LingLunch I-Ying Lin

I-Ying Lin (Freiburg University):  Mapping an Indigenous Linguistic Landscape in Taiwan

This study investigates the linguistic landscape of Sinapalan, a Bunun indigenous village in the interior of Taiwan. Due to political, economic and historical developments over the last four centuries, Mandarin has become the majority language on the island. Despite revitalization efforts of the government, the indigenous languages of Taiwan receive relatively little attention in mainstream society. We examine the effect of this imbalance of linguistic power on the linguistic landscape of Sinapalan. We assess whether different sign producers, the location of signs and the sign function influence language preferences, and the global correlations between these three factors and linguistic choice. 

The results confirm that Mandarin dominates the linguistic landscape of Sinapalan. Further, signs containing Bunun tend to promote tradition, indicating that it primarily functions as a symbol of indigenous culture. This implies that Bunun plays only a supporting role alongside Mandarin in the linguistic landscape of Sinapalan.