Reclaiming indigenous voices: linguistic landscape of minority languages in urban public spaces in Indonesia

Winie Setia Prilapnita Hapsari; Alif Via Sufianti

Authors

Winie Setia Prilapnita Hapsari STKIP PGRI Metro Author
Alif Via Sufianti STKIP PGRI Metro Author

Keywords:

artistic expression, cultural identity, language policy, linguistic landscape, minority languages

Abstract

Background: The visibility of minority languages in Indonesia’s urban public spaces reflects complex dynamics of cultural identity, political recognition, and linguistic equity. Objective: This study aims to examine the distribution, symbolic meanings, and power relations embedded in the linguistic landscape of selected Indonesian cities. Method: Employing a qualitative design that integrates Linguistic Landscape Analysis, semiotics, and Critical Discourse Analysis, data were collected through photographic documentation, field observations, municipal policy reviews, and stakeholder interviews. Results: The findings show that Makassar, Bandung, and Kupang exhibit high-visibility and institutionally supported minority language signage, integrating cultural identity with commercial and governance domains. Jayapura’s linguistic presence is dominated by political assertion and artistic expression, while Jakarta and Surabaya show lower visibility, with indigenous languages often confined to informal or peripheral spaces. These patterns indicate that ethnolinguistic vitality, governance frameworks, and socio-political histories strongly influence language placement, symbolic resonance, and public legitimacy. Implication: The study implies that sustainable indigenous language visibility requires not only spatial representation but also systemic policy support and community engagement. Novelty: This study demonstrates how governance structures and ethnolinguistic vitality jointly shape the visibility and symbolic power of minority languages in urban Indonesia through an integrated linguistic landscape, semiotic, and critical discourse perspective.

References

[1] N. Napu, “Linguistic Landscapes in Multilingual Urban Settings: Insights from Translation Perspectives,” Studies in English Language and Education, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 530–548, 2024, doi: 10.24815/siele.v11i1.29559.

[2] L. Bogerts, “Mind the trap: Street art, visual literacy, and visual resistance,” Street Art and Urban Creativity, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 6–10, 2017, doi: 10.25765/sauc.v3i2.76.

[3] B. A. Sudarmanto et al., “Language Preservation through Public Signage: Analyzing the Linguistic Landscape of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Border,” Forum for Linguistic Studies, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 601–612, 2025, doi: 10.30564/fls.v7i4.9052.

[4] B. A. Sudarmanto et al., “The languages on the border of Indonesia and Timor Leste: A linguistic landscape study,” Cogent Arts and Humanities, vol. 10, no. 2, 2023, doi: 10.1080/23311983.2023.2273145.

[5] S. Sugiharto, “The Politics within the issue of the Indonesian national language: A sociolinguistic perspective,” Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 353–372, 2017.

[6] N. N. Benu, I. K. Artawa, M. S. Satyawati, and K. W. Purnawati, “Local language vitality in Kupang city, Indonesia: A linguistic landscape approach,” Cogent Arts and Humanities, vol. 10, no. 1, 2023, doi: 10.1080/23311983.2022.2153973.

[7] N. Yannuar, Y. Febrianti, I. Nurhayani, N. Nazarudin, and Y. Basthomi, “Multidimensional Perspectives on Language Vitality and Linguistic Landscapes in Indonesia,” 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 420–448, 2025, doi: 10.17576/3L-2025-3104-27.

[8] Y. Wirza, “Bahasa Indonesia, ethnic languages and English: Perceptions on Indonesian language policy and planning,” presented at the GLOCAL Conference Proceedings, 2019, pp. 517–523. doi: 10.47298/cala2019.16-8.

[9] D. Ardhian, D. Purnanto, and H. Yustanto, “Religious performance in Malang, Indonesia: Linguistic landscape on worship sign,” Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 983–1000, 2021, doi: 10.52462/jlls.68.

[10] O. Oktavianus et al., “English Linguistic Landscape and EFL Learning: A Discourse-Based Study of Public Signs in Padan,” Jurnal Gramatika, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 242–265, 2025, doi: 10.22202/jg.2025.v11i2.10317.

[11] C. J. Ebol and E. Bayang, “Linguistic landscape: Interpreting languages in public spaces in Surigao del Norte,” Pantao (International Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences), Jan. 2025, doi: 10.69651/pijhss0402257.

[12] S. Ayyub and Z. Rohmah, “The linguistic landscape of Kotabaru Malang Train Station: language representation in public space,” Cogent Arts & Humanities, vol. 11, Aug. 2024, doi: 10.1080/23311983.2024.2389633.

[13] A. Cipria and E. O’Rourke, “Multimodal Analysis of the Spanish Linguistic Landscape in Alabama,” Languages, Jul. 2024, doi: 10.3390/languages9080264.

[14] J. Duan, “Decoding Urban Identity through Multimodal Linguistic Landscapes: A Dual-Layer Semiotic Analysis of Kagoshima’s Tourism-Oriented Language Practices,” Forum for Linguistic Studies, Sep. 2025, doi: 10.30564/fls.v7i10.10528.

[15] R. Assas, “Wayfinding Signage in Jeddah Historic Site (Al-Balad): A Comprehensive Study into its Ability to Reflect Historical and Cultural Values,” Journal of Design Sciences and Applied Arts, Jan. 2025, doi: 10.21608/jdsaa.2024.313206.1423.

[16] W. Champakaew, N. Suejam, and M. Chuaychoowong, “LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE AND CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SIGNAGES IN A MULTI CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT,” PUPIL: International Journal of Teaching, Education and Learning, Jul. 2023, doi: 10.20319/pijtel.2023.72.1729.

[17] F. D. Clorion et al., “Exploring linguistic signage in higher education: An empirical study of a linguistically diverse context,” Forum for Linguistic Studies, Jan. 2024, doi: 10.59400/fls.v6i1.2049.

[18] A. Hazaea and M. Qassem, “On the road to Mecca: Branding discourses and national identity on coffee shop signage,” PLOS ONE, vol. 20, Feb. 2025, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309829.

[19] I. Altenberger, “Signs, billboards, and graffiti a social-spatial discourse in a regenerated council estate,” Social Semiotics, vol. 34, pp. 253–268, Mar. 2024, doi: 10.1080/10350330.2022.2090832.

[20] M. G. Dondero, “Chapter 6 Visual semiotics: From structuralism to the material turn of big visual data,” in Semiotics of Images, De Gruyter, 2024, pp. 165–188. doi: 10.1515/9783110980257-007.

[21] N. Fairclough, Media discourse. Edward Arnold London, 1995. [Online]. Available: https://reviewbooku.com/review/norman-fairclough-media-discourse-4951969

[22] T. A. Van Dijk, “Principles of critical discourse analysis,” Discourse & society, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 249–283, 1993.

[23] R. Wodak, The Discourse of Politics in Action. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2009. doi: 10.1057/9780230316539.

[24] J. Pun, “A study of Chinese medical students’ communication pattern in delivering bad news: an ethnographic discourse analysis approach,” BMC Medical Education, vol. 21, May 2021, doi: 10.1186/s12909-021-02724-6.

[25] P. Coluzzi, “Signs in the linguistic landscape as markers of an ethnic group’s identity and ownership,” Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 5–15, 2020, doi: 10.1108/SEAMJ-01-2020-B1002.

[26] Y. Cui, X. Song, Q.-Y. Hu, Y. Li, A. Shanthini, and T. Vadivel, “Big data visualization using multimodal feedback in education,” Computers & Electrical Engineering, Dec. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.compeleceng.2021.107544.

[27] K. Yagmur, “Does ethnolinguistic vitality theory account for the actual vitality of ethnic groups? A critical evaluation,” Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 111–120, 2011, doi: 10.1080/01434632.2010.541914.

[28] K. Belarbi and L. Belaid, “Multilingual Practices in the Linguistic Landscape: Insights into Linguistic Repertoires and Language Policy,” International Journal of Multilingual Education, May 2025, doi: 10.22333/ijme.2025.9075.

[29] D. Zoumpalidis and H. B. Şimşek, “Multilingualism and language commodification in the public signage of Moscow,” Russian Journal of Linguistics, Oct. 2025, doi: 10.22363/2687-0088-43326.

[30] M. Q. Khan, A. Shahzad, and F. Altaf, “Counter-Narratives and Activism: Social Media’s Role in Shaping Political Awareness,” GDPMR, vol. VI, no. II, pp. 324–333, Jun. 2023, doi: 10.31703/gdpmr.2023(VI-II).23.

[31] T. Rosendal and J. De Dieu Amini Ngabonziza, “Amid signs of change: language policy, ideology and power in the linguistic landscape of urban Rwanda,” Language Policy, vol. 22, pp. 73–94, Apr. 2022, doi: 10.1007/s10993-022-09624-5.

[32] M. Ahmed, “Language use patterns and ethnolinguistic vitality of the Shina speaking gurezi immigrants,” International Journal of the Sociology of Language, vol. 2014, no. 230, pp. 1–17, 2014, doi: 10.1515/ijsl-2014-0024.

[33] S. H. Mirvahedi, “Linguistic landscaping in Tabriz, Iran: A discursive transformation of a bilingual space into a monolingual place,” International Journal of the Sociology of Language, vol. 2016, no. 242, pp. 195–216, 2016, doi: 10.1515/ijsl-2016-0039.

[34] M. Pütz, “Exploring the linguistic landscape of cameroon: Reflections on language policy and ideology,” Russian Journal of Linguistics, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 294–324, 2020, doi: 10.22363/2687-0088-2020-24-2-294-324.

[35] S. Tufi, “Shared places, unshared identities: Vernacular discourses and spatialised constructions of identity in the linguistic landscape of Trieste,” Modern Italy, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 391–408, 2013, doi: 10.1080/13532944.2013.802411.

[36] L. A. Kasanga, “Mapping the linguistic landscape of a commercial neighbourhood in Central Phnom Penh,” Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, vol. 33, no. 6, pp. 553–567, 2012, doi: 10.1080/01434632.2012.683529.

[37] A. Fawaid, W. Udasmoro, S. Margana, and M. Huda, “Narrative Imagination of Islam in Nusantara: A Study on Islam in Babad Tanah Jawi and Babad Giyanti,” Indonesian Journal of Islamic Literature and Muslim Society, vol. 8, no. 1, Oct. 2023, doi: 10.22515/islimus.v8i1.5030.

[38] H. Hambali, A. Fawaid, F. Faridy, and Moh. Fachri, “Imagining The 18th Islam in Mataram Court: Structure of Thinking of Javanese Islam in Babad Tanah Jawi,” AT-TURAS: Jurnal Studi Keislaman, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 278–293, Dec. 2024, doi: 10.33650/at-turas.v8i2.3037.

[39] E. V. Khilkhanova and D. L. Khilkhanov, “Role of Tourism in Preservation and Support of Minority Languages: Russian and Global Context,” Nauchnyi Dialog, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 95–113, 2024, doi: 10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-6-95-113.

[40] V. Baranova, “The Linguistic Landscape of the war,” Linguistic Landscape, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 55–78, 2024, doi: 10.1075/ll.23006.bar.

[41] M. Yuan, “Submission and resistance in the English linguistic landscape of Chaoshan,” English Today, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 20–28, 2019, doi: 10.1017/S0266078418000214.

[42] M. Melem Hajdarović, “Materialization of spatial identity in Slavonia and Baranja’s linguistic landscape changes,” Hungarian Geographical Bulletin, vol. 73, no. 3, pp. 231–247, 2024, doi: 10.15201/hungeobull.73.3.2.

[43] I. Buchstaller, M. Fabiszak, and M. A. Ross, Space-Time (Dis)continuities in the Linguistic Landscape: Studies in the Symbolic (Re-)appropriation of Public Space. in Space-Time (Dis)continuities in the Linguistic Landscape: Studies in the Symbolic (Re-)appropriation of Public Space. 2024, p. 355. doi: 10.4324/9781003311621.

[44] C. István, “Accounting for changes in the linguistic landscape: The example of Transcarpathia,” Magyar Nyelv, vol. 112, no. 1, pp. 50–62, 2016, doi: 10.18349/MagyarNyelv.2016.1.50.

[45] J. J. Lou, The Linguistic Landscape of Chinatown: A Sociolinguistic Ethnography. in The Linguistic Landscape of Chinatown: A Sociolinguistic Ethnography. 2016, p. 156. [Online]. Available: https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.30945955

[46] K. Bolton, W. Botha, and S.-L. Lee, “Linguistic landscapes and language contact,” in The Handbook of Language Contact, 2020, pp. 281–300. doi: 10.1002/9781119485094.ch14.

[47] M. He and S. Chen, “Unveiling dynamics of language visibility and vitality in café menus near Labrang Monastery,” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 15, Sep. 2024, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1423672.