linguistic landscapes

bottom-up

Bottom-up signs are created by commercial and other private organizations and include shop signs or notices in offices, factories, and companies. like graffiti or hand painted signs.

top-down

Top-down signs are official messages produced by public institutions, like the government, councils, and municipalities. They include things like street name signs and road and direction signs, and they often contain official (institutional) information like regulations, public announcements, and official designations.

transient

Mobile signs, in other words, signs that are not permanently fixed in one particular location.

ephemeral

Signs that are not permanent and which are usually created by ordinary people.

inclusive

We can say that this sign is inclusive because it addresses speakers of various languages. It also indexes that Reading is an ethnically and linguistically diverse place. But we should also consider which languages are missing from this sign.

exclusive

Exclusive signs target or acknowledge only certain groups, potentially excluding others by language, cultural references, or access—like signage in a minority language in an area dominated by a different majority language, signaling a distinct community identity.

emplacement

Where in the physical world a given public sign is located. Emphasizes that signs are meaningfully situated in particular geographic or cultural contexts, shaped by and shaping the identity of the place itself. For instance, historical plaques or culturally symbolic architecture markers anchor meaning to specific locations.

How are particular public memories or public narratives codified via semiotic landscapes (e.g., monuments, museums, historical places)? (Armada 2012).

Particular public memories are codified in semiotic landscapes such as monuments, museums, and historic sites through the intentional arrangement of symbols, signs, language, and spatial design that communicate specific cultural and political meanings. These landscapes function as rhetorical texts that embody dominant narratives by highlighting selected events, figures, and interpretations while marginalizing or excluding others. Armada (2012) emphasizes that these physical and semiotic environments direct visitors’ perceptions and emotional responses, shaping collective identity by presenting some memories as authoritative and naturalized. Importantly, power is inscribed in these landscapes because control over what is materialized and commemorated decides which histories are publicly visible and remembered, and which are sidelined or forgotten. Semiotic landscapes are therefore dynamic, contested spaces where institutionalized official memories coexist and often conflict with vernacular or counter-memories, making them key sites for ongoing memory negotiation and political struggle.

Define the term lingua franca and contrast it with the terms koine, pidgin, and creole. Be able to illustrate each one with an example (Ostler, 2025).

• A lingua franca is a language systematically used as a common means of communication between people who do not share a native language, often serving as a bridge for trade, diplomacy, or intercultural exchange. For example, English today functions as a global lingua franca in international business and science, facilitating communication across diverse linguistic backgrounds (Ostler, 2025).​

  In contrast:

• A koine is a new, stabilized dialect that emerges from the contact and blending of related dialects within a single language, often becoming a standard or common speech form in a region. An example is the Koine Greek that arose in the Hellenistic period as a common form of Greek recognized across different city-states.

• A pidgin is a simplified, mixed language that develops as a means of communication between groups without a common language, often for trade, with limited vocabulary and simplified grammar. For example, Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea began as a pidgin used for communication between English speakers and indigenous peoples.

• A creole is a fully developed native language that evolves from a pidgin when it becomes the first language of a community, acquiring expanded vocabulary and complex grammar. Haitian Creole, which developed from French-based pidgin among enslaved peoples in Haiti but is now a native language, illustrates a creole.

Be able to name one lingua franca on at least 3 continents and give a brief history of its emergence. Those examples of lingua francas should be different languages (Ostler, 2025).

1. English in North America and globally (North America, Europe, Oceania): English emerged as a lingua franca through British colonial expansion and later U.S. global influence in business, science, and culture. It is now the most widely used global lingua franca, serving diverse populations worldwide.​

2. Swahili in Africa: Swahili developed as a trade language along the East African coast, blending Bantu languages with Arabic influences. It spread inland and became a lingua franca facilitating communication across ethnically and linguistically diverse groups in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

3. Hindi in South Asia: Hindi acts as a lingua franca in India and surrounding regions, providing a common language among hundreds of local languages and dialects due to historical, cultural, and political factors including its use in media and education.