Orthographic variation < Macau>/<Macao > and Macau identity

Figures & data

Table 1. Orthographic regimes for different types of texts (Adapted from Sebba, 2007:47).

Regime	Writing types	Institutional order	Readership	Orthography
Most highly regulated	Texts for publication/circulation	government, publishing, journalism	General public	Focussed, on standard
Less regulated	‘school’ writing	School	Teachers	Usu. focussed, not always on standard
Lesser regulated	Social media	Not institutional	Self/in-group	Least focussed zone

Table 2. Number of tokens and hits of < MACAO>/<MACAU > in each subcorpus.

Sub-corpora	Number of Tokens	Number of < MACAO>/<MACAU> (%)
HR (government releases)	147494	1637/993 (62/38)
LR (student writings)	1458	16/54 (23/77)
LRR (online tweets)	3271	45/106 (30/70)

Table 3. Frequency of < Macau>/<Macao > according to orthography regimes.

	<Macao>		<Macau>
Orthography regimes	Frequency	%	Frequency	%
HR	518	99	5	1
LR	16	23	54	77
LRR	45	30	106	70

Table 4. Longitudinal distribution of < Macau>/<Macao > in HR-GIB.

	<Macao>		<Macau>
HR-GIB	Frequency	%	Frequency	%
2001	259	24	819	76
2006	348	73	131	27
2011	512	93	38	7
2016	518	99	5	1

Table 5. Frequency of < Macau>/<Macao > in LR according to region and identity.

	MO* (N = 41)		CN (N = 24)
Identity	<Macau> (%)	<Macao> (%)	<Macau> (%)	<Macao> (%)
Macau people	26 (81)	6 (19)	–	–
M + C	5 (54)	4 (44)	–	–
Chinese	–	–	11 (46)	13 (54)

* In MO region, the relationship between identity and linguistic variables was not found to be statistically significant due to the small sample size (p = 112786). However, if the sample size were to be increased, it is possible that these results could become significant at a level of p < .05 or less.

Table 6. Frequency of < Macau>/<Macao > in Twitter according to region.

	<Macao>		<Macau>
Regions	Frequency	%	Frequency	%
MO	22	19	96	81
CN	18	82	4	18
HK	2	33	4	67
Others	3	60	2	40

Table 7. Frequency of < Macau>/<Macao > in Twitter according to self-reported region and orthography regime.

	MO*		CN*
Orthography regimes	<Macau> (%)	<Macao> (%)	<Macau> (%)	<Macao> (%)
LR	31 (76)	10 (24)	11 (46)	13 (54)
LRR	96 (81)	22 (19)	4 (18)	18 (82)

* p < .0.5.

Table 8. Two patterns of distribution in Orthography Regimes.

Patterns	Orthography regimes	Text types	Orthography	Variables
MOO	HR	Government releases	focussed, standard	<Macao>
PMU	LR	Student writings	less focussed, not always standard	<Macau/Macao>
	LRR	Online tweets	least focussed, not always standard	<Macau/Macao>

Figure 1. Road sign in Coloane, Macau (Photographed by the author).

Figure 2. Two examples of < Macau > in LRR.

Table 9. Levels of indexicality and indexical meanings of < Macao>/<Macau>.

Orthographic variants	Indexical meanings	L. of I
<Macao > for governmental documents in English	registers / the mythical association (i.e. <Macao > is English and < Macau > is Portuguese)	1st-level
<Macao > in English writings in LRs	aligning oneself with PRC standardization or nationalistic aspect of Macau identity	2nd-level
<Macao > in English writings in LRs	showing affinity to the local identity or respect for the region’s Portuguese history	2nd-level

Sebba, M. (2007). Spelling and society: The culture and politics of orthography around the world. Cambridge University Press.

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