DBT-ALT: a system for storing and querying the data of the 'Atlante Linguistico Toscano'

Abstract - Computers can help dialectologists to make full use of the information they have so laboriously and painstakingly acquired: the basic dimensions of dialectal research can be enlarged and its possible outcomes can become more sophisticated. In this paper, we describe a lexical database for dialectal data, DBT-ALT, which has been designed and constructed to contain linguistic data collected for the Atlante Lessicale Toscano (ALT), a lexical atlas of Tuscany. DBT-ALT is illustrated in detail, with particular emphasis on its search functions which allow for complex queries taking into account a wide range of parameters interactively defined by the user on the basis of his/her research interests.