Cover not available
Article published In:
Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 2:2 (2016) ► pp.157–181

“Un peso, mami!”

Linguistic landscape and transnationalism discourses in Washington Heights, New York City

| Manhattan College,
| SOAS,
This study analyzes the linguistic landscape of the New York City Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights to investigate the relationship between language ideologies and transnational dynamics and to observe recent gentrification and sociocultural changes in the neighborhood. It juxtaposes the linguistic landscape with the phenomenon of transnationalism to study the degree and context of the use of Spanish (the official and most frequently spoken language in the Dominican Republic but a minority language in the United States), English (the mainstream language of the United States), and other languages found within the Washington Heights urban landscape. The results confirm the dominance of the English language and reveal the inequality of Spanish and other minority languages as well as how the neighborhood reproduces and contests such ideologies.
Keywords: linguistic landscape, language ideologies, transnationalism, Dominicans, Washington Heights, New York, immigration
Published online: 29 September 2016
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.2.2.03has
References (60)
Allen, R., & Wilcken, L. (Eds.). (1998). Island sounds in the global city: Caribbean popular music and identity in New York. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Austerlitz, P. (1998). From transplant to transnational circuit: Merengue in New York. In R. Allen & L. Wilcken (Eds.), Island sounds in the global city: Caribbean popular music and identity in New York (pp. 44–60). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Bhabha, H. (1994). The location of culture. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Backhaus, P. (2006). Multilingualism in Tokyo: A look into the linguistic landscape. International Journal of Multilingualism, 3(1), 52–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (Ed.). (2007). Linguistic landscapes: A comparative study of urban multilingualism in Tokyo. Multilingual Matters (Vol. 1361). Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Bailey, B. (2000). Language and negotiation of ethnic/racial identity among Dominican Americans. Language in Society, 29(4), 555–582. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ben-Rafael, E., & Ben-Rafael, M. (2008). Linguistic landscape and transnationalism: Sarcelles-Netanya. Israel Studies in Language and Society, 1(1), 81–96.Google Scholar
Blommaert, J. (2010). The sociolinguistics of globalization. New York: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2006). Linguistic landscape and minority languages. International Journal of Multilingualism, 3(1), 67–80. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2009). Language economy and linguistic landscape. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 55–69). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chaney, E.M. (1989). The context of Caribbean migration. Center for Migration Studies Special Issues, 7(1), 1–14. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Del Valle, S. (2003). Language rights and the law in the United States. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dicker, S.J. (2006). Dominican Americans in Washington heights, New York: Language and culture in a transnational community. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 9(6), 713–727. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duany, J. (1994). Quisqueya on the Hudson: The transnational identity of Dominicans in Washington Heights. New York: City University of New York.Google Scholar
Ebaugh, H.R., & Chafetz, J.S. (2000). Religion and the new immigrants: Continuities and adaptations in immigrant congregations. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press.Google Scholar
Edelman, L. (2009). What’s in a name? Classification of proper names by language. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 141–154). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Foner, N. (1997). What’s new about transnationalism? New York immigrants today and at the turn of the century. Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, 6(3), 355–375. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2001). Transnationalism then and now: New York immigrants today and at the turn of the twentieth century. In H. Cordero-Guzman, R.C. Smith, & R. Grosfoguel (Eds.), Migration, transnationalization, and race in a changing New York (pp. 35–57). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
García, O., & Fishman, J.A., (Eds.). (1997). The multilingual apple. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Gonzalez, N. (1970). Peasants’ progress: Dominicans in New York. Caribbean Studies, 10(3), 154–171.Google Scholar
González, D., & Melis, I. (Eds.). (2001). Language ideologies: Critical perspectives on the official English movement (Vol. 21). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gounari, P. (2006). Language policy in the United States: Uncommon language and the discourse of common sense. Belgian Journal of English Language and Literatures, 41, 39–50.Google Scholar
Graham, P. (2001). Political incorporation and re-incorporation: Simultaneity in the Dominican migrant experience. In H. Cordero-Guzman, R. Smith, & R. Grosfoguel (Eds.), Migration, transnationalization and race in a changing New York (pp. 87–108). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Hakimzadeh, S., & Cohn, D. (2007, Nov. 29). English usage among Hispanics in the United States. Pew Research Center, Hispanic Trends. [URL].Google Scholar
Hendricks, G. (1974). The Dominican diaspora: From the Dominican Republic to New York City—Villagers in transition. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.Google Scholar
Hernández, R., Rivera-Batiz, F., & Agodin, R. (1995). Dominican New Yorkers: A socioeconomic profile. New York: CUNY Dominican Studies Institute.Google Scholar
Hult, F.M. (2014). Drive-thru linguistic landscaping: Constructing a linguistically dominant place in a bilingual space. International Journal of Bilingualism, 18(5), 507–523. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Itzigsohn, J., Cabral, C.D., Medina, E.H., & Vazquez, O. (1999). Mapping Dominican transnationalism: Narrow and broad transnational practices. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22(2), 316–339. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Itzigsohn, J., & Dore-Cabral, C. (2000). Competing identities? Race, ethnicity and panethnicity among Dominicans in the United States. Sociological Forum, 15(2), 225–247. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Itzigsohn, J., & Saucedo, S.G. (2002). Immigrant incorporation and sociocultural transnationalism. International Migration Review, 36(3), 766–798. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Itzigsohn, J., Giorguli, S., & Vazquez, O. (2005). Immigrant incorporation and racial identity: Racial self-identification among Dominican immigrants. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 28(1), 50–78. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jensen, L., Cohen, J.H., Toribio, A.J., Jong, G.F. De, & Rodriguez, L. (2006). Ethnic identities, language, and economic outcomes among Dominicans in a new destination. Social Science Quarterly, 87(5), 1088–1099. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kasinitz, P., Waters, M.C., Mollenkopf, J.H., & Anil, M. (2002). Transnationalism and the children of immigrants in contemporary New York . In P. Levitt & M.C. Waters (Eds.), The changing face of home: The transnational lives of the second generation (pp. 96–122). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Krogstad, J.M. (2015, May 26). 5 Facts about Latinos and education. Pew Research Center, Fact Tank. [URL].
Krohn-Hansen, C. (2013). Making New York Dominican: Small business, politics, and everyday life. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leeman, J., & Modan, G. (2010). Selling the city: Language, ethnicity and commodified space. In E. Shohamy, E. Ben-Rafael, & M. Barni (Eds.), Linguistic landscape in the city (pp. 182–198). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Levitt, P., & Waters, M.C. (2002). Introduction. In P. Levitt & M.C. Waters (Eds.), The changing face of home: The transnational lives of the second generation (pp. 1–32). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Lopez, N. (2002). Rewriting race and gender high school lessons: Second-generation Dominicans in New York City. Teachers College Record, 104(6), 1187–1203. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lou, J. (2007). Revitalizing Chinatown into a heterotopia: A geosemiotic analysis of shop signs in Washington, DC’s Chinatown. Space and Culture, 10(2), 170–194. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2010). Chinese on the side: The marginalization of Chinese in the linguistic and social landscapes of Chinatown in Washington, DC. In E. Shohamy, E. Ben-Rafael, & M. Barni (Eds.), Linguistic landscape in the city (pp. 96–114). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Machado, A. (2014, May 7). Why many Latinos dread going to the doctor: How cultural barriers can be more important than income. Atlantic Monthly. [URL] Google Scholar
Pavlenko, A. (2002). “We have room for but one language here”: Language and national identity in the US at the turn of the 20th century. Multilingua 21(2/3), 163–196. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pietikäinen, S., & Kelly-Holmes, H. (Eds.). (2013). Multilingualism and the periphery. New York: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rabikowska, M., & Burrell, K. (2009). The material worlds of recent Polish migrants: Transnationalism, food, shops and home. In K. Burrell (Ed.), Polish migration to the UK in the “new” European Union: After 2004 (pp. 211–232). Surrey, UK: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Rodríguez, T. (2009). Dominicanas entre la Gran Manzana y Quisqueya: Family, schooling, and language learning in a transnational context. High School Journal, 92(4), 16–33. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Scarvaglieri, C., Redder, A., & Pappenhagen, R. (2013). Capturing diversity: Linguistic land- and soundscaping. In J. Duarte & I. Gogolin (Eds.), Linguistic superdiversity in urban areas: Research approaches (pp. 45–74). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schiller, N.G., Basch, L., & Blanc-Szanton, C. (1992). Towards a definition of transnationalism. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 645(1), ix–xiv. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schumaker, E. (2015, June 29). The quality of health care you receive likely depends on your skin color. Huffington Post. [URL].Google Scholar
Scollon, R., & Scollon, S.W. (2003). Discourses in place: Language in the material world. London, UK: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shohamy, E., & Gorter, D. (Eds.). (2008). Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery. New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Smith, R.C. (2006). Mexican New York: Transnational lives of new immigrants. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Smith, R.C., Cordero-Guzmán, H.R., & Grosfoguel, R. (2001). Introduction: Migration, transnationalization, and ethnic and racial dynamics in a changing New York. In H.R. Cordero-Guzmán, R.C. Smith, & R. Grosfoguel (Eds.), Migration, transnationalization, and race in a changing New York (pp. 1–32). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Spolsky, B. (2009). Prolegomena to a sociolinguistic theory of public signage. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp. 25–39). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Sutton, C. (1989). The Caribbeanization of New York City and the emergence of a transnational sociocultural system. Special Issue: Caribbean Life in New York City: Sociocultural Dimensions, 7(1), 15–29. New York: Center for Migration Studies.Google Scholar
Sutton, C.R., & Chaney, E.M. (1987). Caribbean life in New York City: Sociocultural dimensions. Staten Island, NY: Center for Migration Studies.Google Scholar
Valdés, G., Fishman, J.A., Chávez, R., & Pérez, W. (2008). Maintaining Spanish in the United States: Steps toward the effective practice of heritage language re-acquisition/development. Hispania, 91(1), 4–24.Google Scholar
Vertovec, S. (2007). Super-diversity and its implications. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30(6), 1024–1054. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. (2009). Transnationalism. New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Voxxi News. (2012, November 16). Ariel Ferreira discusses business growth in Washington Heights.Google Scholar
Zentella, A.C. (2001). Spanish in New York. In O. García & J. Fishman (Eds.), The multilingual apple: Languages in New York City (pp. 167–201). New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Ferrari, Simone
2024. Paisaje lingüístico y epistemologías indígenas. Consideraciones teóricas y perspectivas de estudio. Visitas al Patio 18:1 ► pp. 116 ff. DOI logo
Guarín, Daniel
2024. From Bilingualism to Multilingualism: Mapping Language Dynamics in the Linguistic Landscape of Hispanic Philadelphia. Languages 9:4 ► pp. 123 ff. DOI logo
Sekerina, Irina A. & Patricia J. Brooks
2023. Multilingual Linguistic Landscapes of New York City as a Pedagogical Tool in a Psychology Classroom. In Spatializing Language Studies [Educational Linguistics, 62], ► pp. 199 ff. DOI logo
Leimgruber, Jakob R. E. & Víctor Fernández-Mallat
2021. Language attitudes and identity building in the linguistic landscape of Montreal. Open Linguistics 7:1 ► pp. 406 ff. DOI logo
Leimgruber, Jakob R. E.
2020. Global multilingualism, local bilingualism, official monolingualism: the linguistic landscape of Montreal's St. Catherine Street. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 23:6 ► pp. 708 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 august 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.