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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

Sign-genres, authentication, and emplacement

The signage of Thai restaurants in Hamburg, Germany

ORCID logo | Universität Hamburg | University of Oslo
ORCID logo | Universität Hamburg | Chulalongkorn University

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.

Keywords: linguistic landscape, sign-genres, restaurant signs, authenticity, emplacement, commodification of language, Thai, Germany
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
Published online: 17 February 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.20011.and
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