Grammaticalization of Deictic Gestures in Libras Pronouns During Language Acquisition in Bimodal Bilingual Children
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17851/2237-2083.33.3.167-189Keywords:
grammaticalization, language acquisition, Codas, Brazilian Sign LanguageAbstract
The process of grammaticalization of pronouns is part of the great framework of human linguistic development of intense interest to the scientific community. The analysis of language acquisition in Codas subjects – children of deaf adults – brings a unique view of the linguistic development process as these are subjects who simultaneously acquire two languages of different modalities, therefore, bilingual, bimodal and bicultural people. The main objective of this work was to identify and describe the grammaticalization process during language acquisition in three Codas children. The methodology used consisted of the transcription and analysis of videos of the production of these children in a natural and longitudinal way in two moments of relevance: one at the beginning and another at the end of the language acquisition period. As a result, not only was the grammaticalization of pronouns in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) identified, but the process through which it occurs was also mapped: namely, the grammatical progression from gestures to demonstrative pronouns, which then bifurcated into either personal or locative pronouns. Personal pronouns, in turn, were grammaticalized into auxiliary pronouns. The research, in addition to drawing attention to the uniqueness of the fact that the grammaticalization process in sign languages can also revolve around gestures, endorses that, as observed in oral-auditory languages, grammaticalization also occurs in Libras, adding to the academic body of registration, appreciation and respect for minority languages of deaf people.
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