New Research Directions in Toponomastics and Linguistic Landscapes

The emerging interdisciplinary field of linguistic landscape studies concentrates specifically on the use of language in public spaces, for example on road/street signs, on shop signs, building signs or advertisements. It is through the linguistic landscape that place names are displayed for all to see, and analysis of how those names are displayed can provide new insights into attitudes towards almost any modern place-naming process. Examination of the linguistic landscape can often reveal the most contentious place-name debates, with the public discourse about these issues also exposing deep-seated societal attitudes towards place names. Setting the following papers in context, this introduction explains the theoretical background to linguistic landscape studies and outlines the possibilities for the use of linguistic landscape methodology in onomastics.