The Italian deaf community is characterised by bimodal bilingualism between Italian Sign Language (LIS) and Italian, often marked by power asymmetries and diglossic dynamics. In digital contexts, the co-presence of signed videos and written text transforms social media into spaces for permanent translation and ideological renegotiation. This study analyses the perceptions and metalinguistic practices regarding Italian and LIS expressed on Facebook and YouTube. Through a qualitative analysis of digital interactions, dynamics of interlinguistic comparison emerge. Italian is perceived as a tool for accessibility, but also as a code to be deconstructed and re-elaborated through signing. Practices of semantic negotiation, resolution of lexical ambiguities, and the bottom-up creation of LIS neologisms have been observed. Results highlight how the digital amplifies linguistic and identity self-determination, contributing to the debate on minority languages online.
La comunità sorda italiana è caratterizzata da un bilinguismo bimodale tra Lingua dei Segni Italiana (LIS) e italiano, segnato spesso da asimmetrie di potere e dinamiche diglossiche. Nei contesti digitali, la co-presenza di video segnati e testo scritto ridefinisce la diglossia, trasformando i social media in spazi di traduzione permanente e rinegoziazione ideologica. Questo studio analizza le percezioni e le pratiche metalinguistiche relative all’italiano e alla LIS espresse su Facebook e YouTube. Attraverso un’analisi qualitativa di interazioni digitali, emergono dinamiche di confronto interlinguistico. L’italiano è percepito come uno strumento per l’accessibilità, ma anche codice da decostruire e rielaborare attraverso il segno. Si osservano pratiche di negoziazione semantica, risoluzione di ambiguità lessicali e creazione bottom-up di neologismi in LIS. I risultati evidenziano come il digitale amplifichi l’autodeterminazione linguistica e identitaria, contribuendo al dibattito sulle lingue minoritarie online.
Percezioni dell’Italiano e riflessioni metalinguistiche nella comunità sorda online
Caligiore, Gaia;Limongelli, Maria Adele
2026-01-01
Abstract
The Italian deaf community is characterised by bimodal bilingualism between Italian Sign Language (LIS) and Italian, often marked by power asymmetries and diglossic dynamics. In digital contexts, the co-presence of signed videos and written text transforms social media into spaces for permanent translation and ideological renegotiation. This study analyses the perceptions and metalinguistic practices regarding Italian and LIS expressed on Facebook and YouTube. Through a qualitative analysis of digital interactions, dynamics of interlinguistic comparison emerge. Italian is perceived as a tool for accessibility, but also as a code to be deconstructed and re-elaborated through signing. Practices of semantic negotiation, resolution of lexical ambiguities, and the bottom-up creation of LIS neologisms have been observed. Results highlight how the digital amplifies linguistic and identity self-determination, contributing to the debate on minority languages online.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
