Abstract:

One of the fields of linguistic research at the Hungarian Institute of the University of Nitra is the bilingual onymic landscape, the visual representation of proper names in the Hungarian-inhabited settlements of Southern Slovakia.

The onymic landscape that is part of the linguistic landscape consists of proper names on nameplates, inscriptions in public spaces, and other surfaces (e.g., walls, tombstones, posters, billboards) and extra-lingual signs (e.g., logo, photograph, drawing, sculpture) referring to and accompanying names.

The paper examines the factors influencing the visual representation of proper names in public spaces, the languages (state language, minority language, and other foreign languages) in which proper names appear in a bilingual environment.

The results of name semiotic research are also presented in university education. The author points out that university students like to get involved in the name semiotic landscape research; they take photographs of the linguistic landscape at their place of birth and analyse and present the results of their research in seminar papers and final thesis.

Keywords:

Bilingualism, name semiotic landscape, university education, the Hungarian Institute of the University of Nitra.