This research focuses on the commercial linguistic landscape (LL) downtown Ciudad del Este, a border city located on the east side of Paraguay. It is known for being a vibrant economically active city, and home to several immigrant groups who established there. A total of 740 signs were collected and analyzed through a mixed methods approach to find out the languages present in the LL, their frequency, and the relation between language and the commercial activity. Additionally, open-ended interviews were conducted to some businesses to enrich the data. The results indicate a wide spectrum of languages unequally distributed in the LL in terms of their visibility, having English the dominance over all foreign languages; as well as some differences between language use on the signs among the different commercial activities, especially when comparing shops offering services and shops selling products. The findings reveal the commercially driven character of the LL through the informative and strongly symbolic functions of language.
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