Cutting Costs, Crafting Identity: Peluquerias Low Cost
The sign is part of a storefront display in a working-class neighborhood. It belongs to a low-cost beauty salon that also offers laser treatments, contributing to the local economy. The sign combines text and visuals to attract customers and communicate its services.
In the LL token provided, the predominant presence of Spanish is evident in the words “PELUQUERÍAS”, “LÁSER”, and “TINTE”, which prominently announce the business's main services. Alongside Spanish, the sign integrates English, as seen in the phrase “LOW COST”, signaling a globalized marketing strategy. Additionally, Catalan is present in words such as “TINT 5€”, reinforcing a localized linguistic presence that caters to Catalan-speaking consumers. The sign, printed on both a storefront board and glass, employs bold, capitalized lettering in striking orange to capture attention, with smaller text providing service and price details.
This LL token encapsulates a dynamic interplay of languages, where Spanish, English, and Catalan coexist within the Latin alphabet, reflecting the linguistic diversity present in Lleida. (see Figure 1)
Figure 1: LL analyzed. Source: Taken by the authors on March 10 at 3:53
“Peluquerias Low Cost” is located at Carrer Taquígraf Martí, 1, 25003 Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. This street is located next to the square “el Clot de les Granotes”, a public park located in Príncep de Viana-Clot neighbourhood, corresponding to number 4 on the map (Figure 2). In the 70s, local residents joined in protesting against building properties in an area full of vegetation. In the 80s, a huge hole occupied the square, and it is said that when it rained, it would flood with frogs. Finally, in the 90s, buildings began to be built, and even if the place was officially called “Plaça de la Constitució”, people called it “Clot de les Granotes”. (See Figure 3). In 2023, the name of the square changed, officially becoming the name everyone knew it by.
In actuality, apart from having two floors of underground parking, the square is surrounded by buildings where people of different nationalities , besides Spanish, live, mainly Moroccans (700), Romanians (583), Colombians (296), and Chinese (286), as the “Ajuntament de Lleida” records in an Excel file (concerning 2023), which is open data. This is one of the many reasons there are many foreign businesses, which are abundant in this district. Examples of these foreign establishments include the large number of kebab restaurants, Chinese or Romanian markets, etc. It is twenty or thirty minutes away from the center of Lleida, however, there are great restaurants near the square, such as “O Sole Mio”.
Even though it is not a neighbourhood known for its maximum security at night, not for its popularity or wealth, it has a park with structures where small children can enjoy the full sunlight. In addition, the square contains many benches where both young and old people can rest for a while.
Figure 4: Google Maps view of the LL
Figure 5: Google map view of the Neighbourhood
Fieldwork Visits
To make this project possible, we have visited our linguistic landscape three times. The first visit to the “Peluquerias Low Cost”, located in Taquígraf Martí 25003, was on Saturday, March 8th, at 3:53. When we saw it for the first time, we immediately thought that it had an eye-catching image. A showcase with different sizes of text and fonts. Moreover, the orange colour that dominated most of the hair salon glass was very noticeable to the public. Then, the second visit was on Friday, March 14th, at 15:47, and the third one, on Thursday, March 20th, at 18:09.
During these days, we have not seen any changes in the display case; everything remained the same. The only change we could notice was how the writing on it shines and stands out more during the day than at night. Moreover, we want to highlight the excellent use of colorimetry. At night, many signs are difficult to understand due to the lack of light and poor colour selection. However, they used a black background (on the awning) so that the orange overlay is clearly intelligible.
Top-down policies:
In relation to the top-down language policies in Catalonia and Lleida, Article 14 ,mentioned by Maria Sabaté in the document “Project Information Assessment Steps Outcome”, specifies that public signage of all kinds must be written normally in Catalan (translation from Catalan). Furthermore, Article 17.2. also states that outside the Catalan linguistic area, advertising should preferably be in a dual version: Catalan and the local language of the target territory, or in Spanish.
The regulatory Article Nº 41.4.3., sourced from the Ajuntament de Lleida, establishes additional restrictions regarding public advertising and propaganda. It explicitly prohibits:
"Col·locar, sense autorització expressa de l’Ajuntament, cartells, pancartes, adhesius o qualsevol altra forma de propaganda o publicitat, als edificis i instal·lacions municipals, als elements del paisatge, al mobiliari urbà i, en general, a tots aquells elements que, situats a la via i/o espais públics, estiguin destinats a prestar serveis específics a la ciutadania" (Ajuntament de Lleida, 2018, p. 23/24).
This restriction reinforces the control over the use of public spaces for linguistic and promotional purposes, ensuring that any displayed material aligns with municipal regulations and official language policies. These measures help to maintain Catalan as the language in public spaces while regulating unauthorized advertising in urban areas.
If we apply these regulatory laws to the sign used in our project, we can see that it does not fully comply with them. Much of the signage, including "Pelquerías Low Cost" (which should be "Perruqueries Low Cost" in Catalan) and "Láser" (which should be "Làser" in Catalan), indicates that Spanish is the dominant language.
Since Catalan is neither the primary nor the most prominent language on the sign, it may still fail to meet Article 14, which mandates that public signage be primarily in Catalan.
Bottom-up Language Policies:
In relation to the top-down language policies, bottom-up policies involve the people’s decisions regarding their businesses. Lleida and its surrounding areas have hundreds of enterprises, many of them local, foreign, or international. Economy, culture, and even nationality all play a key role in the creation of an establishment’s logo. The title can be created to promote a product and make it more striking in English. For instance, it can also be written in Arabic to highlight the culture or in Catalan as the main local language.
In this case, the “Peluquerias Low Cost” is a Spanish franchise with offices in several cities across the country, including Barcelona, Zaragoza, Murcia, and Granada. The use of English in the title offers an international and prestigious vision, thus lending the company greater professionalism. Furthermore, as a Spanish brand, part of the title (“Peluquerias”) and the services offered (such as “Abdomen” or “Espalda”) are written in the national language.
Despite this, they have added a very important factor: the language of the Catalan territory. We can see this in words like “TINT” prominently displayed on the showcase and on some services. In addition, it is also written high on a sign so that people who may not fully understand Catalan or prefer Spanish can feel satisfied. Furthermore, we believe that Catalan can be visually appealing to the local elderly. Older women, observing a flashy, affordable place (“TINT 5€”), will be attracted.
Additionally, the Catalan language is actively promoted within the municipality. Junts, a group from the Lleida Provincial Council, advocates across various spheres, including economic, social, and commercial. However, over the years, due to immigration and the new generations, our local language, Catalan, has been gradually slipping into oblivion. Junts is determined to stop this trend and ensure the survival of Catalan by encouraging the rest of the population to embrace it in daily life.
An explanation of the linguistic context
The linguistic context that surrounds our token is marked by the sociocultural situation of the neighbourhood Princep de Viana-Clot, as stated in the contextualization, this district has been shaped by the large immigrant population that inhabits it. The neighbourhood is also characterized by a mix of languages, primarily Spanish and Catalan, as the dominant local languages alongside other languages brought by immigrant communities such as Arabic (Moroccan), Chinese, and Romanian, as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7, which are LLs extracted from the surroundings of our token, near “El Clot de les Granotes”.
Figure 6: LL surrounding the token.
Figure 7 LL surrounding the token.
5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The predominant language of our linguistic landscape is Spanish, with words like “Peluquerias”, “TINTE”, and small text added below to provide information about the services. Catalan, behind Spanish, also seems to have a strong hold on the linguistic landscape. Despite this, the English-dominated title, “Peluquerias Low Cost”, reflects the global influence of the English language. The brand’s catchy name in English enhances its appeal, making the services seem more desirable. As a result, the intended target audience is likely to be drawn to the brand, increasing their interest and consumption of its services. English has not only reached the international brand established in our hometown, but also the local establishments. The LL of this shop in Lleida illustrates the internationalization of commerce and economy through the process of Englishisation, where it is increasingly used in non-Anglophone contexts, particularly in branding and retail; a clearly English fetish.
Nevertheless, it should be highlighted the commercial influence that English can provide to our local town. Even if it seems that it is conquering our language and commerces, we could see it from a positive way. By adopting our local mercantilism to an international point of view, we can open up new opportunities for growth. This approach encourages innovation and strengthens the global competitiveness of local enterprises.
Within the text typology, we could affirm that it is commercial and informational since it conveys a marketing purpose, thus advertising low prices and reinforcing the commercial nature. Its aim is to attract customers at any cost so they can promote their beauty salon. Additionally, not only the words “LOW COST” would attract customers, but also could be the word “LÀSER”, which is written in orange capital letters as well. Even though it is written in Catalan, it can be understood by other language speakers, since in English, it is written in the same way (without the accent). In fact, laser is an English acronym of “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Also, writing “5€” hugely demonstrates the goal of reaching all types of audiences. For European residents, it will be easier to understand that the services offer a low price, although the message could be a piece of cake for the rest of the world to comprehend.
This, by using strategically chosen words and symbols that most of the people can understand, will attract local clients or even tourists. This example demonstrates to us, once again, that English is getting a piece of us every day, more and more.
Finally, focusing on its aesthetics, we should highlight how they use different fonts and sizes to attract the customers’ attention. Moreover, the use of orange is crucial in this language landscape. They did not just choose this colour randomly but with a purpose. Orange seems to be a symbol of optimism, creativity, enthusiasm, energy, warmth, etc. They want to create a friendly atmosphere in order to perfectly manage to perfectly capture their target audience. Additionally, on the top left, before the title, we can see an icon, which is a woman’s mane with the store’s initials inside. Within this they want to transmit the concept of beauty; in other words, the quality of the services they are offering. Portraying a gorgeous silhouette of a woman makes the audience think that they are going to turn up as pretty as the image.
6. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
This project has shown us how a simple linguistic landscape can serve as a powerful pedagogical tool for understanding sociolinguistic dynamics in a real-case scenario.
The analysis of a specific token of our choice has made us gain knowledge on the interplay between language, identity, and commercial strategy in an urban and everyday setting. Both our in-class discussions and fieldwork got us to know more about different aspects surrounding sociolinguistics, such as top-down and bottom-up language policies and multilingual urban demographics.
The fact of actually seeing the token firsthand, along with its surrounding environment, has helped us to contextualize the linguistic choice within a specific economic, cultural, and demographic framework.
Furthermore, incorporating TKA (Technology of Knowledge Acquisition) and TEP (Technology of Empowerment and Participation) techniques allowed us to take an active role in knowledge creation. The TKA technique was used to geolocate the Google map of the city, and the TEP was used to transfer the knowledge to a blog site (Sabaté-Dalmau, M., 2022).
Finally, we want to finish saying that we really enjoyed this type of project where we actually are the ones who go to the street and gather information and material. We found it very educative to be the ones who generate the knowledge, and we also were impressed to know that digital technologies can be applied for analyzing the linguistic landscape. We never thought that sociolinguistics, a topic so theoretical and dense, could be digitally studied and also have a significant impact on the students' knowledge.
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ReplyDeleteI was much intrigued that you refer to the "English fetishism," which explains how English at times is used more symbolically than for functional communication. In addition, I gained insights into the language policies and the language choices, because, as you show, Catalan language rules aim to make Catalan the dominant language in public signs, but effective linguistic situations typically do not respond to such policies due to economic, social, and cultural factors.
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