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// International Journal of Multilingualism. 2006, Vol. 3, No. 1. P. 67-80.
This paper focuses on the linguistic landscape of two streets in two multilingual cities in Friesland (Netherlands) and the Basque Country (Spain) where a minority language is spoken, Basque or Frisian. The paper analyses the use of the minority language (Basque or Frisian), the state language (Spanish or Dutch) and English as an international language on language signs. It compares the use of these languages as related to the differences in language policy regarding the minority language in these two settings and to the spread of English in Europe. The data include over 975 pictures of language signs that were analysed so as to determine the number of languages used, the languages on the signs and the characteristics of bilingual and multilingual signs. The findings indicate that the linguistic landscape is related to the official language policy regarding minority languages and that there are important differences between the two settings.
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Linguistic Landscape and Minority Languages Jasone Cenoz University of the Basque Country, DonostiaSan Sebastian, Spain Durk Gorter Fryske Akademy/Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands This paper focuses on the linguistic landscape of two streets in two multilingual cities in Friesland (Netherlands) and the Basque Country (Spain) where a minority language is spoken, Basque or Frisian. The paper analyses the use of the minority language (Basque or Frisian), the state language (Spanish or Dutch) and English as an international language on language signs. It compares the use of these languages as related to the differences in language policy regarding the minority language in these two settings and to the spread of English in Europe. The data include over 975 pictures of language signs that were analysed so as to determine the number of languages used, the languages on the signs and the characteristics of bilingual and multilingual signs. The findings indicate that the linguistic landscape is related to the official language policy regarding minority languages and that there are important differences between the two settings. Keywords: minority languages, linguistic landscape, English, Frisian, Basque
Introduction: The Study of the Linguistic Landscape Multilingualism is a common phenomenon, which can be studied from different perspectives including the use of languages in the sociolinguistic context. One of the possibilities is to analyse languages in context by focusing on the written information that is available on language signs in a specific area. This perspective is known as the study of the linguistic landscape, which has been defined as follows: The language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban agglomeration. The linguistic landscape of a territory can serve two basic functions: an informational function and a symbolic function. (Landry & Bourhis, 1997: 25) This paper focuses on the relationship between linguistic landscape and the sociolinguistic context. This relationship is bidirectional. On the one hand, the linguistic landscape reflects the relative power and status of the different languages in a specific sociolinguistic context. In this sense it is the product of a specific situation and it can be considered as an additional source of information about the sociolinguistic context along with censuses, surveys or interviews. The majority language of a language community is more likely to 1479-0718/06/01 067-14 $20.00/0 International Journal of Multilingualism
– 2006 J. Cenoz & D. Gorter Vol. 3, No. 1, 2006
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