Exploring the Linguistic Landscape of Jazan, Saudi Arabia: A Case Study of Two Commercial Zones

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33948/JRLT-KSU-5-2-1

Keywords:

Linguistic Landscape, signboards, Jazan, Arabic, English dominance

Abstract

The remarkable economic growth and unprecedented social transformations make the underexplored Jazan city in Saudi Arabia rich and promising for linguistic landscape (LL) research. The current study has the following aims: a) To explore the LL of Jazan City, Saudi Arabia; b) To compare and contrast the LL of two commercial zones within Jazan City: The Internal Market and the Corniche Road, and c) To discuss the factors affecting the LL of Jazan City in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. 200 sample signs, 100 from each location, were collected through pictures, videotapes, field notes, and Google Maps for confirmation. The analysis revealed the following significant findings: 1) the dominance of Arabic in the signage of the Internal market, and 2) the dominance of English in the signage of the Corniche Road with the presence of other new languages (e.g., Spanish). Like other Saudi cities and Arab countries, English's gradual dominance and prioritization challenge the current LL status of Arabic in Jazan. Improved language policies are necessary to promote and sustain the presence of Arabic while accommodating the practicalities of global communication.

Author Biographies

  • Essa Alfaifi, Jazan Universtiy

    Dr. Essa Salman Alfaifi is an assistant professor of Arabic linguistics at the department of Arabic language, College of Arts and Humanities, Jazan University. He Received his PhD degree in (2020) from College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona. His PhD dissertation entitled "An Emergent Grammar Model for the Linguistic Notion of Diglossia in Arabic and Faifi". His research interests include Arabic linguistics, Arabic dialects, Arabic phonology and morphology.

    Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=XBLbuh0AAAAJ&hl=en

  • Yahya Mobarki

    Dr. Yahya Abdu A Mobarki is an assistant professor of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at the Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia. He received his PhD degree in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics (2018) from Arizona State University. His research interests include discourse analysis, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and historical linguistics. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4845-5130s, pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and historical linguistics.

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Published

2025-10-05

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2025)

Section

Articles