A Survey on Language Life in Lanxi Under the Rural Revitalization Strategy

Abstract

Lanxi City, Zhejiang Province, a typical representative of ancient villages in southern China, once faced hollowing out of traditional villages due to urbanization but has since achieved integration of cultural heritage protection and modern industries through the Rural Revitalization Strategy. Field investigations reveal that socioeconomic transformations in villages have triggered profound changes in language life, including: 1) The evolution of linguistic landscapes from single slogans to diversified systems, where official signs, commercial markers, and stone carvings of local elites jointly construct regional cultural narratives; 2) Intergenerational and situational differentiation in communicative codes, manifested as the transition from ‘dialect preservation—bilingual interaction—trilingual service’ (Mandarin, dialect, and English); With the empowerment of digital technology, cultural institutions and residents exhibit high internet dependency, forming new “language + digital” ecosystems such as dialect livestreaming and cultural creative products.