Official and non-official proper names in a bilingual onymic landscape

The paper deals with the visual representation of official and non-official proper names in a bilingual onymic landscape. The onymic landscape consists of official and non-official proper names located on nameplates, inscriptions in public spaces, various areas and extralingual signs that point to their names. Research into the visual representation of proper names is a relatively new area of socioonomastics. The onymic landscape changes dynamically depending on the time, region and socio-cultural dimension; the state, local governments, business and civil spheres participate in its creation. The state regulates the use of official proper names through language policy and also influences their visualization. In addition to official forms, non-official forms of proper names appear in the onymic landscape. In a bilingual onymic landscape, proper names are visualized not only in the state language but also in the language of the minority, resp. another foreign language. The author examines the bilingual anthroponymic, toponymic and chrematonymic landscape of Slovak-Hungarian bilingual municipalities in Southern Slovakia.