page_title: Bilingual sign
section_title: Asia
hierarchical_section_title: Bilingual sign / Bilingual signs around the world / Asia
caption_attribution_description: English: A Malayalam-English signboard at Kasaragod town.
context_page_description: A bilingual sign is the representation on a panel of texts in more than one language. The use of bilingual signs is usually reserved for situations where there is legally administered bilingualism or where there is a relevant tourist or commercial interest. However, more informal uses of bilingual signs are often found on businesses in areas where there is a high degree of bilingualism, such as in areas where large concentrations of immigrants settle.
  Bilingual signs are widely used in regions whose native languages do not use the Latin alphabet; such signs generally include transliteration of toponyms and optional translation of complementary texts. Beyond bilingualism, there is a general tendency toward the substitution of internationally standardized symbols and pictograms for text.
context_section_description: In the People's Republic of China, bilingual signs are mandated by the government in autonomous regions where a minority language share official status with Chinese. In Xinjiang, signs are in Uyghur and Chinese; in Tibet, signs are in Tibetan and Chinese, in Inner Mongolia, signs are in Mongolian (written in the classical alphabet) and Chinese. In Guangxi, the majority of signs are in Chinese, even though the Zhuang language is official in the region. Smaller autonomous areas also have similar policies. Signs in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, which borders North Korea, are in Korean and Chinese. Many areas of Qinghai province mandate bilingual signs in Tibetan and Chinese. In Beijing and Shanghai, due to international exposure of the 2008 Summer Olympics and Expo 2010, almost all city traffic signs are now bilingual with Chinese and English (during the Olympics, signs on Olympic venues were also in French). English use in signs is growing in other major cities as well.
  In Hong Kong and Macau, signs must be bilingual with Traditional Chinese and English or Portuguese, respectively. This is because, in addition to Chinese, English and Portuguese are official languages of Hong Kong and Macau respectively. Trilingual road signs in English, Portuguese and traditional Chinese are seen in some newly developed areas of Macau.
  In Israel, road signs are often trilingual, in Hebrew, Arabic and English. 
  In Sri Lanka, official road signs are in Sinhala, Tamil, and English.
  In Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, road signs are often bilingual, in English and Arabic. Other signs (e.g. building signs) may also be displayed in English and Arabic.
caption: English–Malayalam bilingual road sign at Kerala in India
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