Proper names in the Linguistic Landscape: theoretical challenges in a multimodal discourse

In this article, we discuss different kinds of proper names in the linguistic landscape
(LL) and address methodological and theoretical issues we have encountered in our
research within the fields of LL studies and socio-onomastics. We stress the importance of the positioning discourse of proper names in the linguistic landscape, that is, the “unwritten rules” of where to place proper names e.g. on a shop’s façade, as an underlying structure that enables language users to distinguish between different kinds of texts, words and grammatical classes. This resource is particularly relevant when language users are confronted with homonyms, which can make it hard for language users to determine what meaning and function a particular sign is to have. We also discuss the multimodality of proper names in the LL, which presents a theoretical challenge for both describing the language use in the LL and defining the word class of proper names in grammars. The theoretical discussion is supported by empirical findings on language users’ ability to distinguish between proper names and other texts in the context of LLs.