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Introduction. Currently, researchers have no consensus on the classification of the Kipchak languages. The dictionaries compiled by P. S. Pallas provide valuable insights into the 18th-century Tatar, Bashkir, Nogai, and Kazakh languages. Goals. This article attempts an analysis of the latter’s graphic features in order to enhance our understanding of the development of dialect-classifying graphophonic isoglosses. Materials and methods. The paper examines the sixteen isoglosses identified by A. V. Dybo based on materials from modern Tatar, Bashkir, Kazakh and Nogai, and shows how numbers of common isoglosses for these languages differed in the 18th century. The dictionaries of P. S. Pallas have been uploaded to the online LingvoDoc platform, all words in these dictionaries now have parallels with modern literary languages, and with Turkic proto-forms according to EDAL. The dictionaries are also linked together by etymological connections. Results. The analysis shows that in the 18th century the languages were approximately equidistant from each other, some specific closeness observed just between Tatar and Bashkir, though Bashkir-Kazakh parallels differ by one innovation only, and no specific proximity between Kazakh and Nogai observed. It can be assumed that 20th-century communication resulted in a secondary convergence of Kazakh with Nogai and their common distancing from Tatar and Bashkir, the latter’s speakers in turn having become closer to each other. It is interesting to note that in 18th-century Bashkir and Nogai other archaic reflexes were represented, in particular, *s (Bashkir), *č (Nogai, Bashkir), *ƛ (š Nogai), these changes have occurred later. Conclusions. Thus, the analysis of the vocabularies created in the 18th century casts doubt on the traditional classification of N. Baskakov, A. Samoylovich, K. Musaev, and A. Savelyev based on the modern languages. At the same time, it should be noted that A. Dybo and O. Mudrak turned to glottochronology and applied morphological linguostatistics to have concluded together as to the specific proximity of Kazakh and Nogai, which is also not confirmed by the data of the graphics of the 18th-century texts.

Southwestern Khanty is a dialect documented only in the 2008 PhD dissertation by Olga Vaysman. A previous study based on lexical data established that South­western Khanty is very close to Obdorsk Khanty. The current study explores the dia­lect’s phonological and morphological features. Although some of these features are typical only of Obdorsk Khanty among the formerly known dialects, some features of Southwestern Khanty are unique among the Khanty dialects. These peculiarities of Southwestern Khanty are numerous and unsystematic, which makes it unlikely that the dialect developed from Obdorsk Khanty or a dialect near Obdorsk Khanty. Taking into account the obscurity of the metadata, it is questionable whether Vaysman’s data on Southwestern Khanty really reflect the linguistic facts of an existing Khanty dialect. Kokkuvõte. László Fejes: “Edelahandi” paiknemine handi murrete hulgas: tõendid fonoloogiast ja morfoloogiast. Edelahandi murre on dokumenteeritud ainult Olga Vaysmani 2008. aasta doktoritöös. Eelmine, leksikaalsetel andmetel põhinev uuring näitas, et edelahandi on lähedane Obdorski handile. Käesolev uuring analüüsib edelahandi fonoloogilisi ja morfoloogilisi tunnuseid. Kuigi mõned neist tunnustest on varem tuntud murrete hulgas tüüpiliseid ainult Obdorski handile, on mõned omadused handi murrete seas ainulaadsed. Need edelahantide eripärad on arvukad ja ebasüstemaatilised, mistõttu on ebatõenäoline, et edelahandi arenes välja Obdorski handi murdest või selle lähedasest murdest. Võttes arvesse metaandmete hämarust, on küsitav, kas Vaysmani andmed edelahandi kohta kajastavad tõesti olemasoleva handi murde keelelisi fakte.

Southwestern Khanty is a dialect documented only in the 2008 PhD dissertation by Olga Vaysman. A previous study based on lexical data established that Southwestern Khanty is very close to Obdorsk Khanty. The current study explores the dialect's phonological and morphological features. Although some of these features are typical only of Obdorsk Khanty among the formerly known dialects, some features of Southwestern Khanty are unique among the Khanty dialects. These peculiarities of Southwestern Khanty are numerous and unsystematic, which makes it unlikely that the dialect developed from Obdorsk Khanty or a dialect near Obdorsk Khanty. Taking into account the obscurity of the metadata, it is questionable whether Vaysman's data on Southwestern Khanty really reflect the linguistic facts of an existing Khanty dialect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. The paper considers the Ripuarian dialect group spread on the territory of three modern states – Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The research concentrates on the dialect’s reception by its speakers, while special attention is paid to the language situation in Belgium. Defining the correspondence of state and linguistic borders in this region might be of great current scientific interest.Methodology and sources. The research methodology is based on Russian and foreign studies in dialectology (V. M. Zhirmunskii, F. Münch, W. Haubrichs) and dialectography (K. Haag, A. Bach, J. Kajot and H. Beckers). For the dialects’ characteristics descriptive and comparative methods were used. The analysis of the sociolinguistic situation is based on the works of P. Auer, Th. Frings, J. Kajot and H. Beckers and others. To follow the current dialect speakers’ point of view the data from Belgian Internet-sites and forums were used. Such complex method allows to valuate not only linguogeographic but also the newest extralinguistic facts. Results and discussion. The paper examines the spread and the characteristics of the Ripuarian dialects, the history of their use in Germany, underlining the special role of Cologne’s dialect. The situation with the Ripuarian dialects in modern Eastern Belgium is as well analyzed. Problems of self-identity of the dialect speakers and of dialect’s connection to the High German are also considered.Conclusion. The dependence of linguistic situation in Belgium on political and sociocultural factors, while the state boundaries play a significant role in the self-identity of dialect speakers.

The verbal class which is characterized by a suffix -nu- in the infinitive and -ne- in the present shows considerable dialectal diversity in Croatian and in the other western South Slavic languages. In many dialects, verbs belonging to this class have a suffix -ni- in the infinitive, aorist, participles and/or present. The aim of this paper is to explain how these dialectal forms and the relevant dialectal isoglosses have arisen. It argues that the allomorph -ni- < *-ny- was originally found in the infinitive, while -nu- < *-nǫ- used to be restricted to the aorist.

This study is focusing on the analysis of the vowel /α/ in Hilir Pahang based on the findings of two traditional dialect studies by Asmah Haji Omar and Ismail Husin. Research on the geographical dialects, especially in Pahang, is not clearly detailed and has become the main reason for the discussion of the article. The objective of the article is to identify the changes in phonological variations that are spread as well as to clarify the changes experienced in the lower part of Pahang. The research methodology uses fieldwork methods with the involvement of 320 informants consisting of the elderly, adults, and teenagers. Its covers 40 villages in three districts hilir Pahang, which are Kuantan, Pekan, and Rompin. The analysis of the study is explained through two types, linguistic and non-linguistic analysis. Linguistic analysis will be explored through the application of the basic phonological rules to explain dialect changes, while non-linguistic analysis will examine aspects such as socio-cultural, socioeconomic, geography, and history in unraveling the causes of the spread of a dialect. The focus of the study is on the presence of the vowel /α/ followed by the nasal consonant of the final syllable. The results of the study found that there was innovation in the area studied. In conclusion, this article summarizes that there are 4 types of dialects that have been successfully found, namely Pekan dialect, Hilir Pahang dialect, Terengganu Coastal dialect, and Kelantan dialect. The research of this study is strengthened with the display of isogloss maps generated through Geographical Information System (GIS) software. Clearly, this article has contributed to a new dimension of geographical dialect studies through the application of GIS technology-based analysis as well as making strides in integrating non-linguistic disciplines in dialect studies to unravel more comprehensive data acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southwestern Khanty is a dialect documented only in the 2008 PhD dissertation by Olga Vaysman. This paper attempts to place Southwestern Khanty among other Khanty dialects. Metadata available on Southwestern Khanty are presented and interpreted: based on these, it remains obscure where Southwestern Khanty is spoken. Additionally, data on the lexicon of Southwestern Khanty are compared with the data of the largest dialectal and etymological dictionary of Khanty. Comparison shows that Southwestern Khanty, despite its name, is closest to the northernmost dialect, Obdorsk Khanty. Kokkuvõte. László Fejes: “Edelahandi” paiknemine handi murrete hulgas: tõendid metaandmetest ja sõnavarast.Edelahandi murre on dokumenteeritud ainult Olga Vaysmani 2008. aasta doktoritöös. See artikkel püüab asetada edelahandi teiste handi murrete hulka. Esitatakse ja tõlgendatakse edelahandi murde kohta saadaolevaid metaandmeid, mille põhjal jääb segaseks, kus edelahandi murret kõneldakse. Lisaks võrreldakse edelahandi leksikoni andmeid handi suurima murde- ja etümoloogilise sõnaraamatu andmetega. Võrdlus näitab, et edelahandi murre on erinevalt nimetusest kõige lähemal põhjapoolseimale dialektile, obdorski murdele.

Southwestern Khanty is a dialect documented only in the 2008 PhD dissertation by Olga Vaysman. This paper attempts to place Southwestern Khanty among other Khanty dialects. Metadata available on Southwestern Khanty are presented and interpreted: based on these, it remains obscure where Southwestern Khanty is spoken. Additionally, data on the lexicon of Southwestern Khanty are compared with the data of the largest dialectal and etymological dictionary of Khanty. Comparison shows that Southwestern Khanty, despite its name, is closest to the northernmost dialect, Obdorsk Khanty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative historical studies have established over five hundred lexical correspondences between autochthonous Burushaski words and Indo-European as well as significant grammatical correlations. A genetic relationship has been proposed. Within these correspondences, the correlations of Burushaski with Slavic together with other branches are numerous and regular. These are not the subject of this paper. We concentrate exclusively on Burushaski isoglosses with words or meanings uniquely found in Slavic which consequently often have unclear, difficult or competing etymologies. The stratification of these isoglosses is complex. It appears that we might be dealing with various layers. In some cases, the phonetic and formal make up suggests a correlation of remote antiquity, yet in many instances it is difficult to establish a chronology. Most of the isoglosses involve cultural borrowing, with the direction of borrowing unclear, but a significant number (the considerable correspondences in the names of body parts, grammatical particles) may point to a closer genetic relationship.

Este trabajo analiza la variación diatópica de las series eyectiva/glotalizada y aspirada en consonantes obstruyentes y sonorantes. A partir de datos de primera mano y fuentes secundarias de los últimos treinta años, se proponen seis isoglosas en torno a dichas series. La cadena dialectal wichí/weenhayek de norte a sudeste presenta un extremo norte que se aproxima al tronco mataguayo, mientras que el extremo sudeste, más alejado geográficamente del resto de las lenguas de la familia, presenta mayor desarrollo de las series mencionadas, innovando con respecto a las otras variedades. Asimismo, se sugiere la hipótesis de que la serie de sonorantes glotalizadas debió desarrollarse más tardíamente que las otras series. Esta innovación por el grupo más al sudeste, el bermejeño abajeño, se corresponde con innovaciones en otros rasgos fonológicos y gramaticales, p.ej. la palatalización y el paradigma pronominal objeto sufijante, entre otros.

This paper analyzes the diatopic variation of the ejective/glottalized and aspirated series in obstruent and sonorant consonants. From primary data and secondary sources of the last thirty years, six isoglosses it is proposed for the said consonantal series. The Wichi/Weenhayek dialectal continuum from north to southeast has, in the one hand, a northern end near to the Mataguayan core, and in the other hand, a southeast end, which is geographically farer from the rest of the languages of the family and shows an advanced development of the consonantal series. This is innovative with respect to the other varieties. In addition, it is suggested the hypothesis of that the glottalized sonorants could have been developed later than the other series. This innovation of the southeastest group, called bemejeño abajeño, correlates with innovations in other phonological and grammatical features, i.e. palatalization and the pronominal object suffix paradigm, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explain why the dialectal identification of the Selkup texts compiled by Nikolaj Grigorovskij in the 19th century is still open. It also provides preliminary results on the isoglosses within the Southern dialectal group and strategies on how to address this problem. In order to advance the research, the first Selkup books of the 19th century (1879) have been converted into a digital annotated corpus of texts. Their analysis has revealed language features which, on the one hand, are accurately verified by Selkup material of the 20th century (on the example of the verb conjugation and the noun declension paradigms and the main Selkup isoglosses identified by Helimski. On the other hand, it has shown that the dialectal phenomena are insufficiently described. The article also gives the combined variant of Grigorovskij’s biography existing as fragments in different sources. Kokkuvõte. Nadežda Fedotova: Esimeste N. P. Grigorovski sölkupi raamatute taust ja teaduslik potentsiaal. Siinse artikli eesmärk on välja selgitada, miks on siiani lahtine 19. sajandil Nikolaj Grigorovski poolt kogutud sölkupi tekstide murdeline määratlus. Ka annab artikkel esmased tulemused isoglosside piiride kohta lõuna-sölkupi murdegrupis ja pakub strateegiaid sellele probleemile lähenemiseks. Uurimisteema arendamiseks on esmalt esimesed 19. sajandi sölkupi raamatud (1879) viidud digitaalse tekstikorpuse kujule. Tekstianalüüs on välja toonud keelelised tunnused, mida ühest küljest kinnitavad ka 20. sajandi sölkupi materjalid (seda verbi pöördeliste ja noomenite käändeliste paradigmade põhjal ning põhiliste sölkupi isoglosside põhjal, mille on välja toonud Helimski 2004). Teisalt aga näitab analüüs, et murdelised nähtused on ebapiisavalt kirjeldatud. Artikkel sisaldab ka erinevates allikates esinevatest fragmentidest kokku kombineeritud varianti Grigorovski bibliograafiast. Аннотация. Надежда Федотова: История и перспектива исследования первых книг на селькупском языке Н. П. Григоровского. Целью статьи является выявление причин, в связи с которыми проблема определения диалектной принадлежности первых селькупских текстов, собранных в XIX веке Николаем Григоровским, остается открытой. В статье даны предварительные варианты изоглосс, позволяющие отличить южную диалектную группу селькупского языка от других диалектных групп. С тем чтобы углубить исследование, первые селькупские книги XIX века (1879) были оцифрованы и преобразованы в аннотированный корпус текстов. Анализ на основе данного корпуса позволил обнаружить языковые явления, которые, с одной стороны, точно совпадают с селькупскими материалами, зафиксированными в XX веке (на примере парадигм спряжения селькупских глаголов и склонения существительных, а также с основными изоглоссами, предложенными Хелимским [Xelimskij 2004]). С другой стороны, они демонстрируют диалектные явления, которые недостаточно подробно описаны в литературе. В статье также предложена наиболее полная версия биографии Григоровского как компиляция из различных источников.

We analyze the rise and loss of isoglosses in two Indo-European languages, early Greek and early English, which, however, show considerable distance between their structures in many other domains. We follow Keidan's approach (2013), that has drawn the attention on the fact that the study of isoglosses (i.e., linguistic features common to two or more languages) is connected with common innovations of particular languages after the split into sub-groups of Indo-European: this type of approach aims at collecting isoglosses that appear across the branches of Indo-European. We examine the rise of the isogloss of labile verbs and the loss of the isogloss of the two classes of aspectual verbs in early Greek and early English. Our study shows that the rise of labile verbs in both languages is related to the innovative use of intransitives in causative constructions. On the other hand, the innovations in voice morphology follow different directions in Greek and English and are unrelated to the rise of labile verbs. In contrast to labile verbs, which are still predominant for causative-anticausative constructions in both languages, the two classes of aspectual verbs are lost in the later stages of Greek but are predominant even in Present-day English. Again, a "prerequisite" change for the isogloss can be easily located in a structural ambiguity that is relevant for aspectual verbs in early Greek and early English. However, another independent development, the changes in verbal complementation (the development of infinitival and participial complements) in Greek and English, determined the loss of this isogloss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to explain why the dialectal identification of the Selkup texts compiled by Nikolaj Grigorovskij in the 19th century is still open. It also provides preliminary results on the isoglosses within the Southern dialectal group and strategies on how to address this problem. In order to advance the research, the first Selkup books of the 19th century (1879) have been converted into a digital annotated corpus of texts. Their analysis has revealed language features which, on the one hand, are accurately verified by Selkup material of the 20th century (on the example of the verb conjugation and the noun declension paradigms and the main Selkup isoglosses identified by Helimski. On the other hand, it has shown that the dialectal phenomena are insufficiently described. The article also gives the combined variant of Grigorovskij's biography existing as fragments in different sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Traditional dialect studies in Malaysia have widely been explored. These studies managed to group all the phonological variants which produce various Malay dialects in Malaysia. Then there were progresses in terms of producing isoglosses which were drew impressionistically on the maps in the studies of geographical dialects. However, there were gaps in the dialect studies for some time before the dialect studies with Geographic Information System (GIS) application was introduced. This technology-based study has the ability to produce isogloss maps using the overlay technique and choropleth marking for the sound variants precisely. This article aims to explain the influence for the dissemination of Thai Malay dialects by applying GIS. This study involves the states of Perlis, Kedah Langkawi, Penang and Perak. This multidisciplinary study explains how non-linguistics factors such as geography, migration and history as well as linguistics factors shape the distribution of the Malay dialects in the northern Peninsular Malaysia in particular. More than a thousand respondents were involved who were divided into three age categories namely, the elderly (50 and older), adults (26-49 years) and adolescents (15-25 years). Respondents were interviewed and required to answer questionnaires. Forty (40) word lists related to respondents' lives were selected. The result shows that there is a widespread of Thai Malay dialects in Malaysia. Interestingly, the dialects are not only the Patani dialect but also the Satun dialect especially in Langkawi and Perlis. GIS application has not only been able to accurately reproduce isoglosses but have proven that non-linguistic factors are additional factors that explained the reasons for dialects to disseminate in an area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to look at some of the problems with the traditional subdivisions of Iranian and at possible new approaches. It builds on an argument made in Korn (2016a), adding discussion and further illustrating problems in the data and methods involved in the traditional model of relations among the Iranian languages. It specifically points out that the traditional family tree is based on a set of isoglosses that is an artefact of the data that happened to be available at the time. In addition, the question arises whether the wave model or the concept of linguistic areas would be more adequate to account for the data. The discovery of a corpus of Bactrian manuscripts encourages a new approach. I argue that a sub-branch including Bactrian, Parthian and some other languages is a hypothesis that deserves to be tested; at the same time, the comparison with other Iranian languages as well as typological considerations permit to assess the role of language contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Syntactic Variation and change in Swiss German dialects The article deals with the areal distribution of morphosyntactic variants in Swiss German dialects. The Zurich project “Syntaktischer Atlas der deutschen Schweiz” (SADS) has provided a lot of evidence for the existence of syntactic isoglosses within the German-speaking regions of Switzerland. In the following, we will discuss several types of variant distribution. There are syntactic variables showing a division of Western and Eastern Swiss German dialects, a division well known from phonology and lexis. In addition, we find few archaic variants restricted to southern Highest Alemannic, again in line with other linguistic levels. Most interesting are some variants showing up in quite small – and differing – regions. These regions usually do not only show these specific variants but variation with a more common variant. This leads to a discussion of the implications of variation. Variation is not only seen as an indication of an ongoing change, but it is argued that there is evidence for a long lasting variational situation and largely stable variation respectively. Several possible types of comparison with older data and between age groups (apparent time analysis) within the data are presented. There are relatively few cases where we can show larger shifts between two regional variants and there seem to be only some rare cases of syntactic influence by Standard German introducing new variants. With respect to the old question of morphosyntactic borrowing, Swiss German dialects show cases of resistance as well as cases of interference, the latter concerning loan translation and semantic adaptation if the structure favors it.

All South Slavic languages, from Bulgaria in the South-East to Slovenia in the North-West, are part of a dialect continuum. This paper outlines the position of what is traditionally called Kajkavian in that continuum in light of old accentual isoglosses. Kajkavian shares several old prosodic-phonological isoglosses with Slovene (such as the rise of the neocircumflex), while on the other hand it is connected with Western Štokavian and Čakavian through some morphological-categorial accentual isoglosses (like the innovative accent of the infinitive and l-participle). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with the areal distribution of morphosyntactic variants in Swiss German dialects. The Zurich project "Syntaktischer Atlas der deutschen Schweiz" (SADS) has provided a lot of evidence for the existence of syntactic isoglosses within the German-speaking regions of Switzerland. In the following, we will discuss several types of variant distribution. There are syntactic variables showing a division of Western and Eastern Swiss German dialects, a division well known from phonology and lexis. In addition, we find few archaic variants restricted to southern Highest Alemannic, again in line with other linguistic levels. Most interesting are some variants showing up in quite small-and differing-regions. These regions usually do not only show these specific variants but variation with a more common variant. This leads to a discussion of the implications of variation. Variation is not only seen as an indication of an ongoing change, but it is argued that there is evidence for a long lasting variational situation and largely stable variation respectively. Several possible types of comparison with older data and between age groups (apparent time analysis) within the data are presented. There are relatively few cases where we can show larger shifts between two regional variants and there seem to be only some rare cases of syntactic influence by Standard German introducing new variants. With respect to the old question of morphosyntactic borrowing, Swiss German dialects show cases of resistance as well as cases of interference, the latter concerning loan translation and semantic adaptation if the structure favors it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse irregular verbs in Maltese and compares the examples to their counterparts in four Tunisian dialects, mainly the dialect of Sousse, Tunis, Judeo Tunisian Arabic, Tunisian Arabic as described by Stumme and Moroccan. Maltese as any other Arabic dialect has continued to evolve and grow further away from Classical Arabic; the close affinities Maltese shares with the Tunisian dialects are quite obvious as are the several isoglosses attested which distinguish the Maghrebi dialects as a group. It is for this reason that Maltese here is being compared to four Tunisian dialects, with the examples given from Moroccan to often serve as contrast. This paper is partly based on the questionnaire by Dominique Caubet, 'Questionnaire du Dialectologie du Maghreb', as well as another unpublished paper by the same author entitled: 'Towards a dialectological atlas of Maltese; questions to be raised'(2007), the aims of which was to draw a linguistic atlas of the Maghrebi dialects and Maltese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The treatment of Proto-Iranian *θw (PIE *t) is one of the isoglosses distinguishing Middle Persian from Parthian and thus important for Western Iranian dialectology. The re-discussion of the Parthian development of this consonant cluster by Nicholas Sims-Williams presents a welcome opportunity for some notes on the matter. I will argue that there is some additional evidence in favour of his suggestion that the Parthian result is not -f- as previously assumed, but a consonant cluster. I will also suggest a modification of the steps that the development takes. The Middle Persian development of *θw as well as some related issues of historical phonology and Pth. orthography and Western Ir. are likewise discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objective of this dissertation is language and populations contact in the plain of Tadla, situated in central Morocco around the city of Beni Mellal. This language contact setting presupposes common human and linguistic facts made up of heterogeneity, mixing, variation both within the same language, the same group of people as well as within different human groups. The languages concerned in this study are mainly Amazigh and Arabic and, to some extent, French. The groups investigated are the Chleuh, the Arabized, the Arabs and the Amazighized. The contact between the languages and groups concerns the linguistic ideal parallelism and the ideal identity. This research falls within a larger scope: that of the regionalisation and decentralisation in Morocco and could be introduced as an element for territory planning of the area investigated. This work could be a preliminary initiative study of the region of Tadla from a historical, demographic, geographical, linguistic and anthropological point of view. A good knowledge of the Moroccan territory and populations requires knowledge of the distribution of the languages and the populations and their point of contact. The study of the language and populations contact will help to apprehend the mixing and consequently predict the human and linguistic evolution and changes (i.e. the emergence of a mixed language) and lead to a redefinition of regionalisation on the basis of the linguistic and cultural particularities based on the findings of fieldwork research. From this perspective, our research has the advantage of dealing with a rural micro-structure, which will be described on the basis of the characteristic of the Arabic lect of Tadla, the linguistic features of the contact between Amazigh and Arabic, the impact of the socio-cultural interpenetration between the groups present, the maps of the linguistic boundaries which set the limits of isoglosses, the regional atlases of the lects and populations of the so-called contact areas, i.e. the plain of Tadla. The originality of the research consists in the investigation of both the languages and their populations on the basis of epilinguistic speech. Former works on the region have dealt with either one or the other. The study does not limit itself to the description of the phenomena but it also aims at accounting for and explaining the convergences between the populations and languages thanks to the consideration of all the elements which could influence variation. Our aim, indeed, is not to pre-categorize the range of manifestations of language and populations contact but to apprehend its modes. The general tendency is to show that the different human groupings in Tadla do in no way differ since they have the same representation of the world. The only difference lies in the modes of expression they use i.e. either Amazigh or Arabic to express their perception of the world. The goal is thus to give a general view about the lects in use, to provide a large corpus of epilinguistic speech and to propose a model for its categorization and interpretation. We aim at revealing that what appears to be different and dissimilar on the surface is nothing but the incarnation of the facets of the same and unique, profound and inherent characteristic, i.e. the Moroccan character. Given the dimension and nature of the language and populations contact data in the area of Tadla, we had to opt for an eclectic theoretical and methodological model that would include different models and disciplines such as geography, history, dialectology, sociolinguistics, sociology of language, anthropology, psychology, discourse analysis and linguistics. Thus, on the theoretical and methodological level, we have made use of an eclectic model including different perspectives that allow for the analysis of one or many aspects of the issue.… [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]