William MartinLeake (1777–1860) first published Researches in Greece in 1814. The book is a survey of the languages and dialects spoken in modern Greece and the Southern Balkans during the early nineteenth century. It was a pioneering work of linguistics that created great interest among Western European scholars. Chapter 1 deals with modern Greek, with sections on grammar, orthography, and phonetics; modern literature, including a catalogue of modern Greek authors; the Tzakonic dialect; and pronunciation and regional variation. Chapter 2 covers Albanian and includes sections on phonetics, grammar and vocabulary and Albanian history and geography. Chapter 3 gives a brief account of the Wallachian and Bulgarian languages. The volume includes useful comparative vocabulary lists in English, Greek, Albanian, Wallachian and Bulgarian. This key work of nineteenth-century scholarship was highly influential in generating scholarly interest in the study of modern Greek.
