Citation:

Rattana Chanthao, Pisit Kobbun. "Multilingual Signs in Khon Kaen City: Transportation" International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 19-27, 2024.

Abstract:

This research article aims to explain the language used on multilingual signs related to transportation in the Khon Kaen city area. The research falls within the field of linguistics, addressing the issue of multilingual signs within the framework of linguistic landscape and sociocultural linguistic perspectives. The research data consists of multilingual signs, specifically those in two or more languages, published by government agencies and displayed on public premises. The research reveals that Khon Kaen City has three significant transportation hubs: Khon Kaen International Airport, Khon Kaen Railway Station, which connects to Laos and China through the Thai-Lao border checkpoint in Nong Khai Province, and Khon Kaen Bus Station. Additionally, information is provided on the inner-ring roads of the city to assist with traffic navigation. The results show that there are two types of multilingual signs: bilingual signs and trilingual signs. Bilingual signs are found to contain only Thai and English, with Thai in the upper position and either larger than English or of equal size. As for the trilingual signs, they include Thai, English, and Chinese characters, with Thai at the top, English in the middle, and Chinese at the bottom. Thai characters are the largest, followed by English, and Chinese characters are smaller, especially on airport signs. The results of this research indicate the importance of Thai and English in the top rankings, while Chinese has a significant political effect on signage. Khon Kaen is an economic province connected to China via Laos, as many Chinese people come to live in CLMV countries, especially in Laos, resulting in Khon Kaen’s position as the center of the transportation of the people of this region accordingly. Therefore, Chinese as an economic and tourism language is found on transportation signs in this research.

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Keywords:

Multilingual Sign, Linguistic Landscape, Sociocultural Linguistics, Khon Kaen City.