CLUNL

Mara Moita, doutoranda em Linguística (Psicolinguística) no NOVA CLUNL, é uma das coautoras do artigo Disentangling Pantomime From Early Sign in a New Sign Language, publicado na revista científica Frontiers in Psychology, indexada na Scopus.

O artigo está disponível em acesso aberto: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.640057

Resumo: “In this study, we aim to disentangle pantomime from early signs in a newly-born sign language: Sao Tome and Principe Sign Language. Our results show that within 2 years of their first contact with one another, a community of 100 participants interacting everyday was able to build a shared language. The growth of linguistic systematicity, which included a decrease in use of pantomime, reduction of the amplitude of signs and an increase in articulation economy, showcases a learning, and social interaction process that constitutes a continuum and not a cut-off system. The human cognitive system is endowed with mechanisms for symbolization that allow the process of arbitrariness to unfold and the expansion of linguistic complexity. Our study helps to clarify the role of pantomime in a new sign language and how this role might be linked with language itself, showing implications for language evolution research.”

• Mineiro, Ana; Báez-Montero, Inmaculada Concepción; Moita, Mara; Galhano-Rodrigues, Isabel; Castro-Caldas, Alexandre (2021). Disentangling Pantomime From Early Sign in a New Sign Language: Window Into Language Evolution Research. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, pp.1-17. ISSN 1664-1078.