Lesbian belongs to the widely spoken varieties of the Modern Greek dialectal area. It is part of the group of northern dialects and idioms, which is characterized by two phonological phenomena, deafness and narrowing, which are absent from the southern varieties of the Modern Greek language. Lesbian includes interesting phenomena and words that either come from previous phases of the language and are absent from Common Modern Greek, or are loans from the languages ​​with which it has come into contact, especially from Turkish and Italo-Romance.

Dictionaries and glossaries have been published for Lesvos dialects for the varieties of villages and towns (e.g., Papanis & Papanis 2004, Ralli 2017), there are literary works that have been written in it (e.g., Psarianos 2024, Karna 2024), a dialect atlas in electronic form was recently prepared, while at the beginning of the twentieth century there was a first description of it (Anagnostou 1903, Kretschmer 1905). However, modern grammars and a modern systematic recording that would cover all of its diversity are lacking.

The main objective of the conference is to bring together scholars who deal with dialectal discourse. Through their in-depth speeches, it is expected that analyses of the most characteristic phenomena and the sociolinguistic situation of the modern Lesbian dialect will be proposed, and questions that have been the subject of debate for many years will be resolved. It aims to arouse the interest of the international scientific community in the diversity that characterizes this particular dialect and the attitudes of its speakers, most of whom resist the leveling influence of Common Modern Greek.

At the same time, it is expected to raise awareness among the local community about the linguistic wealth it possesses, and to contribute to any efforts made to record and preserve the linguistic cultural heritage of Lesvos.

As part of the conference, there will be a presentation of the dialectal atlas of Lesvia, a theatrical performance in Agiasotika by the theater group of Agiasos, and an exhibition of books and publications on the Lesbian language that have been published in the last two centuries. Honorary plaques will also be awarded to Lesvians who have published dialectal texts.