A snapshot of language diversity and Hybridity in the linguistic landscape of Lubumbashi, democratic Republic of Congo

This paper explores the increasing visibility and ubiquity of language diversity and hybridity in the linguistic landscape (LL) of Lubumbashi city in the DR Congo in recent years. Based on a restricted sample of data collected with a digital camera, the study investigates into the motivations behind the choice of languages in public display by sign owners in keeping with Spolsky and Cooper’s conditions model. It also discusses the motivations behind the drastic changes in language use from monolingual to multilingual and hybrid practices in a traditionally French-speaking country. It finally attempts to account for the paradoxical pervasive rise of English in public spaces in a country belonging to the Expanding Circle and in which the scarcity of the use of English by the population sharply contrasts with the ever-growing visibility of this language in public space. The findings reveal that the major motivations behind the current language diversity and hybridity that are worth mentioning involve the concern of the inclusiveness of a wider audience, modernity and globalization, adaptation of the global to the local (glocalization), local and global corporate identity, and symbolism.