A linguistic analysis of inscriptions on shops in Kumasi

Abstract

The study of signs in public sphere either in writing or in symbolic forms is termed as linguistic landscape. Landry and Bourhis (1997) for the first time coined and defined the notion as “the language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region or urban agglomeration” (p.22). The intention behind this research work is to examine shop signs in Kumasi, the capital city of Ashanti Region because it is one of the most popular cities in the country and it has not yet been explored adequately. These shop signs are entirely collected from Kronom to Kedjetia stretch of road, Kumasi. The signs on the selected shops were captured using a modern/standard digital camera after a thorough interview had been conducted, one-on-one with the shop owners/keepers. In addition, the approach to the study is qualitative in design. The study attempts to highlight themes featured in the inscriptions on the shops, the intention behind their usage by the shop owners/keepers and functions of the shop signs at the chosen research area. The languages featured in the inscriptions on the shops included; the in-group language, Akan (Twi), Ga, Ewe, Fante, and the “omniscient” global language, English. The findings proved that English (been the global language) is a dominant language but it was realized that the in-group language, Akan (Twi) was competing with it. That shows how serious the ethnic group (speakers of that language) cherish their language. The study in addition analyzed themes identified to be dominant in the inscriptions used. It was established that theme of religion/faith was the most dominant theme because the chosen research area is a place where people pay much attention to their object of worship, God. The study further concludes that through the inscriptions featured on the shops at the chosen research site, shop owners/keepers are able to express and share their experiences, sentiments, thoughts and opinions to others/the general public.