This two-volume work is the second in the publication series of the Institute of Modern Greek Studies, titled "Greek Language: Synchrony and Diachrony," and covers the themes: (a) etymology of Greek; (b) language contact; and (c) common issues related to it.

The work includes 27 papers, most of which were presented at the 1st International Conference on Language Contact in the Balkans and Asia Minor, organized by the Institute from November 3 to 5, 2016, at the Tèlloglion Foundation of Arts of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The purpose of the conference was to examine language contact in the Balkans and Asia Minor, focusing primarily on the relationships of Greek with other languages in these areas.

This is the first work focusing on the language contact of Greek that is designed and implemented in Greece and attempts to address the issue of this language's contacts overall, in the areas where they mainly occurred (Balkans and Asia Minor), proposing a new perspective on the matter.

The first volume is divided into two almost equal sections, of which the first, containing 14 texts, refers to language contact in the Balkans, and the second, with 12, pertains to Asia Minor.

The second volume publishes the text by Ch. Tzitzilis, "Balkan and Anatolian linguistic union or Balkan and Anatolian isotypic union?", which offers a new approach to the issue of linguistic unions in general and the Balkan linguistic union in particular.

This bilingual edition was edited by Ch. Tzitzilis, emeritus professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and G. Papanastasiou, associate professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.