Publication details
Greek enclaves in Southern Italy: Αn introduction to contemporary language and its history. In Joseph, Brian D. & Marinis, Michail I. (eds). 2026. Greek Around the World. Columbus, Ohio: Publications of the Greek Lab at Ohio State (pGLOS), no. 2. [https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/107252]
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| Year of publication | 2026 |
| Type | Chapter in a book |
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| Description | This paper provides an introductory overview of the Greek language in Southern Italy, focusing on the current state of Greek dialects from both sociolinguistic and structural perspectives. The data presented were collected during fieldwork conducted in the Greek-speaking areas of Southern Italy as part of my Ph.D. research in the summers of 2016 and 2018. The findings indicate that Greek linguistic varieties in this region have significantly declined in both geographical distribution and the number of speakers, facing an imminent threat of extinction due to intense social stigma. This study highlights notable linguistic phenomena across various levels, including phonology, vocabulary, morphology, and morphosyntax. Lexical analysis reveals extensive borrowing from Romance languages and the retention of archaic elements. Phonological features include the retention of double consonants, influenced by Romance languages. Morphological changes include the development of left-headed compounds and a restructuring of the inflectional paradigm. In morphosyntax, the retention of the infinitive as a complement to control verbs is particularly noteworthy. |