TYPOLOGIA ZNAKÓW IMIENNYCH W POLSKIM JĘZYKU MIGOWYM NA PRZYKŁADZIE OKREŚLEŃ WYBRANYCH POSTACI Z POLSKIEJ POLITYKI
TYPOLOGY OF NAME SIGNS IN POLISH SIGN LANGUAGE: A STUDY OF SELECTED POLITICAL FIGURES

Summary/Abstract: The article presents a typology of anthroponyms in Polish Sign Language (PJM), with particularfocus on the category of name signs. Name signs represent an essential component of everysign language and a core element of Deaf culture, especially when referring to individuals whobelong to the Deaf community and are recognized by it. While most existing studies have focusedon this category, comparatively little attention has been paid to another important group: namesigns assigned to well-known individuals who do not belong to the Deaf community. This studyseeks to apply typological frameworks developed for other sign languages to the analysis ofPJM. The empirical material was drawn from Polish presidential debates interpreted into PolishSign Language (PJM), held in April and May 2025. The corpus consists exclusively of name signsreferring to public figures – specifically, politicians who either participated in or were mentionedduring the debates. The analysis revealed that the two major categories of name signs –descriptive and arbitrary – are both represented in the examined data. This finding aligns withobservations made for name signs assigned to members of the Deaf community. Moreover, thestudy identifies several word-formation strategies employed in the creation of PJM name signs.These include metonymic references in descriptive signs, as well as initialized signs, semantictranslation, and phonetic analogy in arbitrary signs.

• Details
• Contents