Hempstead

An adaptation of J. Cenoz and D. Gorter’s “Linguistic Landscape and Minority Languages”

A Linguistic Landscape on:

• Two blocks in two bilingual cities that are part of the same village.

• English as the primary language.

• Spanish, is spoken as a minority language.

An analysis of:

• 39 Signs

• The use and characteristics of languages used on each

establishment and the relationship to its sociolinguistic context.

Village of Hempstead, NY

• Front Street, UniondaleEnglishSpanish

• Fulton Street, HempsteadEnglishSpanish

Nassau County

Hempstead/Uniondale

Background Information

Hempstead

• Population in 2000: 56,554– Value:  14,036 Persons/Sq Mile

• Projected Population in 2007: 754,613

• Approximately 12.8% of the population can understand, speak or write Spanish

Hempstead

• Races: % value •Languages: % value

Uniondale

• Population in 2000: 23,011– Value: 8,427 Persons/Sq Mile

• Projected Population in 2007: 25,294

• Approximately 24.7 % of the population can understand, speak or write Spanish

Uniondale

• Races: % value •Languages: % value

• Which are the languages displayed in the linguistic landscape of Uniondale and Hempstead?

• What are the characteristics of bilingual signs?

Research Questions

Methodology

• Digital pictures of texts

• Variables:– Number of languages on the sign– Languages on the sign– First language and type of font on

bilingual signs

Research question 1: Number of Languages

displayed

97

15

8

0

10

20

30

40

1 2

Uniondale Hempstead

Language on sign

6 6 63

5 53

51 00

10

20

30

40

E/S E S/E S Other

Uniondale Hempstead

E: English S: Spanish

HempsteadMonolingual English

HempsteadMonolingual Spanish

HempsteadEnglish/Spanish

HempsteadSpanish/English

UniondaleMonolingual English

UniondaleMonolingual Spanish

UniondaleEnglish/Spanish

UniondaleSpanish/English

Research Question 2: The characteristics of bilingual

signs

First language on bilingual signs

6 6 5 5

0

10

20

30

E/S S/E

Uniondale Hempstead

E: English S: Spanish

HempsteadBilingual Sign S/E

UniondaleBilingual Sign E/S

Type of font on bilingual signs

0 0

1210

0

10

20

30

Same Different

Uniondale Hempstead

HempsteadBilingual sign with Different Fonts

UniondaleBilingual sign with Different Fonts

Translation in bilingual signs

12

12

7

0

10

20

Word to word Partial Translation

Uniondale Hempstead

HempsteadWord to Word Translation

HempsteadPartial Translation

UniondaleWord to Word Translation

UniondalePartial Translation

Conclusions• The signs show that in both Hempstead

and Uniondale, English is the prominent language.

• There are more bilingual signs than monolingual signs in both cities.

• English appears first in the majority of bilingual signs.

• The type of font used in bilingual signs is bigger for English than for Spanish.

• The study shows that both English and Spanish are used for communication in shops and other businesses around the area, which reflects the power and influence that the minority language has in both cities.