Linguistic Landscape in the Tourism Sector of the Kurdistan Region: Licensed Investment Projects (2007–2026)

Abstract

This study presents a linguistic and legal analysis of the names of 248 tourism projects in the Kurdistan Region officially licensed by the Board of Investment between 2007 and 2026. The primary objective is to identify trends in language shift, evaluate the implementation level of the Official Languages Law in the Region (No. 6 of 2014), and explore the impacts of globalization and commercialization on the overall Linguistic Landscape.

To achieve these aims, a descriptive-analytical and diachronic statistical approach was employed, categorizing the data into three distinct historical periods: (2007–2012), (2013–2018), and (2019–2026).

The findings reveal that the absolute dominance of the Kurdish language declined from 52% in the first period to a relative plateau of 46% (113 projects) across the two-decade span. Conversely, the English language experienced rapid growth, rising from 11% to 24% in the third period, alongside the steady presence of hybrid (mixed Kurdish-English) naming patterns at 37%.

The study concludes that non-Kurdish names overall (hybrid + English) have become dominant at 54% (135 projects) compared to purely Kurdish names at 46%. This demonstrates that the economic interests of the private sector and the logic of globalization have exerted a stronger influence than official language laws and policy directives. Finally, the study provides strategic recommendations to reorganize language policy within the tourism sector.