Atlas Linguistique des Côtes Atlantiques et de la Manche

The Atlas Linguistique des Côtes Atlantiques et de la Manche (ALCAM) is based on a Geographic Information System (GIS) software. It currently comprises 109 points of inquiry from the French Flanders to the Basque Country. The questionnaire contains 350 notions concerning the maritime environment, the boat, the fishing equipment, animals and plants of the sea. The researchers involving in this project use interpretative and commented linguistic maps to examine the correlations between linguistic and cultural areas along the French Atlantic coasts. They will integrate progressively the informations provided by the Flemish / Dutch geolinguistic sources in the North and the Iberian data in the South. The analysis of geolinguistic and archaeological data at a European scale can provide elements of an external response to a supposedly homogeneous linguistic space or to a zone of closely related dialects. The transgression of linguistic borders promotes the understanding of notions like ‘territory’ and ‘limit’ from a new point of view. One can thus reveal facts of continuity or of deep cultural affinities that were hitherto unnoticed. The ALCAM contains data of inestimable value derived from a fine and intergenerational observation of nature. This promising research tool could be transposed to other maritime areas in Europe and in the world.