Changes in the Top-Down Linguistic Landscape Under the Influence of Ideology – Using the Example of Banská Bystrica Urbanonymy

Abstract

This paper analyses how ideology influenced the linguistic landscape in Banská Bystrica, specifically in terms of the diachronic development of the Banská Bystrica urbanonyms in the broader city centre from historical times until the 1990s. During the investigated period, multiple political regimes took turns in generating pressure to change the names of streets and squares from the position of power. Ideological pressure was at work during the period of Austria-Hungary, after the First Czechoslovak Republic was established in 1918, during the Slovak State period (WWII), after the Communist putsch of 1948 and the totalitarian period that followed and lasted until 1989, and even after the democratic changes took place.

Keywords

• linguistic landscape
• ideology
• urbanonymy
• Banská Bystrica