Language Landscape of Banská Bystrica (Continuity of Texts and Intersection of Ethnic Groups) Cover Image

Jazyková krajina Banskej Bystrice (Kontinuita textov a križovatka etník)
Language Landscape of Banská Bystrica (Continuity of Texts and Intersection of Ethnic Groups)

Author(s): Pavol Odaloš
Subject(s): Regional Geography, Comparative Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Western Slavic Languages
Published by: Instytut Slawistyki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: language landscape; commercial and non-commercial text; Banská Bystrica;

Summary/Abstract: The language landscape of Banská Bystrica is made up of visible language, which means written language in the form of contextually fixed words, sentences and complex sentences of a commercial and non-commercial nature. Non-commercial language fulfills a communicative function in terms of presenting basic orientation information in and around Banská Bystrica town, and about the town’s activities, the church and cemetery buildings, and monuments. Commercial language has a business function because it becomes part of the process of business transactions: first in the form of advertising texts offering commercial products; later in the form of information concerning goods offered directly by business facilities. The language landscape of Banská Bystrica is a collection of texts in Slovak, German and Hungarian and is a manifestation of the ethnolinguistic activities of Slovaks, Germans and Hungarians. Some texts in English, German, Latin, Russian and Romanian are evidence of the vitality of these languages in presenting facts about the present day and the history of this town.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 21
  • Page Range: 1-15
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Slovak