Sprachlandschaft in der Grenzregion: Eine 'Linguistic Landscape Study' in Llívia (Cerdanya)

Abstract

Summary: The present contribution studies the written presence of different languages in the public space of the municipality of Llívia (Cerdanya / Pyrenees), an enclave of the Spanish state on French territory. Applying the sociolinguistic methodology known as Linguistic Landscape Studies, it analyzes the use of Catalan, Castilian, French and English in bottom-up commercial signage in Llívia. It turns out that Catalan predominates in the old town center, while along the main thoroughfare, written language use shows more variation. French, despite being less frequent in absolute terms, shows up prominently and with high visibility in certain commercial branches such as gastronomy and health / beauty / wellness services. [Keywords: Linguistic Landscape Studies; bottomup signs; border towns; multilingualism; Llívia; Cerdanya; Catalonian Pyrenees]