Areal Linguistics “Božidar Vidoeski”

Research Center for Areal Linguistics “Božidar Vidoeski”

The Research Center for Areal Linguistics (RCAL) was established on September 28, 2000, and in 2011 it was renamed the Research Center for Areal Linguistics “Božidar Vidoeski”.

The Center studies the role of spatial factors in the life and evolution of language. The multicultural and multilingual Balkan environment provides an ideal basis for research in areal linguistics, including the development of theories of interlingual contact and the study of mechanisms of linguistic interference.

The Center is currently working on the following projects:

1. International Linguistic Atlases, i.e. 1.1. General Slavic Linguistic Atlas (OLA), 1.2. Atlas Linguarum Europae (ALE), and 1.3. Small Balkan Dialect Atlas. OLA is an international multilateral project coordinated by the International Committee of Slavists. Its objective is to present the typological differentiation of Slavic dialects and the paths of that differentiation. ALE, under the international title Atlas Linguarum Europae (ALE), is a cartographic representation of the vocabulary—and, prospectively, the grammatical structure—of all languages of Europe, regardless of their origin and legal status. Excerption is carried out using partial questionnaires. The lexical component of ALE provides, above all, information on cultural strata reflected in European homonymy. Small Balkan Dialect Atlas represents the first attempt to cartographically present the differentiation among the languages belonging to the so-called Balkan Sprachbund.

2. The Place of the Macedonian Language in the Slavic and Balkan Linguistic World. Work on the project began in 2001. Its objective is to determine the geographical distribution of morphosyntactic patterns characteristic of the members of the Balkan Sprachbund and to define their status within the functional (pragmatic and semantic) structure of the relevant language codes (standard and dialectal). The situation in the Macedonian language serves as the starting point for the analysis. The project is conducted within the framework of the theory “meaning > text”. The analysis focuses on the forms through which individual categorical meanings are realized in Balkan and Slavic languages. Slavic parallels serve as a reference point in assessing what is “Balkan” in the structure of the Balkan Slavic languages.

The Center is preparing a Bibliography of the Macedonian Language as a continuation of the work initiated by B. Vidoeski in his Contribution to the Bibliography of the Macedonian Language, Skopje, 1953. At the same time, a Macedonian section is being prepared for the Slavic-studies bibliography published in Poland and for the linguistics bibliography published in the Netherlands.

The Center is developing an electronic audio and text corpus of the Macedonian standard and dialectal language. Work on the electronic text corpus of the Macedonian standard language began from the need to create an excerption base for the project devoted to the analysis of morphosyntactic Balkanisms.

More information about the work of the Center is available on its website: ical.manu.edu.mk