Linguistic Landscapes of Istanbul

John Wendel
Dokkyo University, Japan
 3-Way Classification

• Official—Signs posted by national government, city,

municipality. Names of buildings. Religious markers on
mosques, temples or churches.
• Commercial– Signs posted by corporations or small
businesses. Brand names.
• Individual—Signs posted by individuals. Lost children or
pets. Meetings. Graffiti.
•

Additional analyses
1. Evaluation of ‘language richnes’ (LR index) for each district.
2. Evaluation of language function: symbolic vs. informational.
 Procedures

•
All linguistic objects from ground level to 2nd floor level
(including carts, banners over streets, etc.)
• Each sign counted as I unit. Exceptions: multiples of
small signs in windows or store fronts—each cluster
counted as one sign.
• Each sign categorized in terms of…
•

• Agency: official, commercial, or individual sign

• Function: evaluated for function
• Number of languages: Monolingual , Bi-, Tri, etc.
• Languages present
• Photos taken and notes made for each neighborhood
and sign.
 Study Sites

• Particular sites chosen because …

•

• Representative of “Istanbul”: Istiklal, Sultanahmet

• Traditional Turkish: Kuzguncuk
• Ethnic minorities: Fener, (Aksaray and Kumkapı in
progress)
• These sites have in common…
•

• Streets are commercial centers

• At least 300m for each site (both sides of the street)
• Daytimes, weekdays between noon and late afternoon
Kuzguncuk
 — Istanbul—
Layers of history
Major dates
--Constantinople, new capitol of Rome, founded in 330
--Mehmet II conquers Constantinople in 1453
--Republic of Turkey established in 1923
“Cross-linguistic encounters” 17th Century Istanbul
(Sinclair et al 2010)
 th
17 Century Istanbul
“Cross-linguistic
encounters”
 “Nationality Map -- 1922”
(Clarence Richard Johnson. 1922. Constantinople Today)
Kuzguncuk:
mosques,
temples,
churches
Figure 1. Numbers of signs for each sign type in t
sample: Kuzguncuk.
 Agency & Function (Kuzguncuk)

Turkish (T=244)
•

• O: 18.8%
• C: 78.2%
• I: 3.0%
English (E + TE=15)
•

• All comercial: modernity, cultural refererences (e.g.,

“Kuzguncuk Market” “Betty Blue” “Olive and beyond”)
Other (combinations of I,T,F,H,G=7)
•

• 5 associated with churches or temples

• 1 French-Turkish: “Café de Balık”
• 1 Italian: “Corvino”
• NO ARABIC, RUSSIAN!
 What status to give the following…?

• Language on Christian churches, Jewish

temples.
• Ottoman Turkish found on…
•

• Mosques and other buildings

• Fountains
• Other (Galatasaray Lyseé, Galata Tower)
• Language on Byzantine or Roman structures
(e.g., cisterns, walls, gates, columns)
İstİklal
Figure 2. Numbers of signs for each sign type
in the sample: İstiklal.
 Agency & Function (İstiklal)

Turkish (T=265)
•

• O: 9.8%
• C: 88.3%
• I: 1.8%
English (E+TE= 60)
•

• I=1; C=56; I=3. Most commercial (93%). One bilingual sign

“Galatasaray Hamamı”. One Monolingual English: “Black
Friday”
Other (combinations of G,F,A,E,T,I,C,OT)=34
•

• O=6;C=27;I=1. Most commercial (79%).

• Greek consulate (5 signs: Greek, Turkish, French, English)
• Arabic: All C= 19. Mono=5; Bi=7; Tri=7.
• Ottoman Turkish: one at Galatasaray Lyseé
• Italian: one mono. promoting Italian film festival
• French: Madame Toussaud (Grand Pera building)
Figure 3. Numbers of signs for each sign type
sample: Fener.
 Language Functions (Fener)

Turkish (T=78)
•

• O: 15%
• C: 82.%
• I: 3%
English (TE+E)=30
•

• Most C=28, e.g., “Rag’n Roll.” One graffiti; one T+E

bilingual history of Fener (O=municipality)
Other (combinations of G,I,OT/A=10)
•

• Greek: all 7=C (store near Greek Patriarchate: E,G)

• Italian: 2 signs=C, about types of coffee
• Arabic/OT: one plaque above a mosque entrance (Ali
Yazıcı Cami)
Sultanahmet
Figure 4. Numbers of signs for each sign type in
sample: Sultanahmet.
 Language Functions (Sultanahmet)

English (E=151)
•

• Official T+E signs: tourism, regulatory

• English monolingual all commercial.
Other (combinations of A,T,F,R,G,J,Ko=28)
•

• C=25 (89% of all “Other”)

• Arabic (14 signs= 50% of “Other”): C=12; I=2
• Multilingual: Pharmacy, Menu, Money Exchange
 To do…

• Kurdish: Kurdish demographics, language use, etc.—

any LL study of Istanbul must take into account the
disparity between absence of Kurdish in the
landscape, population figures.
• Demographic profiles of districts—population, ethnic
composition, age breakdown, mother tongue, tourist
populations, immigrant and transient populations
• Historical & Sociocultural profiles of districts—past
populations movements, social and political
upheavels
• Ethnographies—familiarity with each site, interviews
with residents.
References

• Leclerk, J. 1989. La guerre des langue dans l’affichage. Montréal: VLB

éditeur.
• Bourdieu, P. 1991. Language And Symbolic Power. Polity.
• Landry, J. and Bourhis, R. 1997. Ethnolinguisic vitality.
• Spolsky & Cooper. 1991. The languages of Jerusalem.
• Backhaus, P. 2008. The lingustic landscapes of Tokyo. Multilingual Matters.
• Blommaert, J. 2013. Ethnography, superdiversity and linguistic landscapes.
Multilingual Matters.
• Blommaert. J. 2010. Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge.
• Cenoz, J. and Gorter, D. 2006. inguistic Landscape and Minority Languages.
International Journal Of Multilingualism.
• Csató, Éva Á., Bernt Brendemoen, Lars Johanson, Claudia Römer and Heidi
Stein. 2010. The Linguistic Landscape of Istanbul in the Seventeenth
Century. In: The Urban Mind: Cultural and Environmental Dynamics.
References (Cont.)

•
Searle, J. 1969. Speech Acts. Cambridge University Press.
• Halliday, MAK. 2004. The Language Of Science. Continuum.
• Pavlenko, Aneta. 2008. Linguistic Landscape of Kyiv, Ukraine: A Diachronic Study.
Routlege.
•

Postage Stamp source materials

• Istanbul on Stamps. 2001. Karakas, Anameriç & Rukanci. Ministry of Culture and
Tourism: Turkey. (Trans., H. Turner).
• “STAMP CATALOGUE” http://colnect.com/en/stamps/list/country/8047-Turkey/
• “Postage stamps and postal history of Turkey.”
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Turkey
• Wipipedia. Postange Stamps and Postal History of Turkey.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamps_and_postal_history_of_Turkey