Mapping the Italian Language(s) — The Atlante Linguistico Italiano

With its tenth volume recently added to the UC Berkeley Library, the Atlante Linguistico Italiano is a unique piece of the Library’s map collections. Each entry in the atlas begins with a single concept, notion or phrase in standard Italian such as cuore, heart. Accompanying this is a map of the Italian peninsula (along with Sicily and Sardinia) that contains the equivalent term, rendered in IPA, as heard in communes all across the country. The lexical and phonetic variations of a single word play out in gradients across the landscape with small changes from one commune to the next that give way to seismic ones from one region to another. The result is a condensed roadmap of the immense linguistic diversity of Italy.

Bambino
Entry for the world “bambino”, showing variants across Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria.

As of now, the ten available volumes cover lexical items in the following spheres: the human body, clothing, the home, food, family, and society, with many other spheres such as fauna, commerce, and agriculture yet to be published. While this work is comprehensive in its treatment of geographic variants, it says unfortunately very little about diastratic variation or the relative social capital of the varieties it contains. With its data now over 30 years old, and many of its constituent dialects likely under the threat of extinction, the Atlante may soon start to take on historic and diachronic intrigue as well.

 

Oggi
Entry for the word “oggi” showing showing variants Lombardy, Liguria, Piedmont, and the Aosta Valley.

And if you’re thinking of taking these volumes home with you, think twice. They won’t fit in your backpack. They are big and heavy, measuring 49 x 71 centimeters each, and best consulted in the comfort of the Main Stacks.

 

Pellis, Ugo, and L. (Lorenzo) Massobrio. Atlante linguistico italiano  / materiali raccolti da U. Pellis [and others] ; redatto da L. Massobrio [and others]. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Libreria dello Stato, 1995.
Main (Gardner) Stacks fff PC1711 .A89 1995 v.1-10


Coming Soon: Love Your Data, from Editathons to Containers!

UC Berkeley has been loving its data for a long time, and has been part of the international movement which is Love Data Week (LDW) since at least 2016, even during the pandemic!  This year is no exception—the UC Berkeley Libraries and our campus partners are offering some fantastic workshops (four of which are led by our very own librarians) as part of the University of California-wide observance.

Love Data Week 2023 is happening next month, February 13-17 (it’s always during the week of Valentine’s Day)!

University of California 2023 Love Data Week calendar with UC Berkeley offerings

UC Berkeley Love Data Week offerings for 2023 include:

GIS & Mapping: Where to Start

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon (you can also dip into Wikidata at other LDW events)

Introduction to Containers

Textual Analysis with Archival Materials

Getting Started with Qualitative Data Analysis

All members of the UC community are welcome—we hope you will join us!  Registration links for our offerings are above, and the full UC-wide calendar is here.   If you are interested in learning more about what the library is doing with data, check out our new Data + Digital Scholarship Services page.  And, feel free to email us at librarydataservices@berkeley.edu.   Looking forward to data bonding next month!


Event: Map the Bay Student Mapmaking Contest for Bay Area students

Welcome to the UC Berkeley Earth Sciences & Map Library 2021 Mapmaking contest
 

The UC Berkeley Library is hosting our second annual Map the Bay Student Mapmaking Contest for Bay Area students. Online submissions are welcome from March 1, 2021 – April 9, 2021. Maps can be real or imaginary, hand drawn or created on a computer, as long as they have some Bay Area connection. Finalists will be featured in the virtual exhibit, Mapping the Bay. The winning entries (selected through public voting) are eligible for a $50 gift card!

Follow these TWO steps to enter the contest:

Find more contest details here: Map the Bay: 2021 Student Mapmaking Contest

View the online exhibit and past entries here: Mapping the Bay

Questions? Email us at: map-contest@berkeley.edu

Susan Powell, On behalf of the UC Berkeley Earth Sciences & Map Library


Primary Sources: Diseños Collection at the California State Archives

hand drawn map of Aguajito Rancho
“Aguajito Rancho,” California State Archives Exhibits, accessed November 27, 2019, http://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/items/show/11154.

“Within the Diseños Collection there are 493 hand-drawn sketch maps, or diseños, that were created from approximately 1866-1871. These sketch maps were hand-copied from originals that were created from approximately 1827-1846. These are part of a larger collection that makes up the Spanish and Mexican Land Grant Records that also include expedientes, or written documents regarding the grant petition, and other related documents. Each diseño includes naturally occurring boundaries such as rivers, mountains, rock outcropping, and trees as markers. Many of the diseños have labeled neighboring properties and as part of the initial land grant process all boarders were agreed upon by surrounding landowners. The diseños also show existing travel routes, locations of houses and local place names.

“At the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, California became a territory of the United States after Mexico and the United States signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Among other things, the treaty directed the U.S. government to honor legitimate land claims of Mexican citizens in the territory. Following California’s statehood in 1850, Congress passed the Land Act of 1851 creating the Board of Land Commissioners. The Board used the diseños, expedientes, U.S. Surveyor General surveys, and other related title documents from landowners to verify individual land ownership and boundaries. Over a period of five years, the Board of Land Commissioners reviewed 813 grant claims, but only approved 553. The Mexican land grant process had a major influence on the development of California land by shaping settlement patterns and land ownership. As some of the earliest maps in California, diseños are essential to understanding the complex system of land ownership in the state today.”

California State Archives: https://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/collections/disenos-collection/


Trial: Fire Insurance Maps Online

section of fire insurance map of university of californiaThe Library has a trial for Fire Insurance Maps Online (FIMo) through February 28. The trial is set up for access on campus but not via EZProxy so you will need to be on campus or use the VPN to access the resource.

Fire insurance maps were originally created to assist fire insurance companies with assessing their liability in urban areas. They contain detailed information about properties and individual buildings.

Go to https://fims.historicalinfo.com  Use the interactive map search or search by place name.  During the trial you can search and view historical map coverage throughout the U.S., but will not be able to download full resolution imagery.


Event: Cartographic Materialities: Mapping the Pre-Modern World (A Symposium)

The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography and the Designated Emphasis in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies Present:

 Cartographic Materialities: Mapping the Pre-Modern World (A Symposium)

THURSDAY, MARCH 2

3:30-5:00 – Cartographic Objects Workshop at the Bancroft Library (David Faulds)

Please RSVP to jraisch@berkeley.edu

 

FRIDAY, MARCH 3

1:15-2:45 – Graduate Student Panel, 308A Doe Library

Keith Budner (Comparative Literature) – “From Geography to Chorography: Representing Pomponius Mela, Ptolemy and Strabo in Two Spanish Renaissance Maps”

Jason Rozumalski (History) – “Kaleidoscopes of Time and Place: Images of places as events in sixteenth-century England”

Grace Harpster (Art History) – “Pastoral Maps: Devotional and Administrative Itineraries in Rural Sixteenth-Century Milan”

Moderator: Diego Pirillo (Italian)

 

3:00-5:00 – Plenary Panel, 308A Doe Library

Tom Conley (Romance Languages, Harvard) – “Baroque Hydrographies”

Ricardo Padrón (Spanish, UVA) – “The Indies and the Printed Page: Inventing America on the Ramusio Map of 1534”

Valerie Kivelson (History, Michigan) – “An Early Modern Great Game: Maps of Siberia and their Circulation in the 17th and 18th century”

Moderator: Timothy Hampton (French and Comparative Literature)

http://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/cartographic-materialities