Linguistic landscapes of intangible cultural heritage museums representing minority languages: the case of the ‘Gerhard Rohlfs’ Museum of the Calabrian Greek Language

Interest in the intangible cultural heritage of minority and Indigenous communities has grown in recent years. Minority languages are often a key element of this heritage but require constant safeguarding and practice to be available for future generations. The linguistic landscapes of (in)tangible cultural heritage museums can play a crucial role in this. In this study, the linguistic landscape of the ‘Gerhard Rohlfs’ Museum of the Calabrian Greek Language is therefore explored to understand how it can contribute to the safeguarding of a severely endangered language. A linguistic landscape analysis of 248 photographs revealed a significant presence of Calabrian Greek (Greko), reflecting a more equal status and prestige compared to Italian. The most widely used language, however, was Italian, ensuring museum content was accessible to the presumed main target audience. The lack of English suggests lower international visitor numbers, potentially benefiting the safeguarding of Calabrian Greek by reducing competition with another majority language. The findings thus demonstrate how language choices can support safeguarding measures for languages as intangible cultural heritage, through challenging language hierarchies and hegemonies. Further research should explore tourists’ and locals’ perceptions of such museums and the potential use of minority or endangered languages as sustainable tourism resources.