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Open AccessArticle
From Harmony to Probability: The Problem of Identifiability and a Bayesian Inference Perspective on Greek Nominal Stress
by
Kosmas Kosmidis
Kosmas Kosmidis
,
Giorgos Markopoulos
Giorgos Markopoulos
Anthi Revithiadou
Anthi Revithiadou
1
Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
2
Department of Mediterranean Studies, University of the Aegean, 85132 Rhodes, Greece
3
School of Philology, Department of Linguistics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(1), 374; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16010374 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 18 November 2025
/
Revised: 23 December 2025
/
Accepted: 24 December 2025
/
Published: 29 December 2025
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The present article examines the phenomenon of stress placement in the Greek language as a stochastic process and introduces the concept of parameter identifiability within a linguistic framework. Identifiability is a concept that is regularly discussed in relation to biological models but rarely, if ever, in linguistic models. However, estimating parameters and drawing conclusions about their relative significance can be challenging or even misleading if the model is unidentifiable. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the article—combining methods and ideas from linguistics, statistical physics, and dynamical systems—the proposed framework can be straightforwardly extended beyond Greek stress to a wide range of linguistic systems where variability and probabilistic structure are central.
Abstract
Maximum Entropy and Gradient Harmonic Grammar are well-established grammatical models for the analysis of linguistic phenomena, but we demonstrate that their probabilistic versions are inherently unidentifiable, employing parameters that cannot be uniquely determined from empirical data. Through examining Greek nominal stress patterns, we propose a reparameterization approach that introduces two identifiable, phonologically interpretable, parameters. We employ both point estimation and Bayesian inference to calculate their values. The latter approach yields reliable parameter estimates with quantified uncertainty that point estimation cannot offer. Our findings shed light on lesser-known aspects of Greek stress and offer a robust methodological framework for probabilistic phonological modeling across languages.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Kosmidis, K.; Markopoulos, G.; Revithiadou, A.
From Harmony to Probability: The Problem of Identifiability and a Bayesian Inference Perspective on Greek Nominal Stress. Appl. Sci. 2026, 16, 374.
https://doi.org/10.3390/app16010374
AMA Style
Kosmidis K, Markopoulos G, Revithiadou A.
From Harmony to Probability: The Problem of Identifiability and a Bayesian Inference Perspective on Greek Nominal Stress. Applied Sciences. 2026; 16(1):374.
https://doi.org/10.3390/app16010374
Chicago/Turabian Style
Kosmidis, Kosmas, Giorgos Markopoulos, and Anthi Revithiadou.
2026. "From Harmony to Probability: The Problem of Identifiability and a Bayesian Inference Perspective on Greek Nominal Stress" Applied Sciences 16, no. 1: 374.
https://doi.org/10.3390/app16010374
APA Style
Kosmidis, K., Markopoulos, G., & Revithiadou, A.
(2026). From Harmony to Probability: The Problem of Identifiability and a Bayesian Inference Perspective on Greek Nominal Stress. Applied Sciences, 16(1), 374.
https://doi.org/10.3390/app16010374
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