Asturian cider in Madrid? Linguistic identity and the multilingual signage of Asturian restaurants in Madrid, Spain

Abstract

ABSTRACT Migrant communities settle and appropriate spaces in their new home through deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation processes, which involve the reconceptualisation of the language and symbols of the homeland and those spoken and used in the diaspora. The public sphere is one of the most distinguishable places where this contextual relation is expressed. This paper examines how language and semiotic resources are used in the linguistic landscape of Asturian restaurants in the capital of Spain, Madrid, to represent spaces this community had in their motherland, Asturias (North-western Spain). Following a multimodal analysis of signage in ten Asturian restaurants, it analyses sign-genres, the distinction between symbolic and communicative functions of the signage, the language choice in authenticating places, and the placement of signs in the semiotic landscape.