Dialectal Geographical Terms and Toponymy: The Symbolic Control of Territory

Abstract

Taking inspiration from a monumental scientific work, the Atlante Linguistico Italiano
(ALI) – a systematic collection of linguistically themed maps initiated in 1924 and still
ongoing – this article aims to highlight certain points of intersection between linguistic
knowledge and geographical knowledge. These fields of knowledge come into
particularly fruitful dialogue when dialectal terms are linked to the territory and become
place names. In such cases, the cultural shift from space – always present in linguistic
geography research – to place becomes evident: a transition that reflects the outcome of
a temporal dialogue established between a community and its lived space. As an example
of potential collaborations between linguistics and geography, the article also considers
an initiative launched by Osvaldo Baldacci during the 1970s and 1980s: the creation of a
Glossary of Dialectal Geographical Terms of the Italian Regions, which unfortunately
remained limited to just a few Italian regions – Molise, Basilicata, Umbria, Liguria, and
Lazio.