Overt or Covert: Who Cares about the Language Policy?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the overt or covert language policy in action in the divided capital city of Cyprus, Nicosia, through the notion of linguistic landscape. Examining language use on public signs provides valuable insights into the linguistic situation of a given place, including the visibility of official language policies, ideological orientations, and power relations among linguistic groups. Official language policies refer to explicit or implicit rules and regulations that shape or control language use in public space. To this end, the study analyzes both top-down (official) and bottom-up (non-official) public signs displayed in two historically and socially significant neighboring areas of Nicosia: Arasta in the northern part of the city and Ledra Street in the southern part. Drawing on social action theory as a methodological framework, the study investigates whether the linguistic choices observed on these signs align with the provisions of official language policies or reflect covert practices shaped by social actors. Data were collected through systematic photographic documentation of public signs and analyzed in terms of language choice, order of appearance, and relative prominence. The findings reveal clear asymmetries between policy and practice, indicating that Greek is more visible and symbolically powerful than Turkish, particularly in the southern part of the city. Moreover, the results suggest that language policy, whether overt or covert, plays a limited role in shaping the linguistic landscape of public space.