LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE AND WHAT IT TELLS US ABOUT THE INTEGRATION OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE INTO ISRAELI ECONOMY

Abstract

This essay analyzes the use of Russian in the linguistic landscape of Israel. Despite continuing hegemony of Hebrew, Russian has penetrated all spheres of public life, although concessions to multilingualism in Israeli society are hesitant and unsystematic. Russian written texts marking urban areas are unevenly distributed and reveal ethnic and social stratification of Israeli cities. The concentration of Russian signs is highest in business and commercial areas, where they target both domestic and international customers. The article focuses on the use of Russian in language-intensive domains and traces its influence on the symbolic economy in which cultural symbols are used as a marketing strategy.