About AthDGC
The Athens Digital Glossa Chronos Research Network conducts computational and corpus-based research on diachronic linguistics, language contact, and syntactic change. Our work combines traditional philological expertise with state-of-the-art natural language processing methods to analyze linguistic evolution across multiple language families and historical periods.
Based at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, AthDGC coordinates several major research initiatives funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation and supported by the Greece 2.0 National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Research Focus
Our research addresses fundamental questions in historical linguistics through corpus-based quantitative analysis. We develop annotated corpora of ancient and medieval languages, create computational tools for syntactic analysis, and investigate patterns of language change across time periods spanning from antiquity to the present day.
Key research areas include verb valency patterns, argument structure alternations, syntactic borrowing in language contact situations, and the role of influential texts in language change. We employ Penn-Helsinki parsing standards and PROIEL treebank architecture to ensure compatibility with international corpora and enable cross-linguistic comparative research.
CVL-CDSAML Project
A Corpus-based Valency Lexicon for a Contrastive and Diachronic Study of Ancient and Medieval Languages
Funded by: Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) under the 3rd Call for HFRI Research Projects to support Post-Doctoral Researchers (Project No. 20577)
Principal Investigator: Prof. Nikolaos Lavidas, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Duration: 24 months
Project Objectives
The CVL-CDSAML project develops a comprehensive corpus-based valency lexicon for the contrastive and diachronic study of languages from antiquity to today. The project employs computational linguistic methods to track valency patterns and argument structure changes across 3,000 years of documented language evolution.
Methodology
The project involves six major work packages: selection and analysis of texts from subsequent periods of target languages, selective annotation of texts using established treebank standards, annotation of valency features in relation to language contact phenomena and linguistic genealogy, automatic extraction of valency information through modified PROIEL codes, statistical analysis for diachronic and contrastive presentation of data, and dissemination of results through workshops and academic publications.
We utilize Penn-Helsinki parsing standards and adapt PROIEL annotation schemes to create selective treebanks that capture valency patterns across multiple historical stages of Greek, English, Germanic languages, and Romance languages. The resulting valency lexicon enables systematic comparison of argument structure evolution within and across language families.
Expected Outcomes
The project produces annotated corpora of representative texts from each historical period under investigation, a comprehensive diachronic contrastive valency lexicon accessible through the project website, scholarly publications including a thematic volume chapter and peer-reviewed journal article, and workshops bringing together international experts in corpus linguistics and historical syntax.
Research Team
Prof. Nikolaos Lavidas
Principal Investigator
Department of English Language and Literature, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Co-Editor-in-Chief, GLOSSA Contact
Professor Emerita Kiki Nikiforidou
Co-Editor, Genres and Influential Texts volume
Expertise in Theoretical Linguistics and Lexicography
Professor Dag Haug
International Collaborator
University of Oslo
PROIEL Project Director
Professor Leonid Kulikov
International Collaborator
Ghent University
Dr. Vassiliki Geka
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Co-Editor, Genres and Influential Texts volume
Dr. Vassileios Symeonidis
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Dr. Theodoros Michalareas
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Sofia Chionidi
PhD Candidate
Anastasia Tsiropina
PhD Candidate
Eleni Plakoutsi
PhD Candidate
Evangelos Argyropoulos
Research Assistant
Research Programs and Events
11th Naxos Summer School on Diachronic Linguistics
July 20-24, 2026, Naxos, Greece
Annual summer school featuring international faculty and workshops on computational methods in historical linguistics. Topics include corpus-based approaches to language change, valency analysis, and digital humanities methodologies.
Learn moreCIVIS Blended Intensive Programme 2026
Diachronic Linguistics in the 21st Century
Three-phase programme including online spring school, collaborative workshops, and summer school in Naxos. Students from CIVIS alliance universities work on diachronic linguistics projects using digital humanities methods. 6 ECTS credits available.
Learn moreDelphi Workshop 2025
November 26-29, 2025, Delphi, Greece
Corpora and Diachrony: Influential Texts, Text Types and Genres. International workshop bringing together corpus linguists, philologists, and computational linguists to discuss methodological advances in diachronic corpus research.
Learn moreGlossaContact Laboratory
Language Contact Research Unit
Research laboratory dedicated to language contact through translations and written language contact in ancient and medieval periods. Develops computational methods for detecting and analyzing contact-induced change in historical corpora.
Visit lab siteSelected Publications
Lavidas, N., Nikiforidou, K., & Geka, V. (forthcoming). (eds.). Genres, Influential Texts and Language Change: Exploring Cross-Fertilising Effects. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
Lavidas, N. (2021). The Diachrony of Written Language Contact: A Contrastive Approach. Brill's Studies in Historical Linguistics. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
Lavidas, N. & Nikiforidou, K. (eds.). (2022). Studying Language Change in the 21st Century: Theory and Methodologies. Brill's Studies in Historical Linguistics. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
Lavidas, N. (2020). Isoglosses and language change: Evidence of the rise and loss of isoglosses from a comparison of early Greek and early English. Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics 56(4): 553-575.
Lavidas, N. (2019). Word order and closest-conjunct agreement in the Greek Septuagint: On the position of a biblical translation in the diachrony of a syntactic correlation. Questions and Answers in Linguistics 5(2): 37-90.
Lavidas, N. (2019). Syntactic borrowability in a Sprachbund setting: Object clitics and definite articles in the West Thracian Greek (Evros) dialect. In C. Tzitzilis & G. Papanastassiou (eds), Language Contact in the Balkans and Asia Minor 1, 189-208. Thessaloniki: Institute of Modern Greek Studies.
Lavidas, N. (2018). Language change and early dictionaries of Modern Greek. In G.K. Giannakis et al. (eds.), Studies in Greek Lexicography, 57-78. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Lavidas, N. (2017). Cognate noun constructions in Early Modern English: The case of Tyndale's New Testament. In H. Cuyckens, H. De Smet, L. Heyvaert & C. Maekelberghe (eds.), Explorations in English Historical Syntax, 51-76. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Lavidas, N. (2017). Case in diachrony: Or, why Greek is not English. In E. Mathieu & R. Truswell (eds.), Micro-change and Macro-change in Diachronic Syntax, 125-144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lavidas, N. (2014). The Greek Septuagint and language change at the syntax-semantics Interface: From null to 'pleonastic' object pronouns. In C. Gianollo, A. Jäger & D. Penka (eds.), Language Change at the Syntax-Semantics Interface, 153-182. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.
Contact Information
Prof. Nikolaos Lavidas
Principal Investigator
Department of English Language and Literature
School of Philosophy
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
University Campus, Zografou 157 84
Athens, Greece
Email: nlavidas@enl.uoa.gr