Indexing the Local, State and Global in the Contemporary Linguistic Landscape of a Hungarian town in Slovakia
Laihonen, P. (2015). Indexing the Local, State and Global in the Contemporary Linguistic Landscape of a Hungarian town in Slovakia. In J. Wachtarczyková, L. Satinská, & S. Ondrejovič (Eds.), Jazyk v politických, ideologických a interkultúrnych vzťahoch : Zborník príspevkov z medzinárodnej konferencie Jazyk v politických, ideologických a interkultúrnych vzt'ahoch konanej 21.-22.5.2014 v Bratislave (pp. 280-301). Veda. Sociolinguistica Slovaca, 8.
Julkaistu sarjassa
Sociolinguistica SlovacaTekijät
Päivämäärä
2015Oppiaine
Soveltava kielitiedeTekijänoikeudet
© 2015 Laihonen & Veda. This is a final draft version of an article whose final and definitive form has been published by Veda. Published in this repository with the kind permission of the publisher.
On the basis of photography and fieldwork, the linguistic landscape (LL) of the central square of
Dunajská Streda/ Dunaszerdahely is analyzed. I focus on commercial names, which dominate the
LL of the main square. The research site, a town in Slovakia of which population 80 % is
Hungarian speaking, is significant, since historical minorities form the majority in very few
European towns.
The characteristics, functions and meanings of a linguistic landscape are best charted through
a combination of methods. A distributional account provides us a basic account of what
languages there are in the investigated scene. We may compare this with surveys, censuses and
other similar cities, as in our case with a Hungarian town in Romania. However, the statistical
account fails to examine the signs as images and it implicates a false picture of easily definable
languages, whereas in practice it is particularly difficult to classify business names according to a
language. In order to analyze signs as images, we need to carry out a qualitative semiotic
analysis. The local language ideologies reflected in the linguistic landscape can be charted best
by a discourse analytic approach. Thus we can ask, what discourses are participated in the
research site by those that produce and interpret the signs.
The distribution of languages in signs displays a global and national (Slovak) namescape in
Dunaszerdahely, with a relatively small proportion of minority (Hungarian) company and brand
names or other elements. On the one hand, local Hungarians have got used to a commercial LL
without Hungarian in the socialist period, thus the use of Hungarian in such signs appeared
unimportant in interviews with local people. For local Hungarians, sings in Hungarian indexed
non-local firms from Hungary. On the other hand, Slovak language laws made the use of Slovak
compulsory, with the exception of business names and global expressions. Hungarian could be
used in bilingual signs, however, its use is not encouraged in any way by Slovak language laws.
Global semiotics included the use of innovative business names with visual and linguistic
features that do not belong to any language as such. There was a tendency to use special visual
semiotics for letters and punctuation in global signs, it was somewhat spread to state language
signs, too. Typically, the more designed and branded a business name was, the more global it
appeared. In contrast to global brands, the semiotics of a frequent genre of “female” signs index
localness, cheap products and a non-polished design. For local shop owners there was a need to
(1) index a commitment to Slovakia through Slovak dominant commercial signs, (2) index
trendiness, modern and Western values through global names, and (3) index being local through
some use of Hungarian, including some substandard forms of Hungarian different from the
normative practices in Hungary.
...
Julkaisija
VedaISBN
978-80-224-1418-0Emojulkaisun ISBN
Kuuluu julkaisuun
Jazyk v politických, ideologických a interkultúrnych vzťahoch : Zborník príspevkov z medzinárodnej konferencie Jazyk v politických, ideologických a interkultúrnych vzt'ahoch konanej 21.-22.5.2014 v BratislaveJulkaisu tutkimustietojärjestelmässä
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/24906456
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Linguistic landscapes of a minoritized regional majority: Language ideologies among Hungarians in South-West Slovakia
Laihonen, Petteri (Peter Lang publishing group, 2015)[Introduction] This article is an investigation of the linguistic situation in South-West Slovakia and its interpretation by local inhabitants through the notion of linguistic landscape (LL hereafter), here understood ... -
Beware of the dog! Private linguistic landscapes in two ‘Hungarian’ villages in South-West Slovakia
Laihonen, Petteri (Springer Netherlands, 2016)This study demonstrates how a single type of sign can be connected to language policy on a larger scale. Focusing on the relationship between language policy and language ideologies, I investigate the private Linguistic ... -
Nyelvi tájkép egy csallóközi és egy mátyusföldi faluban, 'The Linguistic Landscape of Two Hungarian villages in South-West Slovakia'
Laihonen, Petteri (Forum Minority Research Institute, 2012) -
Hungarian private linguistic landscape in South-West Slovakia
Laihonen, Petteri (Research consortium ELDIA c/o, European Language Diversity for All, 2014)In the field of Linguistic Landscape research little attention has been paid to the situations where a minoritized group gives the regional majority, such as South-‐West Slovakia where Hungar ... -
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Ellei toisin mainittu, julkisesti saatavilla olevia JYX-metatietoja (poislukien tiivistelmät) saa vapaasti uudelleenkäyttää CC0-lisenssillä.