The Linguistic Atlas of Asia and the Linguistic Atlas of Asia and Africa

The Linguistic Atlas of Asia (LAA) and the Linguistic Atlas of Asia and Africa (LAAA) are linguistic atlases spanning more than one continent. This paper describes: 1) the process during which Japanese scholars coordinated by Mitsuaki Endo produced the atlases, and 2) the characteristics of the two atlases. These atlases are useful for understanding geographical variation of the vast main areas under study, and also of the border areas. The maps are drawn and synthesized online, allowing for the enlargement the concerned area. When symbols are assigned before mapping typological items, we can see the geographical variation of certain types in the synthesized map. Various cases of lexical borrowing can be also found using the maps drawn within our research projects. The center of diffusion in the case of borrowings is often Sinitic, Indo-European, Arabic, Russian etc. although the direction of old borrowings is difficult to determine.