A comparative study on articulatory ease in three sign languages: Libras, LSCu, and Cena
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In this paper, we investigate how ease of articulation affects the production of verbs in three different and unrelated sign languages: Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), CubanSign Language (LSCu), and Cena, a recently documented emerging sign language from the Northeast of Brazil. We describe joint recruitment in the production of verbs in these languages, focusing on how many joints are recruited and which joint is recruited the most. First, all three sign languages tend to produce their verbs by recruiting only one joint, regardless of which joint is. Therefore, Libras, LSCu, and Cena share a common tendency to activate the smallest number of joints possible. We also analyzed which joint was recruited the most and found that all three sign languages showed a preference for recruiting the medial joint. However, Cena behaves slightly differently regard-ing proximal joint activation. Proximal movement is more frequent in Cena than in Li-bras and LSCu. We offer two different hypotheses to explain the greater activation of the proximal joint in Cena. The first considers this as a matter of emergence, and the second argues that it is a typological distinction.