Phonological Parameters in Nepali Sign Language

Abstract

This research presents the phonological parameters of Nepali sign language (NSL), such as, hand shapes, place of articulations, orientations, movements, and non-manual characteristics. Based on A Prosodic Model of Sign Language Phonology (Brentari 1998), this study organized features of NSL into two types namely, inherent features, and prosodic features. The inherent features remain unchanged whereas the prosodic features can change constantly during sign production. In this study, both primary and secondary sources have been used for data collection. For primary source, the researcher recorded the conversation of NSL native signers, whereas the available dictionaries, texts, videos, and research papers on NSL have been used as the secondary sources. The HamNoSys i.e. Hamburg Notation System has been used in this study in order to transcribe sign data. The present study discovered 62 different hand shapes in NSL among which 44 are from manual alphabet. Additionally, 22 hand shapes detected as basic hand shapes. NSL signs are articulated from the four major regions of the body such as, head, arm, body, and hand. However, there are signs in NSL that are articulated from over the head, behind the ear, and below the waist. Furthermore, based on palms or knuckles facing directions, there are six hand orientations found in NSL such as, upward, downward, leftward, rightward, forward, and backward. All these six orientations are found in NSL for palms and only five are found for knuckles. Besides, this study identified 35 hand movements in NSL. Likewise, non- manual features in NSL have been divided into seven categories.