Linguistic landscape as a way of public communication in Vinogradovo

Abstract

Abstract. Transcarpathia can be found in the western part of Ukraine, in the neighbourhood of four EU member states. It is a multiethnic region, which became an independent country in 1991. According to the Ukrainian census of 2001 the population of Transcarpathia is around 1 254 614 and Hungarians in Ukraine number 151 516 that means almost 12,1 % of the Transcarpathian population [2, 12]. Transcarpathia is divided into 13 administrative regions. One of the regions is Nagyszőlős/Vinogradovo where the rate of Hungarians in 2001 was 26,2 % of the population [1, 84]. When we arrive in a new country or city/town, public signs, advertisements and billboards are often the first forms of contact we have with the language. If the country is multilingual, each instance of language choice and presentation in the public signage transmits symbolic messages regarding legitimacy, centrality and relevance of particular languages and the people they represent.