GLOS: Laboratory for the Study of Greek Language

In this paper, I examine the borrowing of Romance words in Griko and Romance and Turkish words in Cretan. I investigate how easy borrowing can be of a particular lexical category as well as the language contact-factors affecting the process. I propose a borrowability scale (nouns > verbs > adjectives > adverbs) for the two dialectal varieties and with the use of statistics I show that certain words are relatively easy to be borrowed. Finally, I argue that the borrowing of lexical material depends not only on external factors (e.g. the intensity of contact) but also on intralinguistic ones such as the typological distance and the structural compatibility of the systems in contact.

A prevailing issue of debate in language contact studies involves the borrowability of various lexical and free grammatical categories. In this MA Thesis (a) I examine the borrowing of different lexical and free functional words, (b) I investigate the reliability of well-known borrowability scales, like those that have been formulated by Haugen (1950), Muysken (1981), Matras (2007), etc, and (c) I examine the factors that determine the borrowing process.

For this purpose, I examine data from the Modern Greek Dialects. More specifically, I examine the borrowing of (a) Romance words in Griko, (b) Turkish words in Cappadocian, and (c) both Romance and Turkish words in Cretan.

I investigate how easy the borrowing of a particular lexical and free functional word category can be as well as the language-contact factors affecting the process. I propose a common borrowability scale for the lexical categories (nouns > verbs > adjectives > adverbs) for all of the dialectal varieties that I have studied, and I show that certain words are relatively easy to be borrowed.

My main findings show that no absolute generalization can be drawn within the language contact domain. The intensity of contact factor (Thomason & Kaufman, 1988; Thomason, 2001) seems to be the key factor in explaining the split between lexical and structural borrowing. It explains why, for example, both in Griko and Cappadocian, where bilingualism and borrowing is vastly extensive, free-functional-words are borrowed with ease, whereas in Cretan, where the level of bilingualism is obviously less extensive, the borrowing of free-functional-words is extremely restricted.

Moreover, the differentiation between the borrowing of free-functional words in Griko versus that in Cappadocian shows that borrowing depends not only on external factors (e.g. the intensity of contact) but also on intralinguistic factors such as the typological distance and the structural (in)compatibility of the systems in contact. A concrete example is the absence of borrowed prepositions in Cappadocian due to Turkish containing only postpositions.

Με αυτή τη συμβολή εξετάζουμε την δανεισιμότητα των διαφόρων λεξικών στοιχείων σε περιβάλλοντα εξαιρετικά έντονης γλωσσικής επαφής. Για τον λόγο αυτό, μελετάμε τον λεξιλογικό δανεισμό δύο ποικιλιών της ελληνικής, η πρώτη εκ των οποίων (Griko) βρίσκεται σε έντονη γλωσσική επαφή με την (ημί)διαχυτική Ιταλορομανική, και η δεύτερη (Καππαδοκική) με την συγκολλητική Τουρκική. Προτείνουμε μία κοινή κλίμακα δανεισιμότητας της μορφής: ονόματα > ρήματα > επίθετα > επιρρήματα. Επιπλέον, διερευνούμε τους παράγοντες οι οποίοι επηρεάζουν την ευκολία δανεισμού των στοιχείων, όπως είναι: (α) η ιδιότητα μίας κατηγορίας να έχει στοιχεία ανοικτής ή κλειστής τάξης, (β) η μορφολογική πολυπλοκότητα κατά την ενσωμάτωση ενός δανείου στην αποδέκτρια γλώσσα, (γ) η ιδιότητα μιας κατηγορίας να έχει καλά οργανωμένα κλιτικά παραδείγματα, (δ) ο ελεύθερος ή δεσμευμένος χαρακτήρας των δανεισμένων στοιχείων, (ε) η τυπολογική απόσταση μεταξύ της γλώσσας δότριας και της γλώσσας αποδέκτριας, (στ) η δομική συμβατότητα μεταξύ των σε επαφή συστημάτων, και (ζ) η ένταση της γλωσσικής επαφής. Αποδεικνύεται ότι δεν είναι όλοι εξίσου καθοριστικοί στην ευκολία δανεισιμότητας των στοιχείων.

This paper explores the nuanced realm of case syncretism, focusing primarily on its synchronic presence in Modern Greek (dialectal variety) and on the diachronic emergence of the phenomenon, classifying the distribution of syncretic cells in the nominal inflectional system of the language. This analysis shows that syncretism has been extended over time to many nouns, no longer limited either to neuter nouns or to the cells for the Nominative and Accusative. I suggest that the distribution of syncretic cells in Greek is influenced primarily by grammatical gender, but it is also affected by the productivity of each inflectional class, which I attribute to the morphomic (in terms of Aronoff [1994]. Morphology by itself: Stems and inflectional classes, vol. 22. MIT Press.) nature of the phenomenon. I propose a decisive new factor preventing a cell from participating in syncretic patterns: interparadigmatic similarity of affixes appears to block syncretism. Further, I examine the factors facilitating the development and expansion of syncretic patterns.

The research analyzes the front-page headlines of Greek newspapers, focusing on data from the first decade of the publication of the newspaper "Eleftheron Vima." It examines the special characteristics of the headlines, both at the level of linguistic structure (such as the use of words, the construction of sentences, etc.) and at the level of typographical features (size, position, use of different fonts/sizes, etc.). The article constitutes the first part of a broader comparative study, which aims to investigate whether the headlines form a distinct textual genre and to explore the ways in which they evolved over time.

In this study, I parameterize the five tests proposed by Stevens (2005) for characterizing an element as an affixoid and formulate ten criteria for prefixation. Using these criteria, I analyze the morphological status of the initial components of Modern Greek words beginning with pale- and paʎo-. Contrary to Giannoulopoulou’s (1999) analysis of paleo- as a “confix” and paʎo- as a “stem”, I argue that pale- is a stem that has two allomorphic realizations: pale~paʎ. pale- is marked as [+learnèd] and paʎ- as [-learnèd]. While paʎo- historically derives from pale-, it has acquired a distinct morphological status and should now be considered a prefixoid. The ten criteria I present could serve as a model for determining the morphological status of initial elements in other Greek morphological structures and potentially in other languages where this status is ambiguous. Finally, I propose that prefixation in Greek differs from that in word-based languages. In Greek, prefixation is not a case of morphologization; rather, prefixes originate in and remain confined to the morphological domain.

The paper is the first part of a series of studies on the front-page headlines of Greek newspapers, the particular linguistic features that define them, and how these features have changed over the last 100 years. Although, for methodological reasons, this paper is limited to the study of the 1920s, the first decade of the life of the newspaper ELEFTHERON VIMA, it becomes evident that the front-page headlines display several characteristics that deviate from the typical variety of language that appears in the main body of articles. Therefore, we argue that there is a need to investigate further whether headlines in Greek should be considered a separate textual genre, which is characterized by its own conventions in relation to other textual genres.

The research is a contribution to the investigation of the grammatical status of toponyms from the point of view of inflectional paradigmatic morphology. By examining data from Standard Modern Greek, as well as select data from its historical development, the analysis reveals that the inflectional morphology of toponyms shows significant differences not only from that of homonymous common nouns but also from certain categories of proper names, such as anthroponyms. Specifically, I conclude that (1) toponyms must have a tantum inflectional paradigm (either pluralia or singularia), and (2) they may present anti-defective phenomena in their paradigm when they are compared with common nouns and other proper names. In the broader framework of Canonical Morphology, I introduce the term anti-defectiveness to describe the second idiosyncratic property of toponyms: their capacity to circumvent the restrictions that lead to defective paradigms in other nouns of the same class.

Since 1940, numerous efforts have been made to either verify or refute the hypothesis of a rhythm typology, yet no definitive conclusions have been reached. In this paper, I discuss the limitations of the reliability of data collection and processing methods, as well as the indices that dominate the attempts to measure the phenomenon, highlighting the obstacles to creating a rhythm typology. To highlight the issues under discussion, I conduct a test application of the frameworks from international literature on two varieties of the Greek language, the Amaliada variety and Cypriot Greek, based on the analysis of 192 intonational phrases, which were systematically and randomly selected from recordings of unscripted natural speech by two female speakers for each linguistic system. The analysis demonstrates such variability among speakers of the same dialect that it calls into question the validity of the rhythm measurement practices used to date. I propose the key pillars upon which rhythm research should be based in order to draw reliable conclusions and obtain cross-linguistically and inter-study comparable results, aiming to reach a definitive confirmation or refutation of a rhythm typology.

EIC: Angela Ralli
Volume Editor: Michail I. Marinis
Volume Editor's Assistant: Vasiliki Makri

Contents:

ΜΕΡΟΣ A΄

Μορφολογία και γλωσσική επαφή: Ελληνικές διάλεκτοι σε επαφή με την Τουρκική και την Ιταλική. Τελική αναφορά υλοποίησης προγράμματος

Σχεδιασμός και ανάπτυξη μίας μορφολογικής βάσης δεδομένων: Η βάση MORILAN
Τσιμπούρης Χαράλαμπος, Ανδρέου Μάριος, Κουτσούκος Νικόλαος

ΜΕΡΟΣ Β΄

Μορφολογική ποικιλία στην Κοινή Νεοελληνική και τις διαλέκτους
Ράλλη Αγγελική

Περιβάλλοντα έντονης γλωσσικής επαφής και δανεισιμότητα λεξικών στοιχείων: δεδομένα από την Γκρίκο και την Καππαδοκική
Μαρίνης Μιχάλης, Ράλλη Αγγελική

Γλωσσική αλλαγή: δάνεια ουσιαστικά στην Επτανησιακή και την Γκρεκάνικο
Μακρή Βασιλική

Τα στάδια της μορφολογικής ενσωμάτωσης των λεξικών δανείων στα Επτανησιακά
Φραγκοπούλου Κατερίνα

Content:

Επιθηματοποίηση και η έκφραση του χώρου και του χρόνου στη Νέα Ελληνική
Άννα Αναστασιάδη-Συμεωνίδη

Conversion in Modern Greek and the typological canvas: some remarks
Nikos Koutsoukos

Αναδιάρθρωση Κλιτικών Παραδειγμάτων στην Ονοματική Κλίση της Λέσβου και των Κυδωνιών
Βάσω Αλεξέλλη

Συστηματικότητα στη μεταγραφή των ελληνικών γραφημάτων: η περίπτωση των μηνυμάτων SMS με μορφή Greeklish
Ανδρέας Ανδρέου

Η κατάκτηση των δομικών και εγγενών πτώσεων: δεδομένα από τον ελληνικό παιδικό λόγο
Αποστολοπούλου Σοφία & Δήμητρα Αρφάνη

Παραγωγή επιθέτων: τα επιθήματα –ικ(ος) και –ιν(ος) στην ΚΝΕ
Νικόλ Βασσάλου

Το ονοματικό κλιτικό παράδειγμα της Ποντιακής διαλέκτου και των ιδιωμάτων της Χαλκιδικής
Μαριάννα Γκιουλέκα

Press Releases: A Linguistic, Cross-Cultural Investigation into Corporate Communication
Konstantina N. Zefkili

“Is THAT your PROFESSIONAL opinion?”: Constructing and advancing knowledge on Facebook
Mariza Georgalou

Greek psychological predicates: classification and the issue of causativity
Antigone Kalamida

The Role of Memory Systems in Specific Language Impairment - Procedural Memory System Dysfunctions
Foteini Kalamida

Μορφολογική Επίγνωση μαθητών δημοτικού στις ρηματικές κατηγορίες του Χρόνου, του Ποιού Ενεργείας και της Έγκλισης
Καλογριανίτη Ευαγγελία & Μαξιμιάδη Δανάη

Η παραγωγικότητα των ρηματοποιητών -ευ(ω) και -ιζ(ω) και το χαρακτηριστικό [±ξένο] της βάσης στην Ποντιακή και την Κατωιταλική διάλεκτο
Κατερίνα Κονταξή & Νίκη Σπηλιοπούλου

Εμφάνιση νέων διφθόγγων σε Αθηναϊκή ποικιλία των νέων: Αλλαγή κάτωθεν
Άννα Λουκοπούλου & Δημήτρης Παπαζαχαρίου

Η χωροχρονική αλληλεπίδραση και η αποτύπωση της στη γλώσσα: το παράδειγμα των επιρρηματικών φράσεων στην ΚΑΕ και την ΚΝΕ
Γεώργιος Θ. Μαγιώνος

Gender Assignment to Romance nominal loans in Heptanesian
Vasiliki Makri

Φωνητικά-Φωνολογικά φαινόμενα στη διδασκαλία της Αρχαίας Ελληνικής στο Γυμνάσιο: Η περίπτωση της αποκλειστοποίησης των ηχηρών κλειστών /b d g/
Μακροδημήτρης Χρήστος & Πάζα Νικολέτα

Δανεισιμότητα λεξικών στοιχείων: δεδομένα από νεοελληνικές διαλέκτους σε επαφή με την Ιταλική και την Τουρκική
Μιχάλης Μαρίνης & Αγγελική Ράλλη

Παρατηρήσεις στα φραστικά σύνθετα και στις ειδικές ονοματικές φράσεις της γλώσσας του ποδοσφαίρου: σύγκριση με τις αντίστοιχες δομές της Κοινής Νέας Ελληνικής
Χρήστος Παπαναγιώτου

Η διδασκαλία της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας και η σχέση της με την αρχαία ελληνική: μία προσέγγιση υπό το πρίσμα της γλωσσικής επίγνωσης
Μαρία Πραγκαστή

Ενσωμάτωση ονοματικών δανείων στο Κεφαλλονίτικο ιδίωμα
Κατερίνα Φραγκοπούλου

The peculiarities of using and perceiving ellipsis in men’s and women’s speech
Maria Volkova

Γλωσσικός δανεισμός: η περίπτωση του περιθωριακού λεξιλογίου
Κατερίνα Χριστοπούλου

This paper explores the nuanced realm of case syncretism, focusing primarily on its synchronic presence in Modern Greek (dialectal variety) and on the diachronic emergence of the phenomenon, classifying the distribution of syncretic cells in the nominal inflectional system of the language. This analysis shows that syncretism has been extended over time to many nouns, no longer limited either to neuter nouns or to the cells for the Nominative and Accusative. I suggest that the distribution of syncretic cells in Greek is influenced primarily by grammatical gender, but it is also affected by the productivity of each inflectional class, which I attribute to the morphomic (in terms of Aronoff [1994]. Morphology by itself: Stems and inflectional classes, vol. 22. MIT Press.) nature of the phenomenon. I propose a decisive new factor preventing a cell from participating in syncretic patterns: interparadigmatic similarity of affixes appears to block syncretism. Further, I examine the factors facilitating the development and expansion of syncretic patterns.