Abstract In Abu Dhabi, multilingualism amongst its highly diverse population is typical. However, with Arabic as the official language and English as the lingua franca, the population’s other languages are subordinate on public signage. Those proficient in English or Arabic have more access to information than those who are not. While effective communication is important in ordinary times, it is especially vital during a crisis. This study looks at COVID-19 signage in two Abu Dhabi live-work contexts: A beachside community and an industrial site. The study takes an ethnographic approach to linguistic landscaping in which a corpus of 326 top-down and bottom-up signs are investigated in terms of languages used, spacing, prominence and location, as well as intended audience and sociolinguistic implications. Key findings revealed that bottom-up handmade COVID-19 signage was mainly monolingual (English only) and municipality-produced warnings were predominately bilingual (Arabic and English). Despite the multilingual composition of both contexts, only one third language (Korean) appeared on COVID-19 signage. The findings shed light on existing inequalities in linguistically diverse contexts, and the need to ensure access to information for all at a street level. The article concludes with practical suggestions for greater linguistic inclusion in the COVID-19 period and beyond.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 期间阿布扎比语言环境中的语言多样性和包容性

摘要 在阿布扎比，其高度多样化的人口使用多种语言是典型的。然而，以阿拉伯语为官方语言，英语为通用语，民众的其他语言从属于公共标牌。那些精通英语或阿拉伯语的人比那些不精通的人更容易获得信息。虽然有效的沟通在平时很重要，但在危机期间尤为重要。本研究着眼于阿布扎比两个现场工作环境中的 COVID-19 标牌：海滨社区和工业场所。该研究采用人种学方法进行语言景观美化，根据使用的语言、间距、突出度和位置，以及目标受众和社会语言学含义，研究了 326 个自上而下和自下而上的标志语料库。主要调查结果显示，自下而上手工制作的 COVID-19 标牌主要是单语（仅英语），而市政当局制作的警告主要是双语（阿拉伯语和英语）。尽管这两种情况都有多语言组成，但只有第三种语言（韩语）出现在 COVID-19 标牌上。调查结果揭示了语言多样化背景下存在的不平等现象，以及确保所有人都能在街道上获得信息的必要性。文章最后提出了在 COVID-19 期间及以后更大程度地融入语言的实用建议。调查结果揭示了语言多样化背景下存在的不平等现象，以及确保所有人都能在街道上获得信息的必要性。文章最后提出了在 COVID-19 期间及以后更大程度地融入语言的实用建议。调查结果揭示了语言多样化背景下存在的不平等现象，以及确保所有人都能在街道上获得信息的必要性。文章最后提出了在 COVID-19 期间及以后更大程度地融入语言的实用建议。