Department of Philology // University of Patras

Modern Greek Dialect Research Laboratory: Activities & Materials Produced

The Modern Greek Dialect Research Laboratory has developed and supported its work by undertaking research programmes:

  • EPET ΙΙ, European Union - General Secretariat of Research and Technology (2000-2001): Development of the Online Semantics Network WORDNET
    Project leader: Prof. Angela Ralli
  • INTERREG II, 5.4 European Union - Ministry of Economy (2000-2001): Recording and Analysing the Grico dialect of South Italy
    Project leader: Prof. Angela Ralli
  • EPTA, Ministry of the Aegean (2002-2005): Recording and Preserving the Asia Minor Dialect of Kydonies (Aivali) and Moschonisia
    Project leader: Prof. Angela Ralli (Web page: www.mikrasia.lit.upatras.gr).
  • EPEAEK (Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training), Herakleitus (2003 - 2006): Research and Doctorate Thesis by Dimitra Melissaropoulou concerning the Word Formation in the Asia Minor Dialect of Kydonies (Aivali) and Moschonissia
    Project leader: Prof. Angela Ralli
  • EPEAEK (Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training), PYTHAGORAS ΙΙ (2005-2007): Recording and Studying the Dialect of Eastern Lesbos.
    Project leader: Prof. Angela Ralli
  • University of London School of Oriental and African Studies( SOAS, PG0033, April - December 2007). Documentation and Description of Cappadocian. Endangered Languages and Documentation Programme
    Project leaders: Prof. Angela Ralli (University of Patras), Assistant Prof. Dimitris Papazachariou (University of Patras) and Prof. Mark Janse (Ghent University).
  • Research Committee of the University of Patras, K. Karatheodoris Programme 103, Β 135 (2003-2006): Dialect contact and the mechanisms behind language change: A dialectological study of the Greek spoken in Patras.
    Project leader: Dr. Dimitris Papazachariou.
  • Municipality of Agia Paraskevi (Lesbos, Summer 2008): Recording and description of the Local Dialect. Project Leader: Prof. Angela Ralli.
  • Leventis Foundation and the Municipality of Megara (2009-2011). From the Megara Dialect to the Dialect of Old Athens. In collaboration with Dr. Α. Syrkou.
    Project leader: Prof. Angela Ralli.
  • Preservation of Linguistic Heritage: The Greek Dialects of Asia Minor (2009-2011). In memory of Stavroula Toula. Project Leader: Prof. Angela Ralli

Participation in other research programmes and international partnerships:

  • Asymmetries in Natural Languages Research Project. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (1998-2003)
    Project leader: Anne-Μarie Di Sciullo, Professor at L'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
    Associate: Prof. Angela Ralli
  • Genetic and Linguistic Factors in the Prognosis of Children with Delayed Speech Development (2001-2003)
    Project leader: Dr. Kakia Peteinou, Genetics and Neurology Institute of Cyprus
    Associate: Prof. Angela Ralli
  • Words in the Language, Words in the Brain Research Project. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2002-2007 )
    Project leader: Gary Libben, Professor at the University of Alberta
    Associate: Prof. Angela Ralli
  • Αsymmetries at Interfaces Research Project. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2003-2008)
    Project leader: Αnna Maria Di Sciullo, Professor at L'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
    Associate: Prof. Angela Ralli
  • "POLYTIMO (A computational treatment of the written language of old books and manuscripts)" (2006-2008).
    Project leader: BSI International Administration Systems. EU programme. Information Society.
    Associates: Prof. Angela Ralli, Dr. Io Manolessou.

The Modern Greek Dialects Research Laboratory has organised international conferences:

  • First International Conference of Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory (MGDLT 1). Patras: October 2000
  • International Conference of Graduate Students in Linguistics (CONSOLE). Patras: December 2003
  • Second International Conference of Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory (MGDLT 2). Mytilene: October 2004
  • Third International Conference of Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory (MGDLT 3). Nicosia: June 2007
  • Sixth Mediterranean Morphology Meeting (MMM6). Ithaca: September 2007
  • Patras International Conference of Graduate Students in Linguistics (PICGL 1). Patras: March 2008.
  • Fourth International Conference of Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory (MGDLT 4). Chios: June 2007

As part of the research work carried out at the Modern Greek Dialects Research Laboratory various publications have appeared in specialised international journals and books:

A. Proceedings

  • Proceedings of the First International Conference on Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory (Patras, 2000)
  • Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory (Patras, 2004)
  • Dictionary of the Asia Minor dialect of Kydonies and Moschonissia and the dialect of Eastern Lesvos (Patras, 2009)

B. Journal (on paper and electronic)

  • Patras Working Papers in Linguistics, Special issue: Morphology (Patras, forthcoming)

C. Recent Selected Papers

  • Gafos, D. & A. Ralli 2002. Morpho-syntactic Features and Paradigmatic Uniformity in Two Dialectal Varieties of the Island of Lesvos. Journal of Greek Linguistics 2: 519-551.
  • Melissaropoulou, D. 2009. Augmentation and Diminution in Greek Dialectal Variation: An Optimal System. In Proceedings of 6th Decembrettes. Selected Papers. To appear.
  • Melissaropoulou, D. & A. Ralli 2008. The Verbal System of the Asia-Minor Dialect of Aivali and Moschonisi. Proceedings of the 5th History Meeting. Athens.
  • Melissaropoulou, D. & A. Ralli 2008. Headedness in Diminutive Formation: Evidence from Modern Greek and its Dialectal Variation. Acta Linguistica Hungarica 55: 183-204.
  • Melissaropoulou, D. & A. Ralli 2008. Headedness in Diminutive Formation: Evidence from Modern Greek and its Dialectal Variation. Acta Linguistica Hungarica 55: 183-204.
  • Melissaropoulou, D. & A. Ralli. To appear. Optimization in Grammar. Diminution in the Dialects of Kydonies and South Italy. Proceedings of the 6th ODEG Meeting: Le Forme Dialettali della Lingua Greca dall'Antichita ad Oggi. Corigliano di Otranto.
  • Papazachariou, D. 1999. Dialect Contact Phenomena: The creation of a new regional Koine in Northern Greece.  Studies in Greek Linguistics 19: 310-324.
  • Papazachariou, D. 2001. The role of demographic and regional parameters on the formulation of an linguistic variety in the speech of adolescents in Northern Greece. Proceedings of the 4rth International Conference on Greek Linguistics. Thessaloniki: University Studio Press. 424-430.
  • Papazachariou, D. 2004. The phonetic variants of the phonological variable /l/ in the dialect of Patras. Proceedings of the 4rth International Conference on Greek Linguistics. Rethymno: University of Creete. 19-25
  • Papazachariou, D. 2006. The Quantitative Study of the Lateral Variable (l) in the Dialect of Patras. In Ralli A., Josef B. & Janse M. (eds.), Second International Conference on Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory.
  • Papazachariou, D. In press. Clitic Stress in Patras' dialect: Phonetic description and theoretical consequences. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Dialectal forms of the Greek Language from Antiquity to Day.
  • Papazachariou D. & Archakis A. 2001. The dialectal role and discourse function of six semantic-intonation variables in Northern Greece. In Ralli A., Joseph B. & Janse M. (eds.), First International Conference on Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory. Patras: Patras University Press. 223-236.
  • Ralli, A. 2002. The Role of Morphology in Gender Determination: Evidence from Modern Greek. Linguistics 40:3, 519-551.
  • Ralli, A. 2003. Morphology in Greek Linguistics: The State-of-the-art. 2003. Journal of Greek Linguistics 4: 77-130.
  • Ralli, A. 2004. Stem-based vs. Word-based Morphological Configurations: The Case of Modern Greek Preverbs. Lingue e Linguaggio 2: 241-275.
  • Ralli, A. 2006. On the Role of Allomorphy in Inflectional Morphology: Evidence from the Greek Dialectal Varieties of Lesvos, Kydonies (Aivali) and Moschonisia. In A. Ralli, B.D. Joseph & M.Janse (eds.) Proceedings of the Second International Conference of Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory. Patras: University of Patras. 329-349.
  • Ralli, A. 2006. Variation in Word Formation: The Case of Compound Markers. 2006. In P. Cuzzolin & M. Napoli (eds.) Fonologia e Tipologia Lessicale nella Storia della Lingua Greca. Milano: Francoangeli. 238-264.
  • Ralli, A. 2006. Compound Marking in a Cross-linguistic Approach. 2006. In N. Hathout & F. Montermini (eds.). Morphologie à Toulouse. Muenchen: LINCOM. 207-220
  • Ralli, A. 2007. Syntactic and Morphosyntactic Phenomena in Modern Greek Dialects: The State of the Art. Journal of Greek Linguistics 2006: 121-159.
  • Ralli, A. 2008. Compound Markers and Parametric Variation. 2008. STUF 61: 19-38.
  • Ralli, A. 2008. Greek Deverbal Compounds with Bound Stems: A Case of Neoclassical Formations in Modern Greek. Southern Journal of Linguistics (SJL) 29 (1/2): 150-173.
  • Ralli, A. 2008. The Dialect of Aivali and Moschonisi: A First Approach. 2008. Proceedings of the 5th History Meeting. Athens.
  • Ralli, A. 2009. Morphology vs. Dialectology: Insights from Modern Greek Dialects. Morphology. To appear.
  • Ralli, A. & A. Karasimos 2009. The Bare-Stem Constraint in Greek Compound Formation. Gengo Kenkyu 135.
  • Ralli, A. 2009. Modern Greek V V Dvandva Compounds: A Linguistic Innovation in the History of the Indo-European Languages. Word Structure 2. To appear.
  • Ralli, A. & E. Dimela 2009. On the borderline between prefixation and compounding: The sa-adverbs in the dialectal varieties of Lesbos, Kydonies (Aivali) and Moschonisia. In Pavlou, Pavlos, Brian Joseph, Mark Janse and Angela Ralli (eds.) Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory. Cyprus.
  • Ralli, A. & A. Karasimos 2009. The Role of Constraints in Compound Formation: The Case of Greek. With A. Karasimos. Lingue e Linguaggio. To appear.
  • Ralli, A., D. Melissaropoulou & A. Tsiamas 2004. Paradigm Restructuring in the Nominal Inflection of the Asia-Minor Dialect of Aivali and Moschonisi. Studies in Greek Linguistics 2003, 268-279.
  • Ralli, A., D. Melissaropoulou & S. Tsolakidis 2007. Form and Function of the Perfect Tense in Greek Dialectal Variation. 2007. Studies in Greek Linguistics 2006. 361-372.
  • Ralli, A. & D. Melissaropoulou 2007. Diminution in the Dialectal Variation of Modern Greek.. In C. Dimadis (ed.) Proceedings of the 6th Meeting of the European Society of Greek Studies. Athens: Ellinika Grammata. 569-582.
  • Ralli, A. & D. Melissaropoulou To appear. Optimization in Grammar. Diminution in the Dialects of Kydonies and South Italy. Proceedings of the 6th ODEG Meeting: Le Forme Dialettali della Lingua Greca dall'Antichita ad Oggi. Corigliano di Otranto.

As part of its educational and research work, the Laboratory of Modern Greek Dialects has invited experts from Greece and abroad to give lectures/talks/seminars about the field in which they specialise:

  • Prof. Βrian D. Joseph (Ohio-State University, 2000, 2008)
  • Prof. Rochelle Lieber (University of New Hampshire, 2007)
  • Prof. Rajendra Singh (University of Montreal, 2008)
  • Prof. Jean-Yves Morin (University of Montreal, 2000)
  • Prof. Gonia Jarema (University of Montreal, 2004)
  • Prof. Eva Kehayia (McGill University, 2008)
  • Prof. Geert Booij (University of Leiden, 2005, 2007)
  • Dr. Marc van Oostendorp (Meertens Institute, 2006)
  • Prof. Marina Nespor (Università degli Studi di Ferrara, 2004)
  • Prof. Giuseppe Longobardi (Università degli Studi di Trieste, 2000, 2005)
  • Prof. Franco Fanciullo (Università degli Studi di Pisa, 2000)
  • Prof. Rita Manzini (Università degli Studi di Firenze, 2007)
  • Prof. Claudio Iacobini (Università degli Studi di Salerno, 2007)
  • Prof. Sergio Scalise (Università degli Studi di Bologna, 2005, 2008)
  • Prof. Livio Gaeta (Università degli Studi di Napoli, Federico II, 2008)
  • Dr. Antonietta Bisetto (Università degli Studi di Bologna, 2005)
  • Dr. Vito Pirrelli (CNR, Pisa, 2008)
  • Prof. Ian Roberts (Cambridge University, 2006)
  • Prof. Paul Kerswill (University of Lancaster, 2006)
  • Dr. Dave Britain (Essex University, 2006)
  • Dr. Stavros Skopeteas (University of Potsdam, 2005, 2006, 2007)
  • Prof. Eric Wehrli (University of Geneva, 2006)
  • Prof. Imre Szigeti (University of Budapest 2000, 2005, 2008)
  • Dr. Karolyna Gortych (University of Poznan, 2008)
  • Prof. Dimitra Theofanopoulou-Kondou (University of Athens, 2008)
  • Prof. Christophoros Charalambakis (University of Athens, 2000)
  • Prof. Despina Cheila-Markopoulou (University of Athens, 2007)

The Laboratory has also supported the Postgraduate program "Comparative Linguistics and Language Variation" (EPEAEK II (Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training), 2004-2008). On this postgraduate program, students received training in how to carry out field work, describe data relating to dialects and analyse dialectal material. This material is now stored in the Laboratory's archive.