Articuladores gestuais: mão não dominante

Abstract

This article discusses the phonology of the Portuguese Sign Language, focusing on its manual articulators. Similarly to oral languages, which have the vocal tract as their main articulator, sign languages, with their manual-visual modality, have both hands. These are anatomically identical: the dominant hand and the non-dominant hand. This study addresses in detail the latter so as to understand its functioning and the different roles it plays. Though autonomous and enjoying many degrees of freedom, the non-dominant hand is the passive articulator, acting in a very limited manner. This research study aims at verifying whether the non-dominant hand is indeed an articulator and a place of articulation or whether it is, or not, independent in the creation and execution of signs, thus attesting to the embryonic theory of the performance of the non-dominant hand as a phonological classifier. The meaning given to this hand’s configuration is, therefore, crucial to the understanding of the lexical item.