The Linguistic Landscape of Massachusetts: A Case Study of Businesses Owned by African Immigrants

Abstract

In this paper, I investigate the linguistic landscape of businesses owned by African immigrants in Massachusetts, USA. The data was sampled from Boston and Worcester, where many Africans reside. Data was collected by taking pictures of inscriptions of the stores owned by African immigrants. The data showed contact between the indigenous languages of the immigrants and colonial languages. The inscriptions are usually a mixture of the English and local languages of the immigrants. The images portrayed the connection to Africa through the use of the word ‘African’ and the use of symbols that connect to Africa. It was again revealed that religion and African writing systems form part of the linguistic landscape of the immigrants.