LIBRAS: Anatomy of a Term that Has Been Distorting Brazilian Sign Language and Deaf Culture
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| Format: | Recurso digital |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866902022235619328 |
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| author | BATISTA, DANIEL JIMENEZ WARZECHA, PAULINA |
| author_facet | BATISTA, DANIEL JIMENEZ WARZECHA, PAULINA |
| contents | <p><span lang="EN-US">This autoethnographic account critically analyses the acronym LIBRAS (Língua Brasileira de Sinais, <em>Sign Brazilian Language</em>), arguing that its construction does not result from a natural linguistic process but from an adaptation shaped by oral and institutional structures inherited from oralism. By inserting the adjective ‘Brazilian’ between ‘language’ and ‘signs’, the semantic and syntactic unity is disrupted, creating ungrammaticality both in Portuguese and in LISBRA (Língua de Sinais Brasileira, <em>Brazilian Sign Language</em>) itself. This lexical choice is not neutral: it reinforces a phonocentric logic that privileges the spoken language, imposing an external structure upon the natural organisation of sign language. Although the legal recognition of LIBRAS in 2002 marked a milestone, the term consolidated a legacy of subordination of visual–gestural languages, distorting spontaneous naming patterns used by the deaf community. The institutional adoption of the acronym, possibly driven by oralised deaf leaderships, reveals tensions between representativity and acceptance according to the norms of the majority language. </span><span>Rethinking this nomenclature is not merely a linguistic exercise but a political and cultural act necessary to break with colonial legacies and affirm the centrality of signs as the identity core of the language. Alternatives such as LISBRA</span><em><span> </span></em><span lang="EN-US">(</span><span>Língua de Sinais Brasileira, </span><em><span lang="EN-US">Brazilian Sign Language</span></em><span>) preserve the natural grammar and cultural autonomy of the Brazilian deaf community.</span></p> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_16787545 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | LIBRAS: Anatomy of a Term that Has Been Distorting Brazilian Sign Language and Deaf Culture BATISTA, DANIEL JIMENEZ WARZECHA, PAULINA <p><span lang="EN-US">This autoethnographic account critically analyses the acronym LIBRAS (Língua Brasileira de Sinais, <em>Sign Brazilian Language</em>), arguing that its construction does not result from a natural linguistic process but from an adaptation shaped by oral and institutional structures inherited from oralism. By inserting the adjective ‘Brazilian’ between ‘language’ and ‘signs’, the semantic and syntactic unity is disrupted, creating ungrammaticality both in Portuguese and in LISBRA (Língua de Sinais Brasileira, <em>Brazilian Sign Language</em>) itself. This lexical choice is not neutral: it reinforces a phonocentric logic that privileges the spoken language, imposing an external structure upon the natural organisation of sign language. Although the legal recognition of LIBRAS in 2002 marked a milestone, the term consolidated a legacy of subordination of visual–gestural languages, distorting spontaneous naming patterns used by the deaf community. The institutional adoption of the acronym, possibly driven by oralised deaf leaderships, reveals tensions between representativity and acceptance according to the norms of the majority language. </span><span>Rethinking this nomenclature is not merely a linguistic exercise but a political and cultural act necessary to break with colonial legacies and affirm the centrality of signs as the identity core of the language. Alternatives such as LISBRA</span><em><span> </span></em><span lang="EN-US">(</span><span>Língua de Sinais Brasileira, </span><em><span lang="EN-US">Brazilian Sign Language</span></em><span>) preserve the natural grammar and cultural autonomy of the Brazilian deaf community.</span></p> |
| title | LIBRAS: Anatomy of a Term that Has Been Distorting Brazilian Sign Language and Deaf Culture |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16787545 |