Language and territory both conceptually refer to social structuring, space and a sense of belonging. A historical approach to these notions reveals innovation and new practices in the societies that shape them. They are also highly polysemic terms with differing semantic contours according to usage, context, aims. The representations they embody are sustained by underlying links and structures. Together, they evoke exchanges, movements, blending, but also withdrawal and conflict. They are an invitation to travel, to creativity, to self-expression or to encounters with the Other. This colloquium will discuss the different ways that languages and territories are linked, and will show the political, social and economic stakes that arise from the relationships between them. Above all, these terms refer to men and women with their social practices and representations, at the core of the logic of territoriality. New territories give rise to new language practices, which, in turn, create new spaces, discourse and meaning.