Spatial Reasoning and GIS in Linguistic Prehistory. Two Case Studies from Lower Fungom (Northwest Cameroon)

Abstract

Being an ontologically multidisciplinary topic, language change is among the best candidates to be addressed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS can integrate datasets from diverse disciplines along with real-world geographical information, hence facilitating the investigation of (i) the spatial relations existing between research items and (ii) (past) landscapes. Drawing from an ongoing project focused on the historical development of the extremely diverse linguistic situation documented in the Lower Fungom region (Northwest Cameroon), this article explores the possibility of placing authentic interdisciplinary research pivoting on linguistic issues within a GIS framework.