Status and Function of English on Egyptian Public Signs

نوع المستند : المقالة الأصلية

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The current research paper surveys the public space of Mansoura city, Egypt. More specifically, it explores the status and functions of English and documents how it is ultimately spread visually on public signs, despite being a foreign language. Following a quantitative sampling approach, 1350 photographs of shop/business signs are gathered from three different commercial streets to be analyzed. Results show that social, economic, and aesthetic factors have played a role in the high presence of English, especially on bi/multilingual signs. On the one hand, English-only appears to be more valued in affluent areas where the message is easily understood to both local community and foreigners. On the other hand, English symbolizes positive values associated with modernity, high quality and fashion, which serve to advertise local products and link them with the global market. Further, use of English may serve innovative functions through language creativity and word play. The growing use of English entails increase use of transliterations from and into English. Arabized English or Romanized Arabic are may be used to fill a lexical or cultural gap between both languages. However, they result in the acceptance of many transliterated words as loanwords in Arabic.

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