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Article published In: Diaspora and Asian Spaces in a Transnational World
Edited by Thom Huebner
[Linguistic Landscape 7:2] 2021
► pp. 204–234

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Sign-genres, authentication, and emplacement

The signage of Thai restaurants in Hamburg, Germany

ORCiD logo with link | Universität Hamburg | University of Oslo
ORCiD logo with link | Universität Hamburg | Chulalongkorn University
Published online: 17 February 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.20011.and
Abstract
This paper asks how language and other semiotic resources are deployed in the semiotic landscape of Thai restaurants in the city of Hamburg, Germany. Based on detailed multimodal analysis of signage in twelve restaurants, this study draws on both established and underexplored topics in Linguistic Landscape scholarship, including the analysis of sign-genres, the distinction between communicative and symbolic functions of signs, the role of language choice in authenticating place, and the emplacement of signs in the semiotic landscape. A scheme for the classification of restaurant signs by discourse function and emplacement is proposed. The findings suggest that the analytical distinctions between inside and outside space as well as primary and secondary signs are useful for the study of restaurants and other commercial semiotic spaces.
บทคัดย่อ
การนำเสนออัตลักษณ์ประจำชาติด้วยป้ายและการจัดวางป้าย: กรณีศึกษาป้ายร้านอาหารไทย ณ เมืองฮัมบูร์ก ประเทศเยอรมนี
บทความนี้มุ่งศึกษาการใช้ภาษาเพื่อบ่งบอกอัตลักษณ์ของร้านอาหารประจำชาติ โดยวิเคราะห์ตามทฤษฎีภูมิทัศน์สัญศาสตร์ กลุ่มข้อมูลคือป้ายในบริเวณร้านอาหารไทยจำนวน 12 แห่ง ณ เมืองฮัมบูร์ก ประเทศเยอรมนี ผู้วิจัยเลือกวิเคราะห์สัญญะบนป้ายที่ปรากฏ และอภิปรายในประเด็นภูมิทัศน์เชิงภาษาศาสตร์ ทั้งที่เป็นประเด็นซึ่งได้รับการยอมรับอย่างแพร่หลาย และประเด็นที่ยังต้องมีการศึกษาเพิ่มเติม อาทิ การแบ่งชนิดของป้าย หน้าที่ด้านการสื่อสารและหน้าที่เชิงสัญลักษณ์ของป้าย การใช้ภาษาตามภูมิทัศน์ในเชิงพาณิชย์ รวมถึงการจัดวางป้ายทั้งภายในและภายนอกบริเวณ นอกจากนี้ ผู้เขียนได้นำเสนอวิธีการจัดแบ่งป้ายร้านอาหารเพื่อการศึกษาวิจัย โดยใช้ตำแหน่งและหน้าที่เป็นเกณฑ์ แบ่งได้เป็นป้ายบริเวณภายในและภายนอก และป้ายหลักและป้ายรอง จากการศึกษาพบว่า การจัดแบ่งด้วยวิธีดังกล่าวเป็นประโยชน์ต่อการศึกษาวิจัยแนวภูมิทัศน์สัญศาสตร์ของพื้นที่เชิงพาณิชย์
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and theoretical background
    • 1.1Sign-genres
    • 1.2Restaurant signs
    • 1.3Ethnic restaurants in Germany
    • 1.4Authentication, commodification, and emplacement in the restaurant landscape
  • 2.Research design
    • 2.1Sampling and data collection
    • 2.2A classification of sign genres by spatial emplacement
    • 2.3Coverage and coding
    • 2.4Thai restaurants in a diaspora context
  • 3.Analysis and findings
    • 3.1Primary storefront signs
    • 3.2Secondary storefront signs
    • 3.3Primary instore signs
    • 3.4Secondary instore signs
  • 4.Discussion and conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
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