Three Interesting Signs in Tianjin: Street Signs, Advertisements, and Warning Signs
三个有意思的天津路牌、广告、提示牌
Three Interesting Signs in Tianjin: Street Signs, Advertisements,and Warning Signs
Recently, a friend shared three intriguing signs in Tianjin: a traffic warning sign, an advertisement, and a theater notice. These signs are quite unique and reflect the city’s distinct linguistic landscapes.
One is a traffic warning sign: “Talking and Laughing While Driving Endangers Safety” (Image 1).
Another is an advertisement from a street vendor: “If the Grilled Cold Noodles and Stinky Tofu Don’t Taste Good, Throw Them at My Face” (Image 2).
The last one is a notice in a traditional standup comedy venue:
“Strictly No Audience Members Allowed on Stage” (Image 3).
These are unique to Tianjin and reflect the character of Tianjin people—their humor, wit, and down-to-earth nature. These three signs capture three different aspects of Tianjin's linguistic landscape.
The history of the linguistic landscape is, in fact, “as ancient as the history of writing itself (Coulmas, 2009: 9).” In ancient Babylonian and Egyptian times, cuneiform and hieroglyphics were unique forms of linguistic landscape. Since the 1970s, scholars have begun to study language use in cities such as Jerusalem and Brussels (Rosenbaum 1977, Tulp 1978). The concept of the linguistic landscape was formally introduced by Landry and Bourhis (1997) in their paper Linguistic Landscape and Ethnolinguistic Vitality: An Empirical Study. They defined it as “The language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, places names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory, region, or urban agglomeration. The linguistic landscape of a territory can serve two basic functions: an informational function and a symbolic function.”
Tianjin people are known for their humor and wit. In daily life, they love chatting and joking around. Because they have such a talent for humor, there are even traffic warning signs saying, “Talking and laughing while driving may endanger safety,” reminding drivers not to tell jokes while driving. Can you find similar traffic warning signs in other cities? Truly, as the 'Gǔn' (funny) capital, even their traffic signs have a sense of humor. Just looking at this sign is enough to make you laugh.
Even street vendors in Tianjin have signs sound like it’s out of a stand-up routine. One such sign reads, “If the Grilled Cold Noodles and Stinky Tofu Don’t Taste Good, Throw Them at My Face.” Are you referring to Ma Sanli's stand up comedy? This joke seems so familiar, selling street food with attitude and plenty of humor.
Even at Beijing's renowned comedy venue, the Deyun She德云社, it's rare for audience members to perform spontaneously, but in Tianjin's comedy theaters, there's always a chance that an audience member might jump on stage and deliver an impromptu joke that can make everyone laugh uncontrollably. When comedy shows tour in Tianjin, they have to be on high alert because the audience is knowledgeable and eager to join in. There’s a sign that says, “Strictly No Audience Members on Stage,” a reminder for everyone to just sit back and enjoy the show.
三个有意思的天津路牌、广告、提示牌
最近朋友分享了三个天津市区的交通警示牌、广告牌、剧场提示牌，十分有意思，可以算是独特的语言景观。
一个是交通警示牌“驾车说笑，危及安全”(图一);一个是小商贩卖小吃的广告牌“烤冷面臭豆腐不好吃照脸砸”(图二);还有一个是一个相声园子里的提示牌“严禁观众登台”(图三)。这个在其他城市是绝无仅有的，特能反映天津人的性格特质、幽默风趣、热情近人。三个牌子就是三个画面，三个描绘天津人的语言景观。
语言景观(Linguistic Landscape)的历史实际上“和文字的历史一样悠久”(Coulmas，2009：9)，在古罗马和古巴比伦时代，楔形文字和象形文字便是语言景观的一种独特的表现形式。从上世纪七十年代开始，就有学者开始研究耶路撒冷、布鲁塞尔等城市的语言使用情况(Rosenbaum1977,Tulp1978)。语言景观概念的正式提出，是在Landry 和Bourhis(1997)的(Linguistic Landscape and Ethnolinguistic Vitality： An empirical study)一文中，他们给出的定义是“The language of public road signs， advertising billboards， street names， places names， commercial shop signs， and public signs on government buildings combines to form the linguistic landscape of a given territory， region， or urban agglomeration. The linguistic landscape of a territory can serve two basic functions： an informational function and a symbolic function”。 指出语言景观, 包含某地区或城市群的公共道路指示牌、广告牌、街名、地名、商业店铺招牌、政府大楼和公共标识上的语言，认为语言景观一般有两种基本功能: 信息功能和象征功能。语言景观是社会话语的重要构成要素，彰显传播者与接受者的身份、态度、文化氛围及情感体验。
天津人幽默风趣，生活中他们爱说能说，日常离不开侃大天、开玩笑，因为说笑能力太过强大，必须在市区交通警示路牌提醒“驾车说笑，危及安全”，提示司机开车时不许讲段子。还能找到其他的城市有类似的交通警示语么?真不愧是哏儿都啊，交通牌都带“哏儿”味儿，光看这个牌儿，就让人忍俊不止。
就连天津街边小贩的招牌都在说相声，他的广告牌上写着：“不好吃照脸砸”。你是在说马三立的相声吗?这段子怎么就那么有熟悉感。卖小吃卖得有态度，幽默劲儿十足。
北京的德云社都少有观众即兴登台的吧，但是在天津的相声园子，随时都有可能登上一个台下的听众，即兴来一个段子笑死人不偿命。喜剧行业到天津巡演得特别打起精神，因为台下观众都是懂行的，且摩拳擦掌跃跃欲试。贴个标语“严禁观众登台”是要提醒各位观众，您那，坐着听。
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