From enregisterment to commodification

Low German in the Virtual Linguistic Landscape of commercial Instagram posts

Dados Bibliográficos

ID19487366
AutoresFrederike Schram (0009-0002-6498-7169, University of Turku, autor correspondente)
Ano2026
Data de publicação2026-06-05
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLinguistic Landscape An international journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2214-9953 • E-ISSN: 2214-9961
EditoraJohn Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1075/ll.25044.sch
OpenAlexW7163680478
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas40

Regional and minority languages are often challenged as their communicative value decreases. However, given their use in marketing and for identity construction, and as an outcome of language maintenance and revitalisation initiatives, their public display can increase. This study combines online language use with Linguistic Landscape research to examine the use of Low German in the Virtual Linguistic Landscape of commercial Instagram posts. Using qualitative and quantitative data analysis of a multimodal corpus of commercial Instagram posts’ visuals, the paper shows that Low German is the most common language and, unlike High German and English, primarily serves a symbolic function as prints on products and in language learning contexts. This Low German use follows patterns of enregisterment, commodification, and postvernacularity while also furthering these. The high visibility of Low German in the data is thus not a sign of a language of everyday communication but rather emphasises its symbolic nature

Commodification · Everyday life · Function (biology) · German · Identity (music) · Linguistic landscape · Semiotics · Sign (mathematics) · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Multilingual Education and Policy · Second Language Learning and Teaching