Brazilian Sign Language

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Brazilian Sign Language (BSL) is the sign language used by deaf communities of urban Brazil. It is also known as "Libras" (Portuguese pronunciation: ['lib??s], from "Língua Brasileira de Sinais" ['l??w? b?azi'lej?? d?i si'najs]) and variously abbreviated as LSB, LGB or LSCB (Brazilian Cities Sign Language).

Video Brazilian Sign Language

Recognition and status

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. The law mandates the use of Brazilian Sign Language in education and government services.

Educational approaches have evolved from oralism to Total Communication and bilingualism.

Maps Brazilian Sign Language

Alphabet

BSL fingerspelling uses a one-handed manual alphabet similar to that used by the French Sign Language family.

There are 44 distinct handshapes used in the language.

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Writing

There is no widely used writing system for Brazilian Sign Language. BSL signs are commonly transcribed using Portuguese words, written in upper case, to stand for each equivalent BSL morpheme.

Transcription of BSL signs using SignWriting has been in place since at least 1997 with the SignNet Project in Porto Alegre and Fernando Capovilla's dictionaries in São 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

The Federal University of Santa Catarina has accepted a dissertation written in Brazilian Sign Language using Sutton SignWriting for a master's degree in linguistics. The dissertation "The Writing of Grammatical Non-Manual Expressions in Sentences in LIBRAS Using the SignWriting System" by João Paulo Ampessan states that "the data indicate the need for [non-manual expressions] usage in writing sign language".

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Deaf and sign language organizations

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.

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Classification

Wittmann (1991) 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.

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See also

• Ka'apor Sign Language, an unrelated Indigenous sign language of Brazil.

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Footnotes

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References

• 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.

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External links

• CulturaSurda.net - Brazilian Deaf Cultures (lots of things about deaf cultures).
• Full list of online dictionaries (in English) - (in 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.

Source of the article : Wikipedia