ABSTRACT
Since its inception as an area of research, Linguistic Landscape (LL) scholarship has focused overwhelming on written language displayed primarily on a variety of signboards in urban Global North environments. There is an extreme scarcity of research that explores environments where written signage is minimal and/or non-existent specifically in sparsely populated areas. This chapter turns the tide by providing an ethnographic account of how locals in rural Northern Cape, South Africa spatially navigate to local attractions for which no visible, written signage is publicly displayed. Additionally, the chapter explores the use of rocks as signage for: a) transfiguration of physical space; b) business advertisement and c) street name pole. The findings of this chapter are of dual importance: The results contribute towards not merely the expansion of the range of Linguistic Landscape signage but also highlight additional materials that signage can be produced from. Additional LL signage suggested by this chapter include trees, hills, bushes, stones, and non-tangible semiotic resources such as memory. This chapter adds to the pool of language research that moves beyond the human by illustrating how alternative objects including language are drawn on in place and sense making.
