2.1 Introduction
This chapter aims to review previous studies on signs or linguistic landscapes worldwide. First, I will introduce signs from the perspective of semiotics and its role in the linguistic landscape. Then, I will explicate the definition of the term “linguistic landscape”. Finally, based on an overview of earlier linguistic landscape studies including a discussion of research on the linguistic cityscapes of both China and Japan, I will illustrate the difference in focus between linguistic landscape research in China and that of other countries, and provide a comparative view with campus linguistic landscapes at the same time.
2.2 Semiotic Background of Linguistic Landscape
The sign is a key term and essential element of semiotics. By referring to or symbolizing something other than itself, signs basically construct the
linguistic landscape. It is sign in its various forms that characterizes the linguistic landscape. Saussure regarded linguistics as a branch of “semiology”, as he
(Saussure, 1983, pp. 16-‐17) noted:
Linguistics is only one branch of this general science [of semiology]. The laws which semiology will discover will be laws applicable in linguistics… As far as we are concerned…the linguistic problem is first and foremost sociological… if one wishes to discover the true nature of language systems, one must first consider what they have in common with all other systems of the same kind… in this way, light will be thrown not only upon the linguistic problem. By considering rites, customs etc. as signs; it will be possible, we believe, to see them in a new perspective. The need will be felt to consider them as sociological phenomena and to explain them in terms of laws of semiology.
To understand the semiotic features of linguistic landscape, this section will first talk about some basic semiotic ideas concerning signs. The online Oxford Dictionary of English provides five meanings as follows to the understanding of “sign” as a noun:
1. an object, quality, or event whose presence or occurrence
indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else.
2. a gesture or action used to convey information or instruction.
3. a notice on public display that gives information or instruction in a written or symbolic form
4. (also zodiacal sign) Astrology each of the twelve equal sections into which the zodiac is divided…
5. Mathematics the positiveness or negativeness of a quantity
The first and third explanations indicate the existing forms of various signs, and echo the basic characteristics of signs; based on Saussure’s
semiotic theory, it is known that the basic characteristic of the sign is a bilateral relationship between a “signifier” as its material form, and a
“signified” as its conceptual content (Saussure, 1916, pp. 65-‐70). The physical form of signs tells that we are living in a world filled with signs, and we interpret signs around us to understand where we are, what is happening, what we can do, and so on: for example, a simple arrow can direct the reader to the right place he/she wants to visit; a slarcle can prohibit the reader from doing something not allowed; several letters that form a unique name may help a skyscraper become a landmark building, or even make it a
representative of a country that help the country advertise itself to others worldwide. In the process of displaying itself, the symbolic meaning or the conception a sign carries is imbedded in the sign readers’ minds. By
identifying various signs around, we may find that human beings’ lives are
closely related to signs. In other words, human activities also enrich the linguistic landscape.
To capture a broader view of semiotics, Sebeok (2001, pp. 8-‐11) identified six types of signs, three of which are adopted from Charles Sanders Peirce (1955): “Symptom”, “Signal”, “Icons”, “Indexes”, “Symbols”, and
“Name”. The term “Symptom” is “a reflex of anatomical structure” (p. 9);
innate capabilities of animals and human beings are the embodiment of
“Signal”; “Icon” is “a sign that is made to resemble, simulate, or reproduce its referent in some way” (p. 10); “Index” is “a sign that refers to something or someone in terms of its existence or location in time or space, or in relation to something or someone else” (p. 10); “Symbol” is “a sign that stands for its referent in an arbitrary, conventional way” (p. 11); “Name” is “an identifier sign assigned to the member of a species in various ways” (p. 11). Those different types of signs indicate that we are living in a semiotic world and the linguistic landscape essentially is made up of the flexible combination of various signs, and its creative design of signs distinguish one linguistic landscape from another. In the campus linguistic landscape, it is easy for one to recognize the existence of university as long as he or she finds the “Name”
(name engraved on the stone) on campus; the large number of students and classroom buildings are “Symptom” and “Index” of the existence of campus.
Peirce (1955) contributed greatly to the understanding of the
indexical feature of signs (the formation of the meaning of a sign is related to its context), and Scollon and Scollon (2003) emphasized this notion and mentioned that a sign only makes sense because of the context and situation where it is placed, and indicate that “Indexicality is the property of the
context-‐dependency of signs, especially language” (p. 3). Moreover, Backhaus (2007, p. 4) indicated “Language on signs is a specific type of language use distinct from most other forms of written and spoken communication in everyday life” and “Language is a symbolic sign system in which conventional speech signs (morphemes, words, sentences, etc.) represent meanings” (p. 8).
Therefore, signs in a semiotic sense combining signs in a linguistic sense are intrinsically connected, and are necessary constitutive elements of a linguistic landscape, although they may not always appear at the same time.
The six types of signs are concrete descriptions which identify the existing forms of signs that enrich and decorate the linguistic landscape. The distribution of signs around us indicates that the source of linguistic landscape is from the activities of human beings whose life is closely
connected with the display of signs. Moreover, the placement endows signs with indexicality that helps us understand the objects surround us. As signs are often exposed to the public for a long time, they carry and spread the meaning they symbolize easier than other forms of writing. In fact, there is a strong need for signs in daily life. For example, on university campus, one may expect to see a nameplate or inscription that clearly writes the name of that university, thus the nameplate works as an informing sign to tell others what the place is. Moreover, when one walks around a Japanese campus and finds signs written in Chinese or Korean, he/she may realize the existence of overseas students from China or Korea. Also the wide use of English creates
“internationalized” feeling on campus. Therefore, the semiotic and linguistic signs interact together for the interpretation of linguistic landscape. On both campuses, we can also observe a visual data aided linguistic landscape. The