LL-MAP: Language and Location - A Map Annotation Project

LL-MAP is a project designed to integrate language information with data from the physical and social sciences by means of a Geographical Information System (GIS). The most important part of the project will be a language subsystem, which will relate geographical information on the area in which a language is or has been spoken to data on resources relevant to the language. Through a link to the Multi-Tree project, information on all proposed genetic relationships of the languages will also be made available and viewable in a geographic context. Ultimately, the system will include ancillary information on topography, political boundaries, demographics, climate, vegetation, and wildlife, thus providing a basis upon which to build hypotheses about language movement across territory. Some cultural information, e.g., on religion, ethnicity, and economics, will also be included.

The LL-MAP system will encourage collaboration between linguists, historians, archaeologists, ethnographers, and geneticists, as they explore the relationship between language and cultural adaptation and change. We hope it will elicit new insights and hypotheses, and that it will also serve as an educational resource. As a GIS, LL-MAP has the potential to be a captivating instructional tool, presenting complex data in a way accessible to all educational levels. Finally, as a free service available online, LL-MAP should increase public knowledge of lesser-known languages and cultures, underlining the importance of language and linguistic diversity to cultural understanding and scientific inquiry.

LL-MAP is a joint project of Eastern Michigan University and Stockholm University, in collaboration with several projects and archives in the USA, Europe, and Australia. Collaborators include PARADISEC, The Alaska Native Language Center, The Tibetan-Himalayan Digital Library, and The WALS Project, as well as noted documentary linguists. Technical development will be directed by The Institute for Geospatial Research and Education (IGRE) at Eastern Michigan U. The project is funded by a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation.

Collaborating Institutions

Founding Partners

An outstanding group of international collaborators have furnished data for the project. Click here for information on our Founding Partners.

Advisory Board

The LL-MAP Advisory Board includes GIS and Language Technology experts, as well as distinguished linguists. Click here for information on our Advisory Board.

Senior Personnel

  • Anthony Aristar
  • Helen Aristar-Dry
  • Yichun Xie

Team Leaders

  • Matt Lahrman (current)
  • Amy Brunett (current)
  • Erin Smith
  • Hunter Lockwood
  • Daniel Parker
  • Susanne Vejdemo
  • Megan Zdrojkowski

Technical Team

Designer and Lead Programmer

Joshua Thompson

Additional Programmers

  • Michael Appleby
  • Ben Cool
  • Chris Dibbs
  • Ed Kmett
  • Zongsha Sha
  • Gayathri Sriram

Consultants

Gary Simons

Data Team

Student Team Members

  • Amy Brunett (Current Team Member and Team Leader for ICE)
  • Fatemeh Abdollahi (Current Team Member)
  • Xiyan Wang (Current Team Member)
  • Alison Zaharee (Current Team Member)
  • Catherine Adams
  • Gin Cordon
  • Brandon Devine
  • Pamela Dixon
  • Keri Holley
  • Ania Kubisz
  • Okki Kurniawan
  • Luiza Lukowicz
  • Hannah Morales
  • Stephanie Morse
  • Steve Politzer-Ahles
  • Nicholas Prokup
  • Bethany Townsend
  • Mfon Udoinyang
  • Martin Warin
  • Elyssa Winzeler

LL-MAP Contributors

  • Andrea Berez
  • Öesten Dahl
  • Arienne Dwyer
  • Veronica Grondona
  • Gary Holton
  • Ljuba Veselinova

Publications and Presentations

Click here for a list of LL-MAP presentations and publications

Credits

World Language Mapping System (Global Mapping International)

The World Language Mapping System (WLMS) consists of Geographic Information System (GIS) data mapping language locations. WLMS is the result of over 15 years of collaborative work between Global Mapping International (GMI) and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), during the Language Mapping Project to map the over 6,800 languages described in SIL's 14th edition Ethnologue. This data set, adapted to work with either NGA's public domain Digtital Chart of the World (VMAP Level 0) base map or GMI's companion Seamless Digital Chart of the World, is now available to the broader community of GIS users.