English for show, Spanish for service: the linguistic landscape of Matamoros, Mexico

Abstract This study analyzes the linguistic landscape of Matamoros, a Mexican city on the U.S.–Mexico border, to explore how language choice in public signage reflects broader patterns of social stratification and symbolic value. Based on a dataset of 639 signs collected across six distinct socioeconomic zones, the analysis examines language use by sign type, business category, and authorship. While Spanish is the dominant language overall, English appears in nearly one-third of all signs, with greater frequency in affluent areas and in aspirational sectors such as fashion, beauty, and leisure. In these contexts, English serves a symbolic rather than communicative function, indexing prestige, cosmopolitanism, and cross-border affiliation. By contrast, signage in domains such as religion, politics, and local services relies almost exclusively on Spanish, aligning with local cultural norms and consumer practices. The study argues that the visibility of English in Matamoros functions as a form of symbolic capital tied to socioeconomic positioning. These patterns highlight how signage in public space contributes to the reproduction of social inequality and prevailing language ideologies in a borderland context. The findings offer insight into how linguistic resources are unevenly distributed and valued in multilingual urban spaces shaped by transnational flows.