Department of Philology // University of Patras

Studying Linguistics at Patras

The Linguistics Section of the Philology Department at Patras University comprises six members of the Teaching and Research Staff (one professor, one associate professor, three assistant professors and one lecturer). The combined knowledge of the team covers a broad range of research and teaching interests within General Linguistics for undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

Particular emphasis is given to the structure and use of language, with a focus on Greek, in relation to other languages, and/or on different forms of Greek. The primary interest of the Section is "language variety", i.e.: (1) the relationship of standard Modern Greek to its dialects and how and why these various forms differ from one another in terms of accent, word and sentence formation; (2) how speakers of the language perceive such differentiation; (3) differences in how we use the language depending on who we are speaking to, on whether we are using the written or the spoken language and on the more general social framework; (4) the different forms the Greek language has taken during its historical development (based on written texts).

The Linguistics Section offers introductory and specialised courses in the following areas:

  • Morphology (Derivation, Compounding, Inflection, Comparative, Diachronic)
  • Phonetics (Articulatory, Laboratory)
  • Phonology (Segmental, Prosodic)
  • Syntax (Theoretical, Comparative, Diachronic)
  • Semantics (Formal, Sentential, Lexical)
  • Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis (Explicature and Implicature, Speech Acts, Conversational Organisation, Types of Discourse)
  • Sociolinguistics (Dimensions of Language Variety, Sociolinguistic Inequality, Languages in Contact, Language and Identity)
  • Historical Linguistics (Language Change, History of the Greek Language)
  • Lexicology (Analysis of words, Analysis of Lexicon, Special Vocabularies, Marginal Language)
  • Lexicography (Creation of General and Specialised Dictionaries, development of Linguistic Databases)
  • Dialectology (Morphophonology of Modern Greek dialects, field research, sociolinguistic approaches to dialectal speech)

In the undergraduate study programme the Linguistics Section provides more than thirty different modules in theoretical and applied linguistics in addition to special seminars covering the methodology involved in theoretical and applied research in linguistics.

The period 2004-2008 was an important one for the Linguistics Section. The Philology Department offered its first postgraduate programme, focusing on Comparative Linguistics and Language Variety. This very successful programme was funded by the Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training (EPEAEK II) - 3rd Community Support Framework (CSF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

Within the Department of Philology's postgraduate study programme, the Linguistics Section offers a full set of modules for the academic year 2008-2009 covering topics which are at the forefront of modern theoretical and applied linguistics. The Section also offers many opportunities for doctorate research.

The Linguistics Section also operates the Modern Greek Dialects Research Laboratory. Its mission is to research and preserve dialectal varieties of the Greek language, which extends from Asia Minor to Italy, from the Balkan countries to Crete and Cyprus. The research laboratory has carried out a wealth of research and educational activities, doing extensive field research in Southern Italy, Asia Minor and the Peloponnese.