Sign language, gestures and the dangers of colors: the ka’apor case

Abstract

Ka'apor sign language does not have any words denoting a specific color. In addition to this supposedly curious fact, there is another even more revealing and apparently contradictory: there is a sign that designates the generic idea of color. This is not everything. The color sign is also used in the gesticulation that accompanies the spoken Ka'apor language, which does not have a lexical item designating the concept of color. Therefore, spoken Ka'apor presents a gesture for the generic idea of color and terms for specific colors in speech. Based on these data, I resume a general discussion about the semantics of specific colors, arguing that this is not a fundamental domain of human languages (Wierzbicka 2008). Furthermore, I argue that the gestural modality, although it is a visual channel, is rebellious to the reference of colors: sign languages, therefore, do not adapt to the idea of the basic color terms, as formulated by Berlin and Kay (1969). I cite the case of Libras, the Yolŋu people's sign language, and the Top Hill sign language. Finally, I observe that if the Ka'apor sign language ignores the specific terms for colors, the mythical Ka'apor thought, known by deaf and hearing people, conceptualizes the excess of colors as something harmful - a fact that has already been demonstrated by the comparative analysis of myths (Lévi-Strauss 1964). This article is a review and continuation of the work by Ferreira and Siqueira (1985) who compared the sign language of the Ka’apor people with Libras.