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- [papers.md](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/treebanks/el/lesbian/papers/) — Papers: UD_Greek-Lesbian

# UD_Greek-Lesbian

Treebank card from UD release 2.18: metadata and texts come from `UD_Greek-Lesbian/README.md`; size is counted by streaming the `.conllu` files and checked against the release `stats.xml`. Generated by `tools/treebanks build`; do not edit by hand. Papers: [Papers: UD_Greek-Lesbian](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/treebanks/el/lesbian/papers/); seeds: `seeds/`; converter: `convert.md`.

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| UD name | UD_Greek-Lesbian |
| Language | Greek (`el`) |
| Family | IE |
| Treebank code | `el_lesbian` |
| UD page | [universaldependencies.org/treebanks/el lesbian/index.html](https://universaldependencies.org/treebanks/el_lesbian/index.html) |
| License | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Genres | grammar-examples, spoken, fiction |
| Text in data | yes |
| Parallel | no |
| In UD since | UD v2.16 |
| Authors | Stavros Bompolas; Stella Markantonatou; Antonios Anastasopoulos; Vivian Stamou |
| Contact | [s.bompolas@athenarc.gr](mailto:s.bompolas@athenarc.gr) |
| Development | in the UD repo (here) |

## Annotation layers

| Layer | Origin |
| --- | --- |
| Lemmas | manual native |
| UPOS | manual native |
| XPOS | not available |
| Features | manual native |
| Relations | manual native |

UD scale: *manual native* — annotated by hand directly in UD; *converted from manual* — converted from manual annotation in another scheme; *converted with corrections* — converted and partly corrected by hand; *automatic with corrections* — automatic, with partial manual corrections; *automatic* — automatic; *not available* — the layer is absent.

## Size

| Split | Sentences | Tokens | Words | Multiword tokens | Empty nodes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| test | 625 | 6 624 | 6 840 | 216 | 0 |
| **total** | 625 | 6 624 | 6 840 | 216 | 0 |

Tokens are surface tokens (Spanish `vámonos` is one), words are syntactic words (`vamos` + `nos`); multiword tokens are those split into several words; empty nodes are the `N.M` nodes of the enhanced graph. Splits train, dev are absent from the release.

## Summary

> A Universal Dependencies (UD) treebank for the dialect of Lesbos, a low-resource living Northern variety of Modern Greek. The treebank currently contains 625 sentences with manual annotations following the Universal Dependencies framework, representing the first UD treebank for a Northern Modern Greek dialect.

## Introduction

> The Lesbos dialect belongs to the Northern Modern Greek dialect group, characterized by distinctive phonological features collectively known as "Northern vocalism." These features include:
> 
> - Raising of unstressed mid vowels /e/ and /o/ into [i] and [u], respectively (e.g., πιδί [piˈði] instead of SMG παιδί [peˈði] 'child', κάτου [ˈkatu] instead of SMG κάτω [ˈkato] 'down')
> - Deletion of unstressed high vowels /i/, /u/ (e.g., φίδ [ˈfið] instead of SMG φίδι [ˈfiði] 'snake', βνό [ˈvno] instead of SMG βουνό [vuˈno] 'mountain')
> 
> These features significantly distinguish the dialect of Lesbos from Southern dialects, including Standard Modern Greek (SMG). The dialect has been historically shaped by extensive contact with Italo-Romance (particularly Venetian) during 1355-1462 and Turkish during the Ottoman period (1462-1912), resulting in numerous loanwords and morphological elements. Unlike most Modern Greek dialects, Lesbian remains vital today, serving as the primary means of communication throughout the island.
> 
> This treebank represents the first Universal Dependencies resource for a Northern Modern Greek dialect.
> 
> ## Annotation Process
> 
> The treebank follows the UD annotation guidelines established for UD_Greek-GUD, complemented by grammatical descriptions and dialect dictionaries. Key annotation features include:
> 
> ### Tokenization
> 
> - Unlike GUD's approach of pre-tokenizing contracted forms, the Lesbian treebank maintains merged word sequences as written in the original sources and treats them as multi-word tokens. In this line, adposition-determiner contractions are segmented as multi-word tokens (e.g., στο [sto] 'in/to the' is tokenized as two syntactic words, σ [s] 'in/to' and το [to] 'the')
> - Clitics frequently attached to verbs in written dialectal texts are handled as multi-word tokens (e.g., τάμπλιξις [ˈtabliksis] '(you) mixed them up' → τά + μπλιξις)
> - Possessive pronouns frequently attached to nouns are similarly treated as multi-word tokens (e.g., πατέρασιτς [paˈterasits] 'her father' → πατέρας + ιτς)
> - Erroneously split tokens in the original sources are not merged, but instead linked using the "goeswith" relation following UD guidelines
> 
> ### Lemmatization
> 
> - Words diverging from SMG counterparts are assigned lemma forms that preserve dialectal characteristics
> - When multiple intra-dialectal phonological variants correspond to the same lexical item, a single common lemma is used and the surface phonological difference is recorded in the MISC column using `PhonVariant` (e.g., `PhonVariant=Deaffricated`).
> - Apostrophes are eliminated from lemmas to standardize representation across inconsistent source texts
> - For inconsistently spelled dialectal features, the dialectologically expected form (with vowel raising and deletion) is consistently used as the lemma
> - SMG orthography is applied to lemmas regardless of orthographic errors in source materials
> 
> ### Special Annotations
> 
> - Voicing and euphonic annotations appear in the `MISC` column using the `MSeg|MGloss` format to explicitly document these phenomena.
> - Orthographic standardization is integrated with annotations, preserving original dialectal forms in the `FORM` column while providing standardized forms in `MISC`.
> - Parallel translations of each sentence in SMG facilitate comparative research.
> - Metadata fields such as `sent_id` and `source` identify whether a sentence originates from written or oral data.
> 
> ## Data Sources
> 
> The corpus draws from six main sources representing different text types and dialectal variants from across Lesbos. The treebank consists of randomly shuffled sentences coming from these sources:
> 
> ### Dialectal Dictionaries (example sentences)
> 
> - Papanis, D. and Papanis, G. D. (2004). Lexiko tou Agiasotikou Glosikou Idiomatos [Dictionary of the Agiasos Dialect], 3rd improved and expanded edition. Private edition, Mytilene.
> - Ralli, A. (2017). Lexiko dialektikis poikilias. Kydonion-Moschonision kai Voreioanatolikis Lesvou [Dictionary of dialectal variety. Kydonies-Moschonisia and Northeastern Lesbos]. Hellenic Foundation for Historical Studies, Athens.
> - Anagnostopoulou, M. A. (2021). Thematiko Lexiko tis Lesviakis Dialektou [Thematic Dictionary of the Lesbos Dialect]. Mythos BOOKS, Mytilene.
> 
> ### Contemporary Lesbian Literature
> 
> - Tsokarou-Mitsioni, E. (1998). Palies Istories ap tn Agiasiou [Old Stories from Agiaso], 2nd edition. Private Edition, Mytilene.
> - Anagnostou, V. T. (2014). Tsi sta th'ka mas: Komodia sta k'stariot'ka [Tsi sta th'ka mas: Comedy in the K'stariot'ka Dialect], first edition. Estia Technon Skoutarou "T'Apono to Scholio".
> - Tsokarou-Mitsioni, E. (2019). Prosfygiá [Refugeehood], first edition. D. Doukas & Sia O.V.E.E.
> 
> ### Oral Corpus (Field Research 2023–2024)
> 
> In addition to written sources, the dataset includes **oral sentences transcribed from recordings collected during fieldwork conducted across multiple villages of Lesbos between 2023 and 2024**. These recordings capture speakers of different ages and local varieties, reflecting the living use and intra-island variation of the dialect.

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