A complicated source

Abstract The commentary discusses the opportunities and challenges of using epitaphs on gravestones as a source for historical sociolinguistics based on the studies by Vajta, Kolehmainen and Wessman, Liebscher and Stolberg, Brown, and Kühl in the Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics (2026) all focusing on gravestones in multilingual communities. The commentary points out the paradoxical nature of gravestones shaped in the dichotomies of past and present, private and public, and informational and symbolic language use. Moreover, complexities arise when considering the multiple stakeholders and audiences such as the deceased, the family, the community, the public, the nation and, not least, the stone masons. This paradoxical nature makes epitaphs and gravestones a rewarding but nevertheless complicated source for historical sociolinguistic research.