The Appearance of the Principle of Territoriality on the Banknotes: Two Examples From Central and Eastern Europe

The subject of research is the linguistic analysis of texts on banknotes: Czechoslovak crown and the Soviet rouble. Inscriptions that appear in a language country are attributed two functions: communicative and symbolic. In our study, we will show that adding or removing texts on banknotes does not serve to inform users—a linguistically “neutral”, numerical value would suffice. The language on the banknotes plays a more symbolic role. We will make it clear that not only which languages are indicated on the banknotes, but also which are missing, some are removed. The use of different languages on banknotes shows a connection not with the results of censuses, but above all with territoriality, with the administration structured by historical traditions and political considerations.