The effects of intensification on hand(s)’s movement in the production of Libras signs

Studies on the process of intensification in signed languages report the use of non-manual expressions and changes in movement in their expression (WILBUR, MALAIA, SHAY, 2012; FUKS, 2016). Santos and Xavier (2019) studied this process in Libras. By taking into account sign phases (KITA; van GIJN; van der HULST, 1998), they observed in some productions movement lengthening not only in the expressive phase, but also in the preparation phase. Through the analysis of seven of the 32 signs collected in isolation by Xavier (2014) in their baseline and intensified forms, produced three times by each of the 12 deaf participants (six men and six women) from the city of São Paulo, the present study aims to verify, through duration data, if intensification can affect not only the expressive phase, but also other phases of sign production, namely preparation and retraction (return to rest position). The analysis of each of these productions, as in Xavier (2017) and Santos and Xavier (2017), was done through the Elan software, which allowed for the determination of the beginning and the end of each phase in the production of the signs. The results revealed that, at least for the data analyzed in the present study, intensification affects only the duration of the expressive phase.