Minority language policy and bilingual name semiotic landscape in Slovakia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
János Bauko
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Proper Noun ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Minority Language Rights ◽  
Minority Language Policy ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe present paper addresses the issue of the interrelatedness of Slovakia’s minority language policy and the bilingual name semiotic landscape; more specifically, the name semiotic landscape of settlements populated by Slovakia Hungarians and the way Slovakia’s laws regulating name use affect visual proper noun use in the country. The name semiotic landscape constitutes an integral part of the linguistic landscape, comprising proper nouns and extralinguistic signs referring to, or accompanying names in name plates, signage in public spaces, and on various other surfaces. The name semiotic landscape is a component, an aspect, and a consequence of language policy and name policy. The way minority proper nouns can be displayed in public spaces is regulated by laws approved by the state. Some areas (such as personal name plates, business cards, and names of private institutions) are unregulated, and the forms of proper nouns can be chosen freely. This paper seeks to answer the following questions: to what extent are minority language rights implemented in visual name use in settlements populated by Slovakia Hungarians, whether Hungarian name usage is spreading, and to what extent do signage and name plates contain proper nouns in a Hungarian form. In bilingual societies, proper nouns and other signs in the minority language increase the prestige of the minority language and have the function of marking ethnic identity. In this paper, the proper noun semiotic, place name semiotic, and institution name semiotic landscapes are investigated for various proper noun types in Slovakia Hungarian settlements.

scholarly journals Critical Mass and Insecurity in Minority Language Policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-316
Author(s):  
C.F. Huws
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Specific Focus ◽  
Welsh Language ◽  
Minority Language Policy

This article will discuss the extent to which legislation is effective in terms of changing individual and group behaviours. The specific focus of this article will be to argue that legislation pertaining to the use of the Welsh language in Wales, despite having expanded the domains of language use in an important way, has not shifted the cycle of language non-use that may be identified.

‘Official language for intercultural ties’

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-177
Author(s):  
Jason Litzenberg
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Cultural Ideologies

Abstract This study considers the parallel expression of language policy toward Kichwa in the linguistic landscape of Yachay, two administratively independent government-funded institutions in Ecuador. Although the institutions share a geographic location, name, and goal of becoming a sciences and technology hub for Latin America, they maintain distinct identities through their official signage, providing opportunity for consideration of how recent political and cultural ideologies toward Ecuador’s language policy have been realized in the linguistic landscape of parallel institutions. Kichwa, a constitutionally-recognized minority language of the region, is largely absent from the landscape, providing little more than a shared institutional nomenclature. Instead, the language and culture are used as a commodity for promoting pan-Ecuadorian interculturality and indigenous values, even if these values are not otherwise overtly supported. Kichwa thus represents the ‘traditional’ Ecuador, while at the same time serves as the backbone in the formation of a collective, future-oriented national identity.

Moving beyond Asocial Minority-Language Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-211
Author(s):  
Conchúr Ó Giollagáin ◽  
Iain Caimbeul
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
A Value ◽  
Language Minorities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Minority Language Policy ◽  
Language Condition ◽  
Functionalist Approach

This paper exams how asocial symbolic minority-language policy contributes to the social processes of language shift from the perspective of highly threatened languages, such as Scottish Gaelic. In introducing the concept of language shift through Asocial Minority-Language Policy, we argue that symbolic minority-language policy is detrimental to threatened language minorities in that it is ideologically implicated in language shift when it neglects the societal circumstances of minority-language decline. The prioritisation of the symbolic aspect of language policy also hinders a value-for-money approach to official provision for the minority group. This paper calls for a materialist/functionalist approach to minority-language societal regeneration to counter the social irrelevance of symbolic policy. We suggest policy options for moving beyond the symbolic focus on the minority-language condition.

Language policies, language planning and linguistic landscapes in Timor-Leste

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Macalister
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Official Policy ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Bahasa Indonesia

Timor-Leste is a nation where three exogenous languages (Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia, English) and one of many endogenous languages (Tetun) compete to be heard in public spaces. The constitution names both Tetun and Portuguese as co-official languages, and English and Bahasa Indonesia as working languages in the civil service; but official and de facto language policy are not necessarily the same. One mechanism that can mediate between ideology and practice, both as a way of imposing and of resisting official policy, is language in the public space. This paper demonstrates the insights that examining language in the public space can provide on language policy debates. It reports on the investigation of a linguistic landscape in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, and finds considerable difference between official language policy and language practices.

scholarly journals Minority Language Policy and Practice in China: The Need for Multicultural Education

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxiang Wang ◽  
JoAnn Phillion
Keyword(s):  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Local Officials ◽  
Minority Language Policy ◽  
Language Environment ◽  
Education In China ◽  
Culture And Language

In this article, we examine minority language policy and practice in China and discuss the large gaps between what is stipulated by law and what occurs in practice. Based on a literature review and findings from our study, we contend that adopting multicultural education in China would help law makers and local officials value and respect minority languages and culture and help teachers design culturally relevant curricula. The overall purpose for multicultural education in China would be to create a culture and language environment for minority students to improve academic achievement and to address social injustice.

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