Global trends in research on the prosody of sign languages

a scientometric analysis

Abstract

This scientometric study explores global trends in research on prosody in sign languages by analyzing articles indexed in the Web of Science, Scopus, and SciELO databases between 1987 and 2024, using the Bibliometrix package. The results indicate an annual growth rate of 3.82% in publications, concentrated in the United States, Israel, and Canada, with moderate levels of scientific collaboration. Research has primarily focused on the study of the effects of signed intonation from a phonological perspective, with particular emphasis on non-manual elements, and Language and Speech and Lingua emerge as the main publication venues. The study contributes by mapping trends and co-authorship networks in the field, highlighting the centralization of research and the increasing interest in analyzing isolated prosodic phenomena, which constitute points of interest for future investigations in this area. The conclusions have practical implications for the development of assistive technologies and suggest the need for greater integration of Brazilian researchers into international collaborations. Limitations include the restriction of data to specific databases and the exclusion of grey literature. Future research should expand investigations into emerging and regional sign languages and employ more advanced methodologies to analyze prosody in these languages, such as motion capture software for the analysis of prosody inherent to signing.