Características del paisaje lingüístico del Barrio Portugués en Hamburgo

Resumo

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF THE PORTUGUESE QUARTER IN HAMBURG

With the development of social relations, the number of different graphic signs that convey information increases. Landry and Bourhis (1997) consider that the ensemble of verbal signs in public space creates the linguistic landscape of a place. The informative function is not the only one performed by these signs. This study analyses the linguistic landscape of the Portuguese Quarter in Hamburg. This is an area colonised by immigrants, mainly from the Iberian Peninsula. Today, the main economic activity in the area is gastronomy. Most of the establishments are named in Romance languages, which is purely symbolic. The verbal signs in German have an informative character. On the menus and other information at eye level of the customers, it is much more obvious that German is dominant and the signs in the Romance languages serve to relate the dishes to the respective cuisines and to create or emphasise the ambience of the interior. What may come as a surprise, especially to a foreign tourist, is that in the Portuguese Quarter, although it is considered an attraction, there are not many verbal signs in English, except for a relatively limited offer aimed at foreign tourists. The multilingualism of the Portuguese Quarter is an attempt to preserve the character and tradition of the area.