Examining Language Ideologies in the Linguistic Landscape of a Sacred Place: Makkah al-Mukarramah

Abstract

Focusing on the connection between language policy and language ideologies, this paper compares the linguistic landscape of the most sacred site for Muslims, the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, with the linguistic landscapes of commercial shopping centres in its surrounding areas. To identify the relationship between the policies implemented and actual practice, the study examines the language usage patterns of government and private signage. It aims to demonstrate how language ideology is reflected in the landscape of a religious site as an official location compared to non-official sites. Two key factors are considered: the state’s official signs versus non-official signs, and the conflicting language ideologies. Data were collected from 300 photographs of signs in the Grand Mosque and from the names of stores in the commercial shopping centres in the adjacent areas. A linguistic landscape analysis was then conducted to investigate informational and symbolic functions. The results revealed that official signs differ from non-official signs in many respects. In the Grand Mosque, for example, although monolingual, bilingual and multilingual forms appeared in all patterns, most signs were monolingual. In these signs, Arabic, Urdu, English, French and Chinese appeared in that order. In contrast, most non-official signs in the stores of the commercial shopping centres were bilingual, in English or Arabic. Few signs were monolingual or multilingual. The results indicated that signs in commercial shopping centres did not comply with official policy, particularly regarding the national language Arabic in terms of font size and language sequencing, and many shopkeepers tended to use strategies to circumvent the policy. Simultaneous accommodation of and resistance to the official policy characterised these strategies, most of which were driven by commercial motives.