Diego Pescarini was an associate of the URPP Language and Space since January 2015.

The present project is part of a long-time research programme aiming at analysing the diachronic evolution of Italo-Romance vernaculars in the last century. The general objective of the programme is to compare the material contained in the Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz (AIS), which provides a fine picture of vernaculars as spoken between 1919 and 1928, with data on present-day dialects collected in the same locations.

First of all, we aim to 1) digitalize part of the 1920s AIS (around 50%); 2) carry out new fieldwork in Switzerland (Ticino and Grisons); 3) build a database, a search engine and a GIS interface (Graphic Information System)  in order to manage, retrieve and present the data; 4) develop new lines of research on four main topics: the syntax of subject pronouns, the analysis of palatal obstruents, the make-up of verb paradigms, and the rate of lexical decay.

We aim to collect new recordings of the AIS material for 36 datapoints in southern Switzerland (18 for Romansh and 18 for Lombard) in close collaboration with the Centro di dialettologia e etnografia (CDE) of Bellinzona and the Institut dal Dicziunari Rumantsch Grischun (IDRG) of Chur.

Project leadership: Michele Loporcaro, Stephan Schmid

In collaboration with: Diego Pescarini

In cooperation with: Graziano Tisato (ISTC-CNR)

Starting date: 1.1.2015

Funding source: UZH (position pursuing an academic career), URPP Language and Space