About The ICDL Conference#

The dialect of the Aegean island of Lesbos (hereafter Lesbian Greek) is one of the major Modern Greek dialects. It is spoken by a population of approximately 90.000 people, but in recent years, the frequency of its use is decreasing, especially among the younger populations who shift their interest to Standard Modern Greek. It could be characterized as an endangered linguistic variety, although recently, there are efforts to safeguard and revitalize it.

Linguistically, Lesbian Greek belongs to the group of Northern Greek dialects and displays an interesting range of phonological, morphological, morphophonological and morphosyntactic phenomena, while its vocabulary reveals aspects of the diachronic evolution of the Greek language and of contact with other languages, specifically, with Turkish and Italo-Romance.

For the Modern Lesbian dialect, a first description was achieved at the beginning of the 20th century (see Anagnostou 1903, Kretschmer 1905), while recently, an electronic dialectal atlas has been created (https://lesvos.lmgd.philology.upatras.gr). Although various glossaries and dictionaries (e.g., Papanis & Papanis 2004, Ralli 2017) and dialect-based literature works (e.g., Psarianos 2024, Karna 2024) have been published, a systematic study and a grammar that would cover the totality of the dialectal variation of Lesbos are still missing.

The First International Conference on the Dialect of Lesbos will bring together linguists and interdisciplinary scientists. It is hoped that, through their thorough and illuminative analyses, novel proposals will emerge and light will be cast upon prominent grammatical and lexical dialectal phenomena that have so far passed unnoticed or are understudied. The sociolinguistic status of the dialect will be investigated, the relation of Modern Lesbian with the literature, theater and Ancient Lesbian will be tackled, and computational analyses will be proposed.

During the conference, there will be a presentation of the Dialectal Atlas of Lesbos, a theater play in the Agiasot variety will be presented in the town of Agiasos, and an exhibition of books and documents of the last two centuries will take place in Mytilene. Ηοnorary certificates will also be granted to people who have published dialectal texts.

The conference aims at attracting the interest of the international linguistic community on the interesting varieties of Modern Lesbian and the attitude of its speakers, the majority of whom resist to the sweeping influence of Standard Modern Greek. The conference is also expected to raise the awareness of the local community about the richness of their linguistic cultural heritage and contribute to the efforts carried out for its documentation and preservation.

The Conference is organized by the University of Patras and the University of the Aegean under the auspices of the Greek Parliament and has been endorsed by the Academia Europaea. Moreover, it is sponsored by the Open-Access Journal “Languages”, which expressed an interest in publishing a Special Issue on the Dialect of Lesbos, containing elaborated versions of most peer-reviewed presentations.

The Conference Program includes a total of 32 peer-reviewed oral presentations. Most of them deal with issues referring to phonetics, phonology, morpho-phonology, morphology, morpho-syntax, sociolinguistics, language contact, historical linguistics and computational linguistics. There are also presentations on the first testimonies of the dialect, going back to the 15th century AD, the existence of old dialectal archives, the comparison of Lesbian Greek with other Modern Greek dialects, the rich variation of Lesbian toponyms as well as on the dialectal expression in literature, theater and the media.

Parallel to the Conference a special event is organized in the evening of July 5, 2025, where 102 dialectal books (dictionaries, glossaries, grammars, collections of stories and literary works) will be exhibited, and honorary distinctions will be attributed by the University of Patras to people with work written for or in Lesbian Greek. The Conference closes on July 6, with a presentation of a theater play composed in the local variety of the town of Agiasos.

Speakers#

• Alexelli Vasileia (Dr in Linguistics)
• Αnagnostou Stratis (Dr in History, Chair of the Lesbian Society of Studies)
• Anastasopoulos Antonis (George Mason University, ARCHIMEDES/ATHENA Research Center)
• Αxiotis Μakis (Dr in Cultural Technology)
• Bağrıaçık Metin (Boğazıçı University)
• Bompolas Stavros (ARCHIMEDES/ATHENA Research Center)
• Canakis Costas (University of the Aegean)
• Chairetakis George (Αcademy of Athens)
• Condoravdi Cleo (Stanford University)
• Delveroudi Rhea (University of Athens)
• Εfthymiou Αngeliki (Democritus University of Thrace)
• Fanciullo Franco MAE (Università degli Studi di Pisa)
• Gaeta Livio MAE (Università degli Studi di Torino)
• Grammatas Theodoros (University of Athens)
• Janse Mark MAE (Cambridge University)
• Joseph Brian MAE (Ohio State University)
• Kalargalis Aristides (Dr in Cultural Technology)
• Kalloniatis Christos (University of the Aegean)
• Karali Μaria (Αristotle University of Thessaloniki)
• Katsika Argyro (University of California, Santa Barbara)
• Κatsouda Georgia (Αcademy of Athens)
• Kiparsky Paul (Stanford University)
• Kopsacheilis Vasilis (University of the Aegean)
• Κouniarelli Irene (University of the Aegean)
• Κrivoruchko Julia (Cambridge University)
• Liossis Nikos (Institute of Modern Greek Studies)
• Μanolessou Ιo (Αcademy of Αthens).
• Marinis Μichalis (Οhio-State University)
• Markantonatou Stella (ARCHIMEDES/ATHENA Research Center)
• Μelissaropoulou Dimitra (Αristotle University of Thessaloniki)
• Mertyris Dionysis (Academy of Athens)
• Papanis Giannis (Philologist, councilor of Greek education abroad)
• Papazachariou Dimitrios (University of Patras)
• Pappas Panagiotis (Simon Fraser University)
• Ralli Αngela MAE (University of Patras, ARCHIMEDES/ATHENA Research Center)
• Siatras Apostolos (University of the Aegean)
• Stavrou Μelita (Αristotle University of Thessaloniki)
• Τastani Νίki (Dr in Folkloric Studies)
• Tzavaras Xenophon (Chair of the Greek Onomatological Society)
• Τsolakidis Symeon (Αcademy of Athens)
• Vaitis Michalis (University of the Aegean)
• Vogiatzis Νikos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)

Scientific And Organizing Committee#

• Angela Ralli MAE (Chair)
• Giannis Papanis (Vice-chair)
• Stratis Anagnostou
• Costas Canakis
• Cleo Chatzidaniil
• Christos Kalloniatis
• Irene Kouniarelli
• Vasileia Alexelli
• Stefanos Paraskevaidis
• Pangiotis Psarianos
• Panagiotis Skordas
• Melita Stavrou
• Katerina Mavroeidi
• Angelos Omeri
• Apostolos Siatras
• Laskaroula Argyriou

Location Of The Conference #

The Conference will take place at the Saplitza, Conference room of the Ancient Castle of Mytilene. Attendees will have the opportunity to listen to speakers present their articles while also exploring this magnificent historical site. The program will include discussions on the dialect and its varieties, providing a platform for enriching dialogue and fostering connections among participants.