Greek Dialogues - High vowel deletion and middle rising: Two of the most typical isoglosses that divide Northern from Southern Greek Dialects. Or not?

Date and Time: Tuesday 2nd December 2025 at 17:00 (GMT)

Online: Access details below

Venue: Room 12, Lecture Block, Sidgwick Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DA

High vowel deletion and middle rising:
Two of the most typical isoglosses that divide Northern from Southern Greek Dialects. Or not?

Professor Dimitris Papazachariou (University of Patras)

Introduced by Professor Ianthi Tsimpli

In this Greek Dialogues seminar, Professor Dimitris Papazachariou explores how long-held linguistic assumptions about Greek dialect divisions are being transformed by recent acoustic-phonetic research. Drawing on new empirical data, his talk re-examines the sound patterns that have traditionally marked the Northern–Southern boundary and questions whether these distinctions remain as clear-cut as once believed.

All traditional articulatory research within the framework of dialectal geography up to 2010 argues that Greek dialects are divided into two major subgroups—the Northern and the Southern Greek dialects—based on two isoglosses: the deletion of unstressed high vowels and the raising of unstressed mid vowels. Furthermore, most studies claim that vowel deletion—particularly at the end of words—and vowel raising are categorical phenomena. Recent acoustic research, using instruments to objectively measure the acoustic properties of vowels (e.g., F1 and F2), has shown that these two phenomena are not categorical but gradual. Additionally, this research indicates that, beyond their gradual nature, these vowel changes are influenced by their phonetic environment as well as by the social background of the speakers. In my presentation, I will discuss the social characteristics of speakers from various Northern dialects who significantly reduce the traditional Northern variants of these two variables.

Topic: Greek Dialogues – High vowel deletion and middle rising: Two of the most typical isoglosses that divide Northern from Southern Greek Dialects. Or not?
Date and Time: Tuesday 2nd December 2025, 17:00 (GMT London)

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Meeting ID: 850 2514 9273
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