Ancient Greek dialects

Project Director:
Christos Tzitzilis , Professor Emeritus at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Project team:
Dr. E. Papadamou, Seconded associate 

The Institute of Modern Greek Studies, following the recommendation of Christos Tzitzilis, professor of Historical and Balkan Linguistics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and editor of the volume entitled Modern Greek dialects, decided in 2007 to prepare and publish a collective volume entitled Ancient Greek dialects, which will be published in English and in Greek simultaneously.

The Institute aims not only to present today, over 55 years after the publication of the now classical work by C. D. Buck entitled The Greek Dialects (1955), the findings of current research in the field of Ancient Greek dialectology, but also to add a new dimension to it; namely, the examination of Ancient Greek and its dialects from the perspective of Medieval and Modern Greek dialects.

Internationally accomplished researchers in the field of Ancient Greek language and literature contribute to this work. The volume (about 800 pages in size), which will be edited by professors Antonin Bartoněk (University of Brno) and Christos Tzitzilis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), is so designed as to include a review of research so far, the historical evolution, the contacts and the classification of Ancient Greek dialects, a comprehensive grammar as well as a thorough description and analysis of individual geographical dialects (e.g. the dialects of Argolida, Arcadia, Achaea, Voiotia, Thessaly etc.) but also the literary dialects and social registers of Greek from antiquity to the Hellenistic period. The volume will also contain an extensive list of references, indicative examples of ancient dialect texts, comprehensive indexes of terms and objects, detailed maps, etc.

In these difficult times for Greek studies abroad, where the number of faculty positions in Greek philology and language (ancient, medieval and modern) is decreasing in foreign universities, this book can trigger a revival of international interest in Ancient Greek and its varieties.