Econolinguistics and the Olympic Games

Google Search and Linguistic Landscape

Abstract

This paper discusses language issues of the Olympic Games, offering two types of data gathered from an econolinguistic viewpoint. The first involves using Google search to observe changes over time in mentions of language in connection with the Olympics. The market value of language, which in the past has been greatly impacted by war, now is influenced by economics. In contrast to the short span of interest seen when the Olympics are hosted, interest in language is far more enduring, so any sporting event can only have a limited effect on language.

The second issue concerns the linguistic landscape of the city hosting the Games. Any international sporting event will be accompanied by the appearance of a multilingual landscape. It is reported, however, that the management of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will rely on a combination of Japanese, English and pictograms, which seems to represent a setback in the provision of language services. Private corporations, on the other hand, may well use multilingual services to attract customers in order to seize this unique business opportunity.