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In:Beyond Binaries in Address Research: Politeness and identity practices in interaction
Edited by Víctor Fernández-Mallat and María Irene Moyna
[Topics in Address Research 6] 2025
► pp. 119–145

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Chapter 6
Functions of address in the German linguistic landscape

Published online: 17 July 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tar.6.06lie
Abstract
This chapter focuses on address forms within the linguistic landscape (LL); that is, in publicly visible written communication. Drawing on photographs collected in Germany between 2019 and 2021, we investigate the choices authors make between T and V forms of address, as well as alternatives such as the deontic infinitive. We analyze how these choices are shaped by language ideologies and contribute to strategic and relational meaning-making. By applying the theory of facework and relational identities, we show that different address forms and alternatives are used in specific ways to create relationships, in part by exploiting language ideologies of a conceived T/V binary. We also show some specific ways this is done after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Framework
    • 2.1Address forms in German
    • 2.2Address forms in the linguistic landscape
    • 2.3Geosemiotics, ELLA, and relationship negotiation
  • 3.Data, method, and terminology
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Overview of T/V, alternative, and mixed uses in the corpus
    • 4.2Qualitative analysis
      • 4.2.1Common use: V forms and alternatives
      • 4.2.2Career-related T/V
      • 4.2.3Activist identities by use of T
      • 4.2.4Constructing identities and relationships peri-COVID
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
References (40)
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