Marcadores manuais e não-manuais em sentenças com negação na Língua Brasileira de Sinais: uma descrição baseada em corpus

This thesis investigates the presence of manual and non-manual markers in negative sentences in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language). For this purpose, our objectives are to verify the presence or omission of the sign NÃO (NO) in negative constructions and other manual markers (e.g., negative signs) and to investigate the presence of non-manual markers in negative constructions in Libras. The methodological approach adopted for this research is based on the analysis of data extracted from the Libras Corpus and annotated using linguistic video data annotation software. Additionally, we used the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to code the different mouth movements and changes in the mouth's contour in these negative sentences. Our results indicate that negation in Libras seems to be marked mainly by non-manual markers, as the sign NÃO appeared in less than half of our data. In contrast, the vast majority of negative constructions showed some type of mouth contour modification. These results corroborate Arrotéia's (2005) theoretical analysis that the change in mouth shape is the main licensor and marker of negation in Libras. The fact that Libras marks negative sentences primarily through mouth articulation also aligns with the work of Benitez-Quiroz, Wilbur, and Martinez (2016), who propose the existence of a universal facial expression of negation that has been grammaticalized from the composition of different facial expressions demonstrating negative moral judgment.