Abstract
This paper focuses on the linguistic landscape of Bolzano-Bozen, the main town of South Tyrol (Italy), characterized by institutional (Italian-German) bilingualism as well as by the presence of immigrant communities. Based on the explorative analysis of „bottom-up“, commercial signs in selected streets in three areas in town, the study offers a glimpse into social actors’ varying orientations to institutional biligualism – with relevant differences between the old part of town and an ‘Italian’ neighborhood –, and into the way in which immigrant shopowners position themselves through the use of Italian, English and, to a much lesser extent, their native languages.