The «atmosfera pugnace di quei giorni». A century of ALI and ID

Abstract

Set against the centenary of the Atlante Linguistico Italiano and L’Italia Dialettale, this article reconstructs key moments in early twentieth-century Italian dialectology, focusing on the relationship between Matteo Bartoli and Clemente Merlo. Drawing on bibliographical sources and epistolary evidence, it examines the theoretical, personal, and ideological tensions surrounding the debate on Dalmatian, the early projects for an Italian dialect atlas, and the foundation of the ALI. The opposition between Neogrammarian approaches and geolinguistic perspectives is interpreted not merely as a conflict between scholarly schools, but as a significant stage in the methodological definition of the discipline. The joint commemoration of the ALI and ID thus offers a historiographical reading of a notably “pugnacious” period in Italian linguistics.