Competing languages and coexisting communities in a peaceful Cypriot mixed village

Abstract

This paper investigates the linguistic vitality of Greek, Turkish and English in Pile/Pyla, an ethnically mixed village in Cyprus using a linguistic-landscape approach. Our findings show that English is the most powerful language, regardless of the type of language policy practised in the context. Greek enjoys more prestige, as it has huge instrumental value. Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots prefer English on bilingual signs, while Turkish- Greek or Greek-Turkish bilingual signs are non-existent. A great majority of monolingual signs are in English. Russian is now surfacing and inserting itself amongst the signage. © 2023, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH. Co.KG. All rights reserved.