Linguistic landscape studies analyse the languages and visual symbols on public signage to reveal the cultural values and social statuses of languages within a specific territory and time. While most research in Malaysia has focused on urban commercial areas, this study explores a more distinctive setting: a Malaysian Christian cemetery. The study aims to identify the languages and symbols on gravestone inscriptions at the Cheras Christian Cemetery, a predominantly Chinese site located southeast of Kuala Lumpur, and examine how they convey the Christian community’s cultural identity. Through content analysis of 180 purposively selected gravestones, the study found English monolingual inscriptions to be most common, followed by bilingual combinations with Mandarin and Tamil. These patterns reflect the multilingual, multicultural nature of Malaysian Christian identity and suggest what values the community deems important to express in death. Highlighting concerns over globalised generalisations of local identities, the study argues for increased research into underexplored cultural landscapes to better appreciate the diversity within Malaysia’s multicultural society and to document how minority groups assert their unique identities through language and symbols in public and commemorative spaces.

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A Linguistic Landscape Analysis of a Malaysian Christian Cemetery in a Chinese Space

  • Ahmed bin Bolhassan,
  • Sze Seau Lee,
  • Sharon Sharmini

摘要

Linguistic landscape studies analyse the languages and visual symbols on public signage to reveal the cultural values and social statuses of languages within a specific territory and time. While most research in Malaysia has focused on urban commercial areas, this study explores a more distinctive setting: a Malaysian Christian cemetery. The study aims to identify the languages and symbols on gravestone inscriptions at the Cheras Christian Cemetery, a predominantly Chinese site located southeast of Kuala Lumpur, and examine how they convey the Christian community’s cultural identity. Through content analysis of 180 purposively selected gravestones, the study found English monolingual inscriptions to be most common, followed by bilingual combinations with Mandarin and Tamil. These patterns reflect the multilingual, multicultural nature of Malaysian Christian identity and suggest what values the community deems important to express in death. Highlighting concerns over globalised generalisations of local identities, the study argues for increased research into underexplored cultural landscapes to better appreciate the diversity within Malaysia’s multicultural society and to document how minority groups assert their unique identities through language and symbols in public and commemorative spaces.