On the linguistic attitudes of Colombian sign language signers towards neologisms and signers of the Community "Arbol de Vida"

Abstract

This research addressed the linguistic attitudes of deaf signers of Colombian Sign Language (LSC) from Bogotá towards the deaf signers of Árbol de Vida (Fundarvid) Foundation and their use of neologisms proposed by this foundation. Twelve interviews were conducted considering variables such as age, gender, and level of education. The interviewees watched a sample of five video-recorded speeches in sign language. In two of the videos, the signers belonged to Fundarvid, but only one of them used neologisms. The answers were translated into written Spanish, and statistical analyses of the data collected were conducted. Among the results, a general rejection towards the signers of Árbol de Vida was found because the interviewees considered both the signs and the signing itself were “unnatural”.