(In)visibility of Multilingualism in Amdo Tibet

Project Information

IMAT

Grant agreement ID: 101106116

DOI

10.3030/101106116

Project closed

EC signature date 24 July 2023

Start date 1 January 2024

End date 31 December 2025

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 189 687,36

Coordinated by

FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - IMAT ((In)visibility of Multilingualism in Amdo Tibet)

Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This project investigated how multilingualism and linguistic diversity are materialised in urban space in Amdo Tibet (Qinghai–Gansu area), a culturally diverse region in Northwest China inhabited by Tibetans, Han Chinese, Hui, Salar, and Mongolic-speaking communities.
Against the backdrop of language policies, rapid urbanisation, migration, and socio-economic change, the project analyses language use in the linguistic landscape, focusing on the (in)visibility of multilingualism in public signage.
The project pursued four objectives: (1) document and database public signs; (2) analyse local language policies and regulations; (3) examine the informative and symbolic functions of multilingual signage; and (4) investigate language norms and contact phenomena as indicators of power relations and social hierarchies.
The main research site is Rongwo (Longwu), the county seat of Rebgong (Tongren), where Tibetan and Chinese are co-official languages and where intense infrastructural development is reshaping urban space. In addition to Rongwo, the project has also included Xining, the capital of Qinghai, in order to examine language use in urban space. Particular attention has been paid to the informative and symbolic roles of public signs and to the ways in which visual propaganda is adapted to national and local policies as well as to specific urban characteristics.
Situated at the intersection of sociolinguistics, ethnography, linguistics, and urban studies, the project has examined how state policies, sociolinguistic realities, language ideologies, and language contact shape the representation of ethnolinguistic diversity. Its broader aim is to understand language hierarchies, the impact of national and local language policies, and the agency of minority communities in constructing space through language and other semiotic resources.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Key outcomes include five conference presentations, 3 peer-reviewed publications (published or submitted), the creation of database of 269 public signs that will be accessible on the FU repository Refubium, and digital humanities outputs such as interactive maps and data visualizations on ArchGIS Storymap.
All main scientific objectives have been achieved or are on schedule: public signs were documented through fieldwork; language policies were examined and verified through research and field investigation; the informative and symbolic roles of signs are being analysed through ethnographic research and joint publications; and language norms and contact phenomena are being investigated, including through an article on translation practices.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Methodologically, the project integrates linguistic landscape analysis with ethnographic approaches in order to capture the complexities of language use in urban space and to better understand the structural and practical limitations affecting minority languages, as well as the perception of Tibetan speakers. This combined approach moves beyond purely descriptive accounts of signage and allows for a more nuanced interpretation of agency, policy implementation, and everyday communicative practices.

In addition, the project places specific emphasis on translation practices in public signage as a lens through which to analyse language hierarchies, inequalities, and forms of linguistic invisibility. While such dynamics have been widely discussed in post-colonial and globalised English-dominant contexts, they have rarely been examined in peripheral areas of China. By addressing this gap, the project contributes new theoretical and empirical insights into the relationship between multilingualism, power, and space in the Chinese context.