LIBRAS: and the importance of arbitrary and iconic signs

The present study has as its theme: "LIBRAS: and the importance of arbitrary and iconic signs". And it aims to analyze the importance that arbitrary and iconic signs have in communication in the Brazilian Sign Language, aiming to break with the idea of superficiality or that communication through sign language is pantomime. Because, historically, deaf people have been placed on the margins of society for centuries, and even after Brazilian deaf people finally have their language recognized, they still face discrimination. The research presents a qualitative approach, of a theoretical nature with bibliographic basis, to know about the education of the deaf, the Brazilian Sign Language and the phonological aspects of arbitrary signs. We noticed that the deaf community still makes daily efforts aiming at the recognition of its cultural identity and the erroneous deconstruction of Sign Language. Furthermore, this study concludes that arbitrariness is an important factor for a language. And, in the case of Libras, it breaks the prejudice that signs are gestures of the auditory oral language.