Language Contact and Documentation: Contacto Linguistico y Documentacion

An introduction to the Atlas of the Araxes-Iran Linguistic Area 347
eastern from western areas. There are, however, numerous isoglosses that are
common to all AILA languages and I will eventually use these features to establish
for the first time the existence of the Araxes-Iran zone as a Linguistic Area
(Sprachbund).
Many of the AILA isoglosses also serve to demonstrate the separation and
differences of the AILA languages of the South Caucasus from those of the
North Caucasus (outside the AILA zone). At the same time, issues of isoglossing
often separate specific languages inside the area (e.g., Turkic: Azerbaijani; Daghestanian:
Udi) from their genealogical relatives outside the area (e.g., Turkic:
Turkish, Daghestanian: Lezgian). I will also show key isoglosses that refine
subdivisions within the area, distinguishing the subarea of the S. Caucasus
from those of N. Iran and Iraq.
In the final version of the Atlas, shared features in the languages of the
AILA zone will be shown in the form of isoglosses drawn onto geographic maps
of the area. During my presentation at the II Symposium on Language and Culture
Documentation in Latin America held in Buenos Aires, I demonstrated a
sampling of specific isoglosses involving phonology, morphology, syntax and
word order as well as lexical phenomena that unite the languages of the Araxes-Iran
area.
My main point in this paper is to demonstrate how a flexible database
program can help the researcher to investigate and document the commonalities
and complex interactions of major languages as well as a wide array of
highly endangered languages in a highly diverse area of the Middle East. The
flexibility of this program can then be applied as a template to languages of
any part of the world, e.g., the Gran Chaco or Amazonia, among many others.
4 The structure of the database and Atlas
from the user’s perspective
Data can be accessed on 3 levels:
– The Atlas in hard-copy book form
– Full database on DVD
– Links to pdf files on DVD
A. The Atlas in book form includes:
– A map for each isogloss
– A text introducing the isogloss in general terms: although all data of
the Atlas languages and dialects are also found on the DVD (see next
point), only a few of these languages will be represented in the text of