A few words about myself

I was born and raised in Katerini, a  small town 68km south-west of Thessaloniki. I studied Greek language and Literature at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1989-1993) and in 1994, I moved to Leiden (The Netherlands) in order to study what I really wanted, i.e. theoretical linguistics. As a graduate student at HIL/Leiden University, I had the opportunity not only to pursue my dream studies but also to meet a lot of interesting people who really shaped me as a person. After spending a few years in California and in Massachusetts for study/work-related purposes, I decided to return to Greece. From 2001-2009 (April) I was a Faculty Member at the Department of Mediterranean Studies, University of the Aegean (Rhodes) (Division of Linguistics). Currently, I am  an Asisstant Professor at the Department of Linguistics (School of Philology), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. As a visiting student/scholar, I had the chance to be part of the academic life of many great Departments in Europe (e.g., Leiden University/LUCL, University of Konstanz, Cambridge University, University of Oxford) and the USA (e.g., Stanford University, UCSC, UMass, Amherst, MIT).

More information on my educational and academic profile can be found in my CV [pdf, 247KB]. (To βιογραφικό μου στα ελληνικά: CV [pdf, 723KB].)

A few words about my research interests in linguistics

My primary research emphasis is on phonology and its interface with morphology and syntax. In my dissertation, I examine the stress behavior of  lexical accent systems such as Greek, Russian, and a group of Salish dialects, and propose that  stress assignment in such systems is, to a great extent, determined by morpho-syntactic structure. At present, I explore whether certain  morpho-syntactic principles play a role in prosodic constituent formation, especially in the area of cliticization. Another focal point of my research is the flow and processing of information between the components of Grammar and, especially, the question of whether phonology reflects differences in the processing of syntactic material. The interface is the focus of my research but it does not monopolize my scientific interests.

During and following my graduate studies, I worked on other areas of phonology such as stress typology, evolution of stress, the Iambic/ Trochaic Law, vowel harmony, and so on. I have also done collaborative work on (typical and atypical) phonological acquisition where my interest is mainly on the architecture of early grammars and the formal expression of learning paths as these are revealed in the speech of young learners of Greek.

At the Department of Mediterranean Studies (University of the Aegean), I got increasingly interested in the dialects of the Dodecanese (e.g. Symi Rhodes, Karpathos) as well as in contact-induced systems and, especially, varieties of Greek that have been in long-term contact with Turkish (e.g. Asia Minor Greek, Ofitika Pontic, Rhodian Muslim Greek, etc.).  I also worked with Barış Kabak and Aslı Gökse on the comparative study of various aspects of the phonological and morphological structure of Greek and Turkish.
   
In 2009, my colleague Vassilis Spyropoulos and I received a fellowship from the John S. Latsis Benefit Foundation to carry out research on Ofitika Pontic. This project was completed in December 2010. Currently, we work on the grammar of the dialect. At the same time, I am preparing a book on the phonology of Greek.

At the Department of Linguistics (AUTh), I got involved in projects on the acquisition of Greek as L2. I  supervise, together with my colleague Despina Papadopoulou, an MA thesis on the acquisition of Greek stress by Russian speakers and an MA thesis on the acquisition of the prosodic and morphological structure of Greek compounds by Russian and Romance speakers.

More information on my research interests can be found in the research page of my homepage.  <Top>