Research on the Virtual Linguistic Landscape of Henan Museum’s Official Website from the Perspective of Place Semiotics 

Gao Yawen

Xi'an International Studies University, School of English Studies, Xi'an Shaanxi Province, 710128;

Abstract: Linguistic landscape, as a core issue in sociolinguistics, has witnessed continuous expansion of its research scope and increasing diversification of its research methods in recent years. Its research perspective has extended from public spaces to private spaces, and gradually from the physical world to the virtual world. This paper takes the official website of Henan Museum as the research object and, based on the theory of place semiotics, systematically analyzes the construction characteristics of its virtual linguistic landscape from four dimensions: code preference, inscription, emplacement, and multimodality. The linguistic landscape of the website exhibits typical characteristics such as multimodality, immediacy, and regionality, with the multimodal integration of VR/AR digital projects being particularly prominent. Drawing on the construction experience of well-known museum websites at home and abroad, this paper proposes targeted optimization suggestions, aiming to provide a new reference for research on virtual linguistic landscapes and to promote the digital dissemination and inheritance of Chinese culture.

Keywords: virtual linguistic landscape; Henan Museum; place semiotics; multimodality; cultural communication

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