A Iconicidade e a arbitrariedade na Língua Brasileira de Sinais-LIBRAS: uma análise na perspectiva da semiótica greimasiana

Abstract

This research analyzes the linguistic phenomenon of iconicity and arbitrariness in the Brazilian Sign Language. We problematize the intersection in this phenomenon investigating the possibility, or not, of the arbitrary signals possess some trace of iconicity. Therefore, we organize this work in three chapters. The first one discusses conceptions and reflections about the aspects of Linguistics and Semiotics that theoretically support the problematization raised in this work. The second chapter presents some conceptions related to the linguistic phenomena of iconicity and arbitrariness, in general and in the Brazilian Sign Language. This chapter also presents the corpus of this research. The third and final chapter deals with the analysis of selected signals belonging to the category of non-directional verbs, specifically those anchored in or near the body. In the analyzes the basic parameters were: Hand Configuration (CM), Point of Articulation (PA) and Movement (M). These are fundamental for the creation of a sign, that is, of a linguistic sign. However, the possibility / necessity to pass through the secondary parameter of the Non-Manual Expressions (NMS) was not ruled out, since it complements the information showing the meaning of a sign / linguistic sign. The analyzes performed according to Greimas' semiotic square provided the identification of some traces of correlation, albeit remotely, between iconicity and arbitrariness in the Brazilian Sign Language. According to this procedure iconicity vs. arbitrariness are the opposite terms whose relation will guide the paths of meaning: a) iconicity => non-iconicity => arbitrariness; b) arbitrariness => non-arbitrariness => iconicity. These relations of opposition, contradiction and complementarity are interwoven in these pathways of meaning. This research is also a way of contributing to the discussions on the linguistic studies of the Brazilian Sign Language, since Sign Language (LSs) have become the object of study for a few decades, implying an incipient quantitative of researches in this area.