Atlas Linguarum Europae
Roman Jakobson proposed a linguistic atlas for Europe in the late 1930s, but World War II disrupted this plan.[4] Alinei developed a theory that much of language is based on "magico-religious motivations", which he believed pre-dated the spread of Christianity and Islam to Europe.[9] An article by the Yorkshire Dialect Society noted the troubled history of the survey in England and Wales.J. D. A. Widdowson had initially said that there were not the resources to do the survey domestically, but he was persuaded to take part after the persistence of Toon Weijnen.As of 2023, the ALE committee still has representation for Gaelic, Irish, Manx, Scots and Welsh but not for English.