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Article published In: X-Scapes: New horizons in Linguistic Landscapes
Edited by Crispin Thurlow and Kellie Gonçalves
[Linguistic Landscape 5:2] 2019
► pp. 115–141

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X

 | University of Hong Kong
Published online: 22 July 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.18029.jaw
Abstract
The grapheme and symbol x has been documented as relatively indeterminate and polysemic (e.g. Gale, C. 2015. A practice-based evaluation of ambiguity in graphic design, embodied in the multiplicities of X. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Brighton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Yet, various typographic, orthographic and other design choices make it particularly salient in the contemporary semiotic landscape. The paper starts by outlining briefly the history of the changing uses and associations of x in different areas of social life. This is followed by discussion of the typographic and orthographic salience of x, emphasizing its unique, unsettling, and ‘foreignizing’ effect on displayed language. The paper concludes by linking the salience of x with a global verbal-visual register that I have called ‘globalese’ (Jaworski, A. 2015a. Globalese: A new visual-linguistic register. Social Semiotics, 25(2): 217–235. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), and by briefly pointing to its origins in the typographic experiments of avant-garde art.
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Xxx xxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxx x xxx xxxx xxxxxxxxxx xx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxxx (x.x. Xxxx, Gale, C. 2015. A practice-based evaluation of ambiguity in graphic design, embodied in the multiplicities of X. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Brighton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Xxx, xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx xx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx. Xxx xxxxx xxxxxx xx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxxxx xxxx xxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xx x xx xxxxxxxxx xxxxx xx xxxxxx xxxx. Xxxx xx xxxxxxxx xx xxxxxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xx x, xxxxxxxxxxx xxx xxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx xxx ‘xxxxxxxxxxxx’ xxxxxx xx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx. Xxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxx xx xxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxx xx x xxxx x xxxxxx xxxxxx-xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxx X xxxx xxxxxx ‘xxxxxxxxx’ (Xxxxxxxx, Jaworski, A. 2015a. Globalese: A new visual-linguistic register. Social Semiotics, 25(2): 217–235. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), xxx xx xxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxxx xx xxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xx xxxxx-xxxxx xxx.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Why x?
  • 2.Valorization of x
  • 3. X in the offline and online semiotic landscape
    • 3.1Prohibition, contradiction, error, shutdown
    • 3.2Sex, excitement, excellence, power
    • 3.3Representation and substitution
  • 4.Typographic and orthographic salience of x
    • 4.1Typography
    • 4.2Orthography
  • 5.Conclusion: X as globalese
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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