TY - BOOK ID - 66944252 TI - Linguistic landscapes : a comparative study of urban multilingualism in Tokyo PY - 2007 VL - 136 SN - 9781853599477 1853599476 9781853599460 1853599468 1847699529 9786610828579 1280828579 1853599484 9781853599484 PB - Clevedon : Multilingual Matters, DB - UniCat KW - Multilingualism KW - Signs and symbols KW - Representation, Symbolic KW - Semeiotics KW - Signs KW - Symbolic representation KW - Symbols KW - Abbreviations KW - Omens KW - Semiotics KW - Sign language KW - Symbolism KW - Visual communication KW - Plurilingualism KW - Polyglottism KW - Language and languages KW - Signs and symbols. KW - Multilingualism - Japan - Tokyo UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:66944252 AB - Linguistic Landscapes is the first comprehensive approach to a largely under-explored sociolinguistic phenomenon: language on signs. Based on an up-to-date review of previous research from various places around the world, the book develops an analytical framework for the systematic analysis of linguistic landscape data. This framework is applied to a sample of 2,444 signs collected in 28 survey areas in central Tokyo. Analytical categories include the languages contained and their combinations, differences between official and nonofficial signs, geographic distribution, availability of translation or transliteration, linguistic idiosyncrasies, and the comparison of older and newer signs, among others. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, the analysis yields some unique insights about the writers of multilingual signs, their readers, and the languages and scripts in contact. Linguistic Landscapes thus demonstrates that the study of language on signs has much to contribute to research into urban multilingualism, as well as the study of language and society as a whole. ER -