Cypriot Greek

History of the
Greek language
(see also: Greek alphabet)

Proto-Greek (c. 3000–1600 BC)
Mycenaean (c. 1600–1100 BC)
Ancient Greek (c. 800–330 BC)
Dialects:
Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, Attic-Ionic,
Doric, Locrian, Pamphylian,
Homeric Greek,
Macedonian
Koine Greek (c. 330 BC–330)
Medieval Greek (330–1453)
Modern Greek (from 1453)
Dialects:
Calabrian, Cappadocian, Cheimarriotika, Cretan,
Cypriot, Demotic, Griko, Katharevousa,
Pontic, Tsakonian, Maniot, Yevanic

*Dates (beginning with Ancient Greek) from Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. p. 12. ISBN 0310218950. 

The Cypriot dialect of Modern Greek, known as Kypriaka (Greek: Κυπριακά), Cypriot Greek (Greek: Κυπριακή διάλεκτος, "Cypriot dialect")[1] is spoken by 750,000 people in Cyprus and diaspora Greek Cypriots. Cypriot Greek is distinct enough that it can be classified as a distinct dialect of the Standard Greek.[2] In Cyprus, the dialect is reportedly more similar to Classical Greek [grc] in vocabulary and grammar than that spoken in Greece.

Contents

Usage and settings

It is the spoken everyday language of most Greek Cypriots. There is diglossia (in the linguistic sense) between Dhimotiki and the dialect. There are specific settings where speaking Standard Greek is demanded or considered polite, such as in school classes (but not during breaks), in parliament, in the media, and in the presence of non-Cypriot Greeks. Cypriot Greek is common on the internet,[3][4] in e-mails and on SMSs

In general, the stronger the use of dialect in a speaker (closer to the basilect), the more likely he is to be perceived as a peasant or of an uneducated and poor background. This can be particularly stigmatizing within formal and upper class circles.

The social consensus on the High and Low roles of the acrolect and basilect make Cypriot diglossia more like the diglossia of Greece in the mid 19th century (when Dhimotiki was stigmatised), and less like the diglossia of the 20th century (when the consensus had broken down, and Dhimotiki and Katharevousa were competing to become the High language). Cypriot diglossia makes the dialect one of only three Greek dialects currently still widely used; the others, Pontic Greek, Cretan Greek. Pontic Greek is healthier in the former Soviet Union and Turkey than in Greece itself, where its use is increasingly emblematic. Accordingly, Cypriot is the only Greek dialect with a significant presence of spontaneous use online, including blogs and bulletin boards, and even a version of Greeklish reflecting the dialect's distinct phonology.

History and literature

The modern Cypriot dialect is not an evolution of the ancient Arcadocypriot dialect, but evolved from Koine; it belongs to the Southeastern group of Modern Greek dialects, along with the dialects of the Dodecanese and Chios (with which it shares phonological phenomena such as gemination and intervocalic lenition). Cyprus was cut off from the rest of the Greek-speaking world from the 7th to the 10th century A.D due to Arab attacks. It was reintegrated in the Byzantine Empire in 962 to be isolated again in 1191 when it fell to the hands of crusaders. This isolation developed a lot of linguistic characteristics distinct from Byzantine Greek.

The legislation of the Kingdom of Cyprus in the Middle Ages was written in the dialect. Other important medieval works are the chronicles of Leontios Makhairas and George Boustronios, as well as a collection of sonnets in the manner of Francesco Petrarca.

In the past hundred years, the dialect has been used in poetry, major poets being Vasilis Michaelides and Dimitris Lipertis. It is also traditionally used for folk songs and poetry, including τσιαττιστά (battle poetry, a form of Playing the dozens) and the tradition of ποιητάρηες (bards). In the late 70ties Minister of Education Chrysostomos A. Sofianos upgraded the status of the Cypriot dialect by introducing it in education. More recently it has been used in Reggae by Hadji Mike and rap by several Cypriot hip hop groups. DNA (Dimiourgoi Neas Antilipsis), a hiphop group from Cyprus, released an album named "sihnotites" with 2 tracks in Cypriot. (See also Music of Cyprus).

Locally produced television shows, usually comedies or soap operas, make use of the dialect. For example Vourate Geitonoi (βουράτε instead of τρέξτε), Oi Takkoi (Τάκκος being a uniquely Cypriot name), and Istories tou Horkou (χωρκού rather than χωριού). Cypriot Greek is closer to classical Greek, in some respects, such as vocabulary and grammar, than standard Greek is. The 2006 feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest features actor Jimmy Roussounis arguing in the Greek Cypriot dialect with another crew member speaking Gibrizlidja about a captain's hat they find in the sea.Peter Polycarpou routinely spoke in the Greek Cypriot dialect in his role as Chris Theodopolopoudos in the British television comedy series Birds of a Feather.

Characteristics

Phonology

  1. Double consonants preserved the stressed pronunciation of Ancient Greek.
    1. Double unvoiced plosives (‹ττ›, ‹ππ›, ‹κκ›) are pronounced aspirated ([tʰ], [pʰ], [kʰ] or [cʰ] depending on the succeeding vowel).
    2. The rest of the double consonants are pronounced as geminates. (e.g. ‹λλ› as [lː], ‹μμ› as [mː], etc.)
  2. Extreme "palatalization" of Greek velars to palato-alveolars when followed by the front vowels [e] and [i] and the semivowel [j], very similar to how standard Italian developed from Latin. It should be noted that Standard Greek pronunciation exhibits true palatalization of velars to palatals ([k] > [c] and [x] > [ç]). The palato-alveolars in Cypriot Greek can be found both as affricates ([tʃ]) and fricatives ([ʃ]):
    1. The "palatalization" of kappa, i.e. κ > κ
      Standard Greek [c] becomes a soft affricate [tʃ]. This sound is usually represented with ‹τζι› or ‹κ›. For example, Standard Greek "καί" [ce] meaning 'and' becomes Cypriot Greek "τζιαί" or "καί" [tʃe]. Also Standard Greek "εκείνος" [eˈcinos] becomes "κείνος" [ˈtʃinos]. Note, however, that this is not a hard and fast rule (counter-examples include loans from Standard Greek: κηδεία, κέρδος, άκυρο, ρακέττα).
    2. The "palatalization" of kappa after a sigma, ‹σκ›. Standard Greek [sc] becomes the double fricative [ʃː].
    3. The "palatalization" of double kappa, ‹κκ›. Pronounced in standard Greek as single [k], in Cypriot it becomes an aspirated affricate [tʃʰ].
    4. The "palatalization" of chi, ‹χ›. Standard Greek [ç] becomes [ʃ] in Cypriot, and it can be written as ‹σι› or ‹χ›. For example, Standard Greek "χέρι" [ˈçeri] ('hand') becomes "σιέρι" or "χέρι" [ˈʃeri].
  3. Voicing of ‹φ›, ‹θ› and ‹χ› (aspirated consonants in Ancient Greek) before liquids and nasals, to ‹β›, ‹δ› and ‹γ› respectively. (e.g. Cypriot "γρόνος" instead of "χρόνος" ('year'), "άδρωπος" (man) instead of "άνθρωπος" ('human'). In Cypriot dialect, άδρωπος means man and not human, while human is called πλάσμα. This process is partially reversed in younger speakers due to the influence of Standard Greek.
  4. Deletion of ‹β›, ‹δ›, ‹γ›, voiced intervocalic fricatives; e.g. κοπελλούδιν > κοππελούιν "little child". In linguistic texts, the deleted fricative is sometimes put in brackets for clarity: κοππελού(δ)ιν.
  5. /x/ > /θ/: e.g. άνθρωπος > άχρωπος "human"
  6. Defrication of [ʝ]/[ç] that function as semi-vowels in Modern Greek to [c] with most of the time modification of the preceding consonant. (e.g. "ποιός" [pços] in Cypriot Greek would be pronounced as "πκοιός" [pcos], and "σπίτια" [ˈspitça] as "σπίθκια" [ˈspiθka]). This is carried further in some parts of Cyprus where speakers use e.g. "πσοιός" [pʃos].
  7. External sandhi rules for word-final nasal consonants:
    1. /n/ before bilabials becomes [m]: e.g. "το μωρόν" [to moron] the baby (acc.).
    2. /n/ before velars becomes [ŋ]: e.g. "την κρατικήν" [tiŋ ɡratiˈcin] ('governmental', acc.).
    3. Standard Greek sandhi rules for word-final [n] do not apply to Cypriot Greek; the /n/ is used much more frequently in Cypriot Greek.
  8. The vowel eta ‹η› is in some words pronounced which according to the "Erasmian" understanding is ancient Greek. A basic common example would be "μην", in Cypriot "μεν".

Consonants

The Greek Cypriot dialect is rich in consonants; it includes postalveolar consonants, which are lacking from Standard Greek, as well as palatal consonants and a trill, which are present but non-contrastive in Standard Greek.[5]

  Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalv. Palatal Velar
Nasal m mː     n nː   ɲ ŋ
Plosive p phː  b     t thː  d   c chː  ɟ k khː  ɡ
Fricative   f fː  v vː θ θː  ð ðː s sː  z zː ʃ ʃː  ʒ ʒː ç  ʝː x xː  ɣ ɣː
Approximant           j  
Trill       r      
Flap or tap       ɾ      
Lateral Appr.       l lː   ʎ  
Affricate       ts  dz t͡ʃ t͡ʃː  dʒ    

Morphology

Note: The incorporation of this particular type of Turkish morphology is also found in Standard Greek, however as the suffix -λίκι.
Cypriot Greek used two κ to phonologically imitate the aspirated k of Turkish.

Vocabulary

Syntax

  strong weak
Nom. Acc. Gen. Acc. Gen.
1st Person Sg.
Pl.		 εγιώ / εγιώνι / εγώνι
εμείς		 εμένα(ν)
εμάς		 με
μας		 μου
μας
2nd Person Sg.
Pl.		 εσού / εσούνι
εσείς		 εσένα(ν)
εσάς		 σε
σας		 σου
σας
3rd Person Sg. m.
f.
n.		 τούτος
τούτη(ν)
τούτο(ν)		 τούτο(ν)/τούντο(ν)
τούτη(ν)/τούντη(ν)
τούτο(ν)/τούντο(ν)		 τούτου/τούντου
τούτης/τούντης
τούτου/τούντου		 το(ν)
τη(ν)
το		 του
της
του
Pl. m.
f.
n.		 τούτοι
τούτες
τούτα		 τούτους/τούντους
τούτες/τούντες
τούτα/τούντα		 τούτων/τούντων
τούτων/τούντων
τούτων/τούντων		 τους
τες
τα		 τους
τους
τους

Note: εγιώ/εγιώνι and εσού/εσούνι are currently not in use as much as standard Greek εγώ and εσύ. Τούντο is a contraction of Τούτον το etc. Both forms can be used e.g. Τούτον το πράμαν = τούντο πράμαν.

Besides τούτος as a generic demonstrative, there is also the more specific spatial demonstrative pronoun τζείνος, -η, -ο ('him/her/that there'). (From Standard Greek εκείνος).

"(He) told me" in Cypriot is "Είπεν μου" instead of standard modern Greek "μου είπε"

Spelling

While the σι spelling is commonly used to represent [ʃ], it presupposes a following vowel, e.g. σιέρι. When [ʃ] is found at the end of the word or before a consonant (in loan words), the σι spelling cannot be used. For example the word /paʃ/ < the Turkish baş meaning "main"(or "head"), cannot be spelled as πάσι, since that will be interpreted as [ˈpasi]. Since diacritics are not used outside linguistics, Cypriots will frequently double σ as σς or recourse to the English spelling instead: πασς or παsh.

Metathesis

Sometimes two-syllable words are inverted. For example κλάτσες instead of κάλτσες (socks).

Names

Insults

Whereas in Greece the imperative "μαλάκα!" now is more often used in jest, and comes close to meaning something like "mate!",[8] in Cyprus it remains highly offensive and literally "wanker!". Cypriots also use a Turkish word for pimp namely "(ρε) πεζεβέγκι!"

See also

References

References

  1. ^ According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Cypriot is "the dialect of Greek used in Cyprus".
  2. ^ B D Joseph, 2006. "Modern Greek". In The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd edition.
  3. ^ http://www.varkoume.com
  4. ^ βαρκούμαι is the Cypriot word corresponding standard modern Greek βαριέμαι
  5. ^ http://idiom.ucsd.edu/~arvaniti/ArvanitiCY.pdf
  6. ^ http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/greekcypriot/6/1257600926/tpod.html
  7. ^ Greek Naming Conventions
  8. ^ http://www.malakas.org/malakas.html

External links

Software

Ages of Greek
c. 3rd millenium BC c. 1600–1100 BC c. 800–300 BC c. 300 BC – AD 330 c. 330–1453 since 1453