Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Associate Professor of Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
In the 1960s, Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment that later became established as Small World Phenomenon. According to this theory, there are on average up to six links between any two people anywhere in the world. To date, this theory has been used to analyze different networks and it is also believed that the emergence of social networks such as Facebook has been the result of the implementation of this theory. This study is based on the assumption that in language, which is basically a network of signifiers and signified, it is possible to observe traces of the Small World Phenomenon. To evaluate this hypothesis, a framework of language has been chosen which is known as linguistic landscape in sociolinguistics. The linguistic landscape refers to an area of the public space where linguistic elements can be seen on billboards, boards with various advertising and urban guidance functions, and the like. All linguistic signs in Vanak Square and 100 meters of the streets connected to the square were photographed and collected as research data. It was revealed that two factors, i.e. multilingualism and networking motivate and strengthen the Small World Phenomenon in linguistic landscapes. According to the findings, there is a non-Persian word or phrase in 39% of signs, especially in English. This relatively high rate of English in Vanak Square might have various reasons and consequences, but undoubtedly one consequence is that citizens and tourists feel they are in a global city, and thereby the Small World Phenomenon is induced in their minds. Networking tends to be a keyword in this theory. By reviewing the data, the researcher found that the linguistic signs of Vanak Square are connected with objective or abstract phenomena near and far by means of two types of references. In ‘spatial’ reference, a linguistic sign (such as ‘Kurdistan’) in the first layer refers the viewer to a highway in Tehran, but in an inner layer, reminds him of the province of ‘Kurdistan’, far from Tehran. Through ‘institutional’ referral, a link is established between a person or a small institution with a higher and typically larger institution. The caption ‘Ministry of Education, District 3, Tehran’ above the name of a school is a familiar example of institutional reference. The evaluation of the data by occupational categories shows that in some occupations, the use of non-Persian linguistic signs as well as spatial and institutional references are more common.
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