The language and grammar of Vernacular, Late Byzantine Chronicles
Michele Didoli got his BA and MA in Philology, Literatures and History of Antiquity from the University of Turin. His 2022 MA thesis concernes the Andros-Thessaloniki prose version of the poem “Digenis Akritas” with a focus on its verbal morphology and syntax. Medieval Greek classes in Turin aroused in him a deep interest in low-register Greek literature, mostly in folk-influenced texts, and late Vernacular Greek.
In January 2023, he will join MELA as a PhD student to work on a corpus of chronicles dated or datable from the 13th to the 15th cent. AD. His research will concern their language and grammar, with a focus on their verbal morphology and syntax, and address questions such as: (i) To what extent does the language of these chronicles, sometimes considered to be minor works, differ from that of high-register works? (ii) Which register do they actually display? (iii) If vernacularly featured, which vernacular influences could one highlight, and which stage of evolution of vernacular Greek do they depict? (iv) Is it possible to outline common tendencies for this genre? At UGent, Michele Didoli will also contribute to the teaching of the course: “General linguistics II/Algemene taalwetenschap II”.