А látható nyelv Zentán
Linguistic landscape in Senta

Sociolinguistic and language policy observations on the linguistic landscape of a small town in Vojvodina

Summary/Abstract: A key element of cultural familiarization is the language and the environment which we live in. In addition to verbal language, signs and posters placed in the physical space that surrounds us, also bear useful information about the relative roles of the languages in use, and the attitudes of the community towards them. Linguistic landscape research has become increasingly popular in the last two decades among linguists, as it helps in achieving a more accurate outlook on the observed speech community’s language use, as well as on the relationship between language and reality. This study focuses on the small town of Senta, located in Vojvodina, Serbia. It serves as an exemplary base for linguistic landscape study, as this region is known for its vast cultural and ethnic diversity. Documentation took place in October 2021, resulting in approximately one thousand photos taken and catalogued. This paper analyzes the relationship between Serbian as the language of the majority, and Hungarian as a minority language, comparing the use, prestige, and ethnolinguistic vitality of both languages.

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