Linguistic landscapes in Chinese ethnic neighborhoods in multilingual Antwerp and Brussels

Abstract

This paper reports on an ongoing research project investigating the
language use of Chinese immigrants as heritage language users in
Antwerp and Brussels. Specifically, we study the linguistic landscape
of three ethnic Chinese neighborhoods, comparing these areas in
terms of the different languages and dialects used, and their visual
presence in the public space. We map out the geographical spread of
different languages in each locale and focus on language dominance,
mutual translation in multilingual signs, and the use of different
scripts and transliteration systems. By comparing the three ethnic
Chinese neighborhoods and by thus relating their different linguistic
landscapes to their distinct migration histories and demographic
profiles, we attempt to show how a linguistic landscape study can be
used as a way of gaining insight into the linguistic practices of relatively
small minority groups, such as the Chinese community in
Belgium,