Visual sonority in Brazilian Sign Language literature

ABSTRACT The idea of sonority in sign languages was treated by Perlmutter (1992) as perceptibility, a property of a segment that uses movement rather than one in which the hands stay in the same position. Sandler (1993) states that the visual salience of movement in sign languages plays a role similar to sonority in spoken languages. For Brentari (1998), perceptually, a sign is visible from considerable distances, and measurement of its visual sonority is based on the joints involved in its production. This work focuses on visual sonority in literature in Brazilian Sign Language and considers the relevance of manual and non-manual elements, rhythm, symmetry, the scale of signs, and the effect of video on this concept. Two signed stories “The King’s Parrot” and “Little Ping Pong Ball” were analysed, highlighting specific signs in which the use of joints, non-manual features, and other resources are influenced by the size of the performance space and the distance of the audience from the signing. Three types of ‘sonority’ were observed: in the movement of the whole body on the stage, in the size of arms and trunk movement, and in the hands. In addition to the joints, non-manual features, rhythm and symmetry play an important role in visual sonority and influence the viewer’s experience.