Observing and interpreting jiāzhuàng as a semiotic device in small business signs

Abstract This qualitative study examines three small business signs that use 夹壮 (jiāzhuàng) in the Linguistic Landscape of Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China. Jiāzhuàng is a contact-induced language practice, meshing Putonghua (standard spoken Chinese) and Zhuàngyǔ (the officially recognized language of Guangxi’s Zhuang minority ethnic group). Adopting a lived landscape approach, this study captures and interprets photographic data of how jiāzhuàng fosters unconventional meaning-making as a semiotic device. The analysis demonstrates jiāzhuàng as linguistic processes of phonetic change and character swapping that create intentional misalignments between folk language use and what is perceived as standard. The discussion reveals that jiāzhuàng, emblematic of grassroots language planning, empowers individuals to author public signage that transgresses dominant language policies, serves as a tool for conciliatory meaning-making (e.g., sexual innuendo), and functions as a marketing strategy for small business at the periphery of the valorized urban marketplace.