The language of posters in the south of Slovakia warning about the pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18349/MagyarNyelv.2022.2.175Keywords:
linguistic landscape, virolinguistic landscape, virolinguistics, monolingual warnings, bilingual warningsAbstract
One of the less researched areas of virolinguistics is the virolinguistic landscape, comprising the visual use of language and images in a given geographic area, particularly the collection of posters and visual aids offering safety instructions. The paper analyses the language of posters warning about the pandemic found in the bilingual south of Slovakia. The first half of the paper presents the results of an online survey conducted among Hungarians living in Slovakia regarding their attitude and demand in relation to public information about the pandemic (offered in Hungarian), while the second half investigates the virolinguistic landscape of Komárno, which is considered to be the cultural centre of Hungarians living in Slovakia. The results of the questionnaire show that Hungarians living in Slovakia consider it important that signs warning about the pandemic include a Hungarian translation in addition to the caption in the state language. However, based on the experience of respondents and the data collected during the fieldwork of the authors in Komárno, monolingual warnings in Slovak
are commonplace. The authors explain the lack of warnings in Hungarian with institutions’ and shops’ hasty reaction to the safety measures and the limited availability of bilingual posters on the internet.
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