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Part of
Linguistic Landscape in the Spanish-speaking World
Edited by Patricia Gubitosi and Michelle F. Ramos Pellicia
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 35] 2021
► pp. 365–392

Chapter 14
The act of naming in the Hispanic linguistic landscape of Milan

| Università degli Studi di Milano

The Hispanic linguistic landscape of Milan, which reflects the consistent presence of a Latin American community, has been studied from the viewpoint of an emerging multilingualism, linked to the negotiation of space, language and identities in different multi-ethnic neighborhood. This study explores, in particular, the act of naming, i.e. the choice of a name for restaurants and other commercial enterprises, in which social memories and lived experiences are involved. Different linguistic and semiotic aspects will be considered in order to trace the boundaries of what we might call the “Peruvian namescape”. A qualitative-ethnographic perspective will be adopted, connecting the analysis of some contextualized LL units, corresponding to 22 Peruvian restaurants, to what emerges from interviews with shop-owners.

Keywords: linguistic landscape, naming, Spanish-speaking Latin Americans in Milan, collective identity
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The Linguistic Landscape and the act of naming
    • The visibility of LAs in the Milanese LL
  • Methodology
  • Analysis and results
    • Place names and geographical entities
    • Proper names
    • Food and kitchen utensils
    • Music
    • Lived experiences
  • Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 29 July 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.35.14cal
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