Elaboration of an instrument to investigate the acquisition of minimal contrast perception in the Brazilian sign language.

Purpose: To design an instrument to check the perception of minimal contrasts by through pairs of signs, which differ in one the following parameters: handshape, hand location, hand movement and hand orientation.

Methods: An inventory of minimal pairs was made and some pictures were drawn by a visual artist. These pictures were organized into three columns, which could be equal or different from each other in the pair.