In this chapter, I will discuss some examples of key issues with names and naming connected to multilingualism in the linguistic landscape, thus examining the intersection of LLS and (socio-)onomastics. After a short general overview of the shared interests of these two fields of research in the following section, the main part of this chapter is organized around two broad categories of names: place names and commercial names, respectively. The chapter then closes with a reflection on possible directions for future studies dealing with names and multilingualism in the linguistic landscape, with an overall aim to highlight some key concepts to be considered within both fields.

Språkliga landskap är ett fenomen som intresserar en allt större skara forskare i olika vetenskapsgrenar, inte minst språkvetare, och under de senaste åren har ett aktivt spår handlat om hur språkliga landskap kan användas som en resurs för språkinlärning.

I denna artikel är vårt syfte att diskutera flerspråkiga praktiker för kommunikation om risk under Covid19-pandemin genom exempel hämtade från de språkliga landskapen i Helsingfors och Stockholm. Vi är intresserade av hur officiell myndighetsinformation av juridisk karaktär överförs (översätts) till skyltar i det offentliga rummet av både officiella och inofficiella aktörer.

This book is about how urban linguistic landscapes reflect and create sociolinguistic, societal and urban dynamics, and how these relations can be scientifically explored. Focusing on the linguistic landscapes of selected cities in northern and southern Europe, it sheds light on how urban areas with diverse profiles differ, and how the linguistic landscapes change through tourism and migration, or in times of crisis. The chapters put forward sophisticated and novel ways of approaching urban sociolinguistics and they enhance understanding of the challenges and opportunities included in the study of sociolinguistic variation in these linguistic landscapes.

How the critical stages of the pandemic were reflected in urban LLs is also in focus in the eighth chapter, which presents a study of crisis communication through unofficial signs in Helsinki and Stockholm. The discussion is about how different rules and recommendations were communicated and legitimised on unofficial signs in the signscapes of both Finland and Sweden. Based on a combination of sociosemiotics, discourse analysis and translation studies, the study gives insights into the role of unofficial signage in the dissemination of crisis communication, and how moral evaluation, rationalisation and authorisation are used as legitimation strategies in transmitting official COVID-19 regulations among the unofficial layers of urban LLs.

This book is about how urban linguistic landscapes reflect and create sociolinguistic, societal and urban dynamics, and how these relations can be scientifically explored. Focusing on the linguistic landscapes of selected cities in northern and southern Europe, it sheds light on how urban areas with diverse profiles differ, and how the linguistic landscapes change through tourism and migration, or in times of crisis. The chapters put forward sophisticated and novel ways of approaching urban sociolinguistics and they enhance understanding of the challenges and opportunities included in the study of sociolinguistic variation in these linguistic landscapes.

The book is targeted at scholars in the field of urban sociolinguistics and those wishing to approach the subject through the lens of linguistic landscapes. It also gives interesting suggestions to people involved in language planning and policy reflection, as well as those engaged in urban redevelopment planning. Last but not least, it offers theoretical and methodological guidance to students and researchers in a variety of disciplines.

The second chapter starts the journey through the urban LLs of a selection of European cities with an endeavour to apply Umberto Eco’s concept of the model reader to LL studies. It explores language use and the intended audience of signs in Stockholm’s nature reserves, with a focus on the addressees. Simultaneously, it offers insights into an urban sphere that has not attracted much attention in previous studies of urban LLs. The case study, which is based on data collected from the fringes of Sweden’s capital city, opens up stimulating paths for the further study of both the sociolinguistic variation in urban LLs and the (perceived) use of different urban spaces.

This paper presents a study of the linguistic landscape of a commercial public space: the shopping mall Sunnuhlíð in Akureyri. This landscape is in the periphery in seve­ral ways, as it is located outside the town centre and away from the more populous south­western Iceland. The data consists of photos of signs in the shopping mall. We discuss how language and place are made visible in the linguistic landscape through an analysis of which languages are used, what functions the signs and languages on them are given and, building on that, what sense of place is created by the language­use. We approach the data mainly through a qualitative discussion of illustrative examples of signs but do also present quantitative observations about the linguistic landscape in question in general. Our analysis shows that most signs use Icelandic only. Thereafter, English is the second most reoccurring language. The results show that the signs in the shopping mall are geared towards the locals, with presupposed knowledge of Icelandic. Other languages take on more specific functions. We discuss the results in the context of multilingualism in Iceland and the status of different languages in the Icelandic society.