Digital Latin Dialectology (DiLaDi): Tracing Linguistic Variation in the Light of Ancient and Early Medieval Sources

Introduction

DiLaDi is an interdisciplinary project that aims to perform a novel comprehensive study on the variation of the Latin Language over the 1st millennium A.D. This study will consider geographical and chronological perspectives, as well as the transition from Latin to Romance. The project will process and analyze textual errors (deviations from the norm) of ancient and early medieval primary documents with the help of the Computerized Historical Linguistic Database of Latin Inscriptions of the Imperial Age (LLDB), which employs a revolutionary method of data analysis.

Research Goals

DiLaDi aims to give a breakthrough impetus to relevant research by involving a group of sources that have so far not been adequately considered. These sources include:

• Original parchment charters of private law from mostly the 7th-8th centuries.
• A large number of documents that are very rich in data reflecting linguistic changes.

The involvement of these sources could open up further perspectives for the research of history and dialectology of late Latin, based on working with a database that has so far relied mainly on inscriptions.

Project Implementation

The project plan will be implemented by a 10-person research group, supported by a large data collection team in international collaboration. Key activities within the project framework include:

1. Adding at least 50,000 new data forms to the unique LLDB Database.
2. Organizing 5 international workshops.
3. Delivering at least 50 lectures.
4. Publishing 50 studies and 1 monograph.

Educational and Scientific Advancement

At the same time, potential future collaborators will be educated through at least 5 university courses. The scientific advancement of the participating researchers will be ensured by the submission of:

• 3 PhD theses.
• 1 habilitation thesis.

Conclusion

As a result, this research will allow for a better understanding of the processes that led to the development of Romance languages and determined the linguistic, ethnic, and even cultural features of medieval and modern Europe.