Developmental Language Impairment (DLI) is a language disorder characterized by difficulties in both language production and comprehension most readily observable on the morphological level. Previous research suggests that DLI subjects are atypical regarding word decomposition and word formation. / Given these observations, two questions arise: What is the extent of DLI insensitivity to word-internal structure and to morpheme features? and Is this insensitivity equally evident in inflectional, derivational and compounding processes? Three experiments address these questions: plural formation, nominal compounding and diminutive formation and comprehension. / These word formation processes are very productive Greek and are observed from (2;0) onwards in non-impaired children cross-linguistically. Nominal roots (bound) are mapped to other bound morphemes: inflectional affixes for plural formation, derivational affixes and inflectional affixes for diminutive formation, and lexical morphemes and inflectional affixes for compound formation. / In this thesis, the performance of Greek DLI subjects was compared to that of non-impaired controls using elicited production and comprehension tasks that probed real and novel word formation. Results show that DLI children are not sensitive to morphological features and have difficulty knowing where root boundaries are. Given the atypical performance of DLI children, the initial hypothesis on the building of an atypical competence appears to be supported.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Τα επιφωνήματα αποτελούν τυπικά στοιχεία του προφορικού λόγου, απαντώνται με μεγάλη ποικιλία σε όλες ανεξαιρέτως τις γλώσσες και χρησιμοποιούνται ευρέως στην καθημερινή γλωσσική επικοινωνία. Οι μη φυσικοί ομιλητές δυσκολεύονται στην κατανόηση της σημασίας και χρήσης των επιφωνημάτων και επιφωνηματικών εκφράσεων, εφόσον στηρίζεται κυρίως στην κατανόηση των πραγματολογικών συνθηκών και στην ανάλυση περιστάσεων επικοινωνίας. Η σπουδαιότητα του ρόλου τους σε μια γλώσσα και ο βαθμός δυσκολίας κατανόησης και χρήσης τους από τους μη φυσικούς ομιλητές καθιστά το θέμα της εξέτασης και ανάλυσης των επιφωνημάτων ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρον. Στην εργασία αυτή ξεκινώ τη μελέτη των επιφωνημάτων με μια ιστορική αναδρομή, αναφερόμενη στην περίοδο απαξίωσης της μελέτης τους από τους γλωσσολόγους και στη συνέχεια στις σύγχρονες μελέτες των επιφωνημάτων. Περιγράφονται έρευνες και μελέτες των επιφωνημάτων από την πλευρά της σημασιολογίας, πραγματολογίας, φωνολογίας, μορφολογίας και σύνταξης. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο της εργασίας γίνεται μια προσπάθεια συγκέντρωσης και καταγραφής παλαιότερων και νεότερων μελετών σχετικά με τον ορισμό, την οριοθέτηση, την κατηγοριοποίηση και την περιγραφή των λειτουργιών των επιφωνημάτων. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζεται και περιγράφεται το πώς πραγματεύονται μελέτες και γραμματικές της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας το θέμα των επιφωνημάτων και καταλήγει σε κάποια συγκεντρωτικά συμπεράσματα σχετικά με: τον ορισμό και τα χαρακτηριστικά των επιφωνημάτων της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας, το θέμα της φωνολογίας – φωνητικής τους, τις συνταγματικές τους σχέσεις με άλλα γλωσσικά στοιχεία, τις λειτουργίες τους. Τέλος, σε πίνακες συγκεντρώνεται και παρουσιάζεται η κατηγοριοποίηση και ταξινόμηση των επιφωνημάτων από μελετητές της νέας ελληνικήςγλώσσας. Η έρευνα της εργασίας αφορά τη συλλογή δεδομένων συχνότητας επιφωνημάτων της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας, τη συλλογή δεδομένων σχετικά με τις λέξεις που τείνουν να συνυπάρχουν με ένα επιφώνημα και τις σημασίες των εξεταζόμενων επιφωνημάτων με βάση το συμφραστικό τους πλαίσιο. Από τη συλλογή των στοιχείων και την ανάλυση και ερμηνεία τους προβαίνω σε κάποια συμπεράσματα σχετικά με τα συχνόχρηστα επιφωνήματα της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας και τις σημασίες τους. Για τη συλλογή των δεδομένων χρησιμοποιήθηκε η μεθοδολογία των σωμάτων κειμένων για γλωσσολογική έρευνα, όπως περιγράφεται και αναλύεται από τους Biber κ.ά. (1998). Ως σώματα κειμένων χρησιμοποιήθηκαν τα θεατρικά έργα 18 διαφορετικών συγγραφέων. Η χρησιμότητα της παρούσας εργασίας έγκειται στη δυνατότητα σχεδιασμού υλικού διδασκαλίας των επιφωνημάτων για τους διδασκόμενους την ελληνική ως δεύτερη/ξένη γλώσσα. / Interjections are typical elements of spoken language and occur in great variety in any language. They are commonly and constantly used in everyday communication but their role and signification varies widely from language to language and from culture to culture. Therefore, non-native speakers find it difficult to understand the right meaning of interjections and interjectional expressions and to use them correctly; this is mainly due to the fact that their comprehension mostly depends on the correct understanding of their pragmatic function and on the analysis of the relevant communication context. The important role that interjections play in a language, and the degree of difficulty for non-native speakers to correctly understand and use them, makes the research on and the analysis of interjections both useful and interesting. In my work I begin with an historical overview of the research in this field, starting with the period in which interjections were a topic rather neglected by linguists on to the contemporary days. I outline the findings of studies and investigations of interjections in various linguistic sub-fields (semantics, pragmatics, phonology, morphology and syntax). In the first chapter I propose an inventory of older and (especially) more recent studies relating to different aspects of interjections (definition, categorisation and description of their functioning). In the second chapter I show and describe how modern Greek studies and grammars deal with the topic of interjections and I formulate some conclusions relating to the following aspects: definition and characteristics of interjections in contemporary Greek, phonetic/phonological aspects, syntagmatic relation with other aspects of the language, functioning. At the end of the chapter I propose in taxonomy tables a categorization of interjections based on relevant studies of contemporary Greek. The third part of my dissertation is centred on data collection and analysis relating to the following aspects of the interjections: frequency of use, words used in conjunction with interjections and significance of the analysed interjections in their context of use. Based on data collection and analysis I come to some conclusions concerning the most frequently used interjections in modern Greek and their significance. As far as the data collection is concern I adopted the corpus-based approach to the study of language as described and analysed by Biber et al. (1998). Concretely I selected and analysed theatrical works by 18 different contemporary Greek writers. The conclusions I came to will prove useful to design teaching units on interjections tailored to the needs of pupils learning Greek as second or foreign language.

M.A. (Greek) / The aim of this dissertation is to examine the stance of the Greek state and the implementation of the educational model in the last 30 years as far as concerns the great issue of education for the Greeks ofthe Diaspora. This research attempts to create the prerequisites for constructing a new institutional platform that will satisfy the substantial future needs of Greek language education abroad through browsing, gathering, recording and critically approaching of the institutional framework that relates to Greek language education abroad and the work of other researchers who have tackled similar issues. In the theoretical part we look into the institutional framework and the institutions that support Greek language education abroad by critically evaluating the educational model and its goals. In the practical part which refers to the institutional decisions, we explore whether the needs and goals of the educational model of Greek education abroad are covered. We examine the potential of upgrading what is provided by the national centre ofeducational services and the funds spent in that matter. More specifically the structure ofthe dissertation is as following: In the first part we explain basic terminology related to the education of Greeks living abroad, which is used throughout the dissertation. The educational institutions - laws (goals, aims and critical approach of the educational policy), as well as the bodies - forms of Greek language education abroad are presented. Furthermore, we critically examine the functions and responsibilities of the Education Offices abroad and study the bilingual private school SAHETI in South Africa. The second part refers to the implementation of the educational model, the produced results and the cost of Greek language education abroad. More specifically, through critically analyzing the statistics and the numerical data of the study, we examine the students of Greek language education abroad, the education staff, the education departments that exist and their operational costs. Moreover, the process of choosing the teachers to be seconded in countries abroad is seen from a critical angle and the demands-qualifications of teachers which are prerequisites to achieve the goals of the educational model are analyzed. We also make suggestions for institutional renewal, upgrading, as well as changing the way in which the teachers and administrative services abroad are monitored. In the closing part we draw conclusions, make suggestions for renewing the national educational model all the while taking into consideration the social, political and educational developments. The overall aim is to upgrade the quality of the educational services provided abroad.

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In 1530, a German physician named Otto Brunfels published an herbal entitled Herbarum Vivae Eicones (Living Images of Herbs). In it, he planned to map the names of medicinal herbs known in and native to Germany onto their Greek and Latin names. Brunfels’ audience included fellow physicians and in order to assist with the identification of the herbs in his book, his publisher employed a woodcut artist to produce realistic images of them, a novelty in the genre of printed herbals. Over time, Brunfels’ work was superseded by 16th-century botanists and his legacy was relegated to the illustrations of his herbs, while his contributions to the naming and description of them were dismissed as unoriginal. However, a closer examination reveals Brunfels’ herbal as a transitional text bridging the gap between the herbal tradition and the development of the science of botany. In addition to citing Pliny the Elder as his primary authoritative influence, Brunfels also references a number of 15th-century Italian humanist scholars who were neither botanists nor physicians, but who were known for their critiques of the early printed editions of Pliny’s Historia Naturalis and even of Pliny himself as a natural history authority. Thus, Brunfels’ herbal is tied to the manuscript and printing history of Pliny and to humanist attempts to correct and stabilize his text. Moreover, in the course of his work, Brunfels encountered a number of herbs that were known to him, but whose Latin and Greek nomenclature he could not accurately identify. As a result, he was forced to describe in his own words, in original Latin, these herbae nudae with German nomenclature but with unknown Greek and Latin names. In addition, Brunfels encounters considerable disagreement among the ancient authorities about the naming and classification of other herbs and he is again forced to insert his own opinion, which he calls iudicium nostrum. I argue that Brunfels’ original Latin is a very early example of what would eventually become formal botanical Latin. Brunfels’ herbal is situated in such a way that it looks backward whilst simultaneously looking forward. It is an object of reception, appropriating terminology and methods from Pliny the Elder and from the humanist scholars who debated the quality of the printed editions of his work and the accuracy of the information provided in it. It is simultaneously the subject of reception, demonstrating a halting, hesitant vocabulary and style of Latinity that would eventually come to be identified with botany as a discipline. Chapter 1 addresses Pliny’s ideas of what constitutes knowledge (cognitio) about plants in the Historia Naturalis, via his arguments against improper nomenclature (nomina nuda) and the alignment of herbal medicine with magic (magicae herbae). Pliny’s advocacy for proper methodology (experience over book learning) is also examined. Chapter 2 turns to the manuscript tradition of Pliny’s text and the first two printed editions, in 1469 and 1470, which were corrupt and resulted in an unstable, inaccurate text. In Chapter 3, the reactions of the Italian humanists to these early printed editions are considered, along with the transition from critiques of the editors and printers to debates about inaccuracies that can be traced to Pliny himself. Chapter 4 turns to Otto Brunfels and traces his reliance on Pliny as well as on the Italian humanists, especially Ermolao Barbaro, who claimed to “heal” the errors in Pliny and stabilized his text. Brunfels’ original descriptions of herbs are also discussed. In the conclusion, Brunfels’ work is compared with that of botanists who postdated him, including Leonhard Fuchs, Kaspar Bauhin, and Karl Linnaeus.