Un estudo da paisaxe lingüística en Santiago de Compostela

Abstract

The study of the Linguistic Landscape (LL) is applied for the first time in Santiago de Compostela, measuring and analyzing the presence of different languages (particularly Galician and Spanish, but also others) in written texts in the public space. The study of the LL is particularly relevant in Galicia, a traditionally diglossic community. Interesting trends are observed with regard to the languages used and area of the city and authorship. Galician is found more frequently in ‘institutional’ texts (where Galician predominates, although Spanish is also used) than in private texts (which are more varied but dominated by the presence of Spanish). Significant differences were found between the new and old parts of the city, with the latter being more diverse and the former more heavily dominated by Spanish. If the LL is an important battleground for minority languages such as Galician, we conclude that there is stillmuch to do to achieve full normalization in this case. The low levels of use of Galician are indicative of its lack of prestige, and use in this domain does not reflect the uses and attitudes of the inhabitants of Santiago de Compostela in other areas.