An effect of globalization : linguistic landscape of Hódmezővásárhely in pub- and restaurant names 1920-2012

Linguistic landscape is the presence of written signage in the public space that includes, for instance, street signs, warnings, shop names, building names, advertisements and informative signs. Among these signage the names of services, namely restaurants and public houses (pubs), cafes are an important constituents as they contribute largely to the linguistic landscape by being numerous and they well reflect the name-giving trends and fashions of the age in which they exist. Their contribution to the linguistic landscape is particularly outstanding as very often physically the same restaurant, café or pub exist with different name depending on the era and they are re-named to conform the actual name-giving trend and idealism of the society or political era they exist in. In the present paper I examine the change in the names of restaurants, pubs and cafés from the beginning of the 20th century till the present times

Changing world-changing tendencies of naming shops and services : the dynamics of linguistic landscape in the center of Hódmezővásárhely

The names of shops and services constitute a vast part of the linguistic landscape of an area, mainly the city center as most shops are located there. In the modern globalized world, signage of shops is linguistically colorful. World languages appeared in shop names with English in the first place and the application of foreign words in the signage is internationally an increasingly popular phenomenon. However, in the past, before the 1990s, using foreign words in shop signage was not a fashionable trend. In my work I examine the change of shop naming practice from a historical perspective in the center of Hódmezővásárhely within a century. I divided the more than 100 years long period in three sections, starting from the early 20th century, the period of communism and the present times. I collected photos and old postcards of the town center from these three periods where the shop names are visible and examined how the shop naming tendency changed during the decades and how the proportion of foreign names have increased by the beginning of the 21st century

Language politics in respect of linguistic landscape

Language politics regulates the use, the status and the prestige of language in a country. In multilingual or multiethnic societies the status of minority language is determined by the authorities. Whether a minority language receives functions and rights in a community is not only reflected in the laws or the scope of use of language, for instance media, schools, legislation, but it is also present in the linguistic landscape of a given place, that is whether minority languages appear in public signage, for instance, settlement names or informative signs. The language politics is reflected in linguistic landscape, however, it is not only the minority language display on public signage that is a manifestation of language politics, but any foreign language signage, which, for instance serves to promote tourism. In the present paper I demonstrate the manifestation of local language policy in the linguistic landscape of Hódmezővásárhely by examining the foreign language appearance in public signage in order to see whether they represent any minority presence or they serve to promote tourism in the town

A változó szociokulturális környezet tükröződése a nyelvi tájképben, Hódmezővásárhely példáján

Reflections of the changing socio-cultural environment on the linguistic landscape in a Hungarian town named Hódmezővásárhely     In Hungary, practices of naming shops and services, as these names typically reflect the social characteristics of a historical era, have changed from time to time in the 20th–21st centuries. This paper presents the name-giving practices concerning shops in Hódmezővásárhely in three different periods: from the beginning of the 20th century to the Second World War (1900–1944), in the socialist era (1945–1989) and in the present day, at the beginning of the 21st century. The characteristics of the name-giving practices are explored with the help of visual and written documentation. Data clarify what trends have dominated in naming shops and services in each period, how name-giving practices have changed and to what extent earlier practices have survived until now. This research gives special attention to the appearance of words of foreign (especially English) origin in names – a characteristic present-day feature hardly observable before the change of the political regime in Hungary

The many faces of one town : mapping the linguistic landscape of downtown of Hódmezővásárhely from various perspectives

An examination of the linguistic landscape can happen from different perspectives depending on the aspect of it the linguist wants to investigate. The most frequent thematic categorizations for examination are the viewpoints of tourism, economy and minority language use and the business perspectives. Accordingly, from a touristic point of view the examination focuses on whether the public places frequently visited by tourist present relevant information in foreign languages and what languages are used. This provides information about the preparedness of the area for ’accepting’ foreign tourists and can ease their stay. From a minority language perspective the appearance of minority languages in signage in public places is examined to get information about the status of minority language/s. The business perspective examination includes the mapping of signage and names disposed by shops and services. The linguistic landscape is mapped and analyzed from the point of view of the foreign languages applied, their content and relevance to the establishment (shop or service) type to get information about how much the shops of a certain profile follow the international trends in using foreign languages in the signage. In this paper the linguistic landscape of the center of Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary, is examined from the perspective of tourism, minority languages and business. The territory of the research is limited to the center of town as it houses most businesses and tourists are likely to visit it. The purpose if this paper is to investigate the different results gained from the mappings carried out on the different perspectives. The objective is to outline the linguistic landscape of the town center and by comparing the results conclusions as to which aspect the town center is the most and the least prepared for within the same area are drawn

The linguistic landscape of the center of Hódmezővásárhely

Hódmezővásárhely is a rapidly developing town attracting an increasing number of tourists from other countries. Therefore it is important to display information in at least one world language, mainly English, in places of interests that are likely to be visited by tourists. In my study I have examined the linguistic landscape of the town center including sights, services and the High Streets to see how well prepared the town is for the foreign visitors. I found that in all places of interest and services bilingual or multilingual information is available in different scope while streets apply foreign language for symbolic reasons

A manifestation of language policy in Hungary - the bilingual education of minority language speakers

The present study focuses on the aspect bilingual education in Hungary when bilingual schools use one of the minority languages for teaching. The bilingual education for students whose native language is different from the majority language of the country is essential for the equal chance of academic achievement but for the better career perspectives majority language development has an equal importance. Therefore, bilingual schools are necessary for those students who live in an ethnic minority group in the country. Though most minority groups have chance to attend bilingual education, many, especially one of the largest minority groups in Hungary, the Gypsy population have access only to language lessons as a counterpart of monolingual education that does not provide the same chances of academic success and the preservation of native language and culture. This study gives an insight of the availability of bilingual schools for the minority language speaker students both in respect of languages involved and their location and investigate how the presence of bilingual schools correspond to the educational needs of minority groups

Language politics in respect of linguistic landscape

Language politics regulates the use, the status and the prestige of language in a country. In multilingual or multiethnic societies the status of minority language is determined by the authorities. Whether a minority language receives functions and rights in a community is not only reflected in the laws or the scope of use of language, for instance media, schools, legislation, but it is also present in the linguistic landscape of a given place, that is whether minority languages appear in public signage, for instance, settlement names or informative signs. The language politics is reflected in linguistic landscape, however, it is not only the minority language display on public signage that is a manifestation of language politics, but any foreign language signage, which, for instance serves to promote tourism. In the present paper I demonstrate the manifestation of local language policy in the linguistic landscape of Hódmezővásárhely by examining the foreign language appearance in public signage in order to see whether they represent any minority presence or they serve to promote tourism in the town

Language politics in respect of linguistic landscape

Language politics regulates the use, the status and the prestige of language in a country. In multilingual or multiethnic societies the status of minority language is determined by the authorities. Whether a minority language receives functions and rights in a community is not only reflected in the laws or the scope of use of language, for instance media, schools, legislation, but it is also present in the linguistic landscape of a given place, that is whether minority languages appear in public signage, for instance, settlement names or informative signs. The language politics is reflected in linguistic landscape, however, it is not only the minority language display on public signage that is a manifestation of language politics, but any foreign language signage, which, for instance serves to promote tourism. In the present paper I demonstrate the manifestation of local language policy in the linguistic landscape of Hódmezővásárhely by examining the foreign language appearance in public signage in order to see whether they represent any minority presence or they serve to promote tourism in the town

The linguistic landscape of the center of Santa Rosa, California

26. 4% of the population of Santa Rosa is speak Spanish as their native language. Therefore the appearance of this minority language in public signage is very important, both for better understanding and for the recognition of the language minority group, especially in the city center where most services essential for daily life are located. The study of the linguistic landscape of the city center reveals the relation of dominant and minority languages: Spanish language gains recognition in most public signage, but it is placed in second position while the dominance of English language is reinforced even by the visual arrangement of the signs