This thesis investigates the degree to which the linguistic landscape of the Hague in the Netherlands contributes to its levels of imageability. The theoretical background connects Kevin Lynch’s...Show moreThis thesis investigates the degree to which the linguistic landscape of the Hague in the Netherlands contributes to its levels of imageability. The theoretical background connects Kevin Lynch’s study on imageability with ethnographic sociolinguistic studies of the linguistic landscape. The research comprises a qualitative evaluation of the imageability of The Hague and whether language plays a part in how the city’s physical space is mentally organised and depicted. The research was done by investigating the linguistic landscape of the two districts Laak and Centrum and collecting survey responses by current and former inhabitants of the city. The main findings were that language does play a part in their mental organisation of The Hague for some of the respondents. Moreover, the composition of the linguistic landscape of Laak and Centrum corresponds to the languages that respondents mentally attach to these neighbourhoods.Show less
