive Focus (CF). For this analysis, a corpus was constructed consisting of 20 control utterances and 20 questions related to these utterances, with the purpose of eliciting emphatic production of key signs selected from the categories of subject, verb, object, color adjectives, and locatives. Distractor utterances with other focus forms were also created. The duration values of MSs were transcribed in the ELAN program (version 6.1), and facial expressions data (Action Units - AUs) and head movements were automatically extracted from the FaceReader program. They were then tabulated, and quantitatively analyzed through Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests, run in the R Core Team program. Subsequently, to enable comparison, each of the significantly different NMMs was marked in the transcription made in ELAN. In addition, a qualitative analysis of the data was also conducted. Our results indicate that, in both focused contexts, participants mainly adopted the "direct answer" strategy; both foci were marked with a raised eyebrow and a head nodd; signs were produced with longer durations, and both foci presuppose information from the previous discourse and undergo phonetic changes. In the FNI contexts, the "detailing" strategy was adopted more frequently than the in CF contexts, and its signs were often accompanied by broader lateral head tilts, signaling a sense of conclusion or "that's it". The CF signs, on the other hand, exhibited longer durations, slightly intensified NMMs, as well as a greater prevalence of foregrounding structures than the NIF, especially cleft-like constructions. It is expected that the results of this study will contribute primarily in four areas: a) in research involving sign languages; b) in understanding the use of NMMs in Libras as a resource for expressing FNI and CF; c) emphasizing the importance of teaching NMMs to Libras learners, as they are essential linguistic features for fluency in Libras; and d) emphasizing the relevance of Experimental Phonetics methodology in Libras prosody studies (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 20/13522-9 - Visual prosody in the Brazilian sign language: the difference in the use of non-manual expressions in the context of focus of new information and contrastive focus
• Grantee: Letícia Kaori Hanada
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master