Language change and multilingualism in an ethnic city in China: a diachronic linguistic landscape perspective

ABSTRACT

This study adopts an apparent-time diachronic linguistic landscape (LL) approach to investigate the vitality of an ethnic minority language in China, namely the Nuosu Yi (诺苏彝). Diachronic LL research is concerned with changes in language use on signage over time. It provides insights into phenomena such as language shift, which is challenging to be unveiled through synchronic research. This study collected a total of 1233 signboards, which were made from 2002 to 2021, and thirty follow-up interviews with store owners. By analysing the data statistically and qualitatively, this study demonstrates the changes in language use on private signs of Xichang (the capital city of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture). A significant finding was a trend for multilingualism, in which the status of Chinese has changed from a monolingual to multilingual dominance, and English has benefited the most from the trend. The use of Nuosu Yi has been high over the two decades, but some issues have arisen with its use on some of the recent-made signs. This study provides a new approach to apparent-time LL research and demonstrates its importance in understanding the dynamic nature of the vitality of ethnic minority languages.

KEYWORDS:

• Linguistic landscape
• diachronic research
• ethnic minority language
• Nuosu Yi
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Dongba is an ancient pictorial hieroglyphic script used by the Naxi people, which is an ethnic minority group living in eastern Tibet and northern Yunnan Province.

2 We used Backhaus’s (2007) definition of private signs, i.e. signs made by individuals rather than by official organisations. There are many types of private signage, but in this paper we referred specifically to private shop signs.

3 WPS is a Chinese integrated office software similar to Word Office.

4 The interviewees were randomly selected shopkeepers and were not restricted to a particular ethnic group. However, we are fully aware that there are differences in the perception and use of language among different ethnic groups, which needs to be explored in future studies.

5 There are 28 signboards using languages other than Chinese, Nuosu Yi and English, such as Tibetan, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, etc. They are categorised as ‘other languages’.

6 Monolingual signs were excluded from the analysis in Chart 2. The ‘most prominent language’ mainly refers to the language with the largest typeface on the sign. Factors such as the order, colour, and materials (printed or engraved) of the texts were also taken into account.

7 Guokui (锅盔) is a traditional Chinese dish made with two pieces of pastry with fillings.

8 Shangri-La, located in Yunnan Province, China, is a Tibetan-populated city.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Social Science Fund of China [grant number 23CYY032]; China National Language Commission [grant number YB145-103].