The Cypriot dialect of Greek (Cypriot Greek (Greek: Κυπριακή διάλεκτος) or Kypriaka (Greek: Κυπριακά)) is spoken by 750,000 people in Cyprus and several hundreds of thousands abroad. This article is an overview of the history of Greek. ... Greek ( IPA: or simply IPA: — Hellenic) has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single natural language in the Indo-European language family. ... This page contains special characters. ... The Proto-Greek language is the common ancestor of the Greek dialects, including the Mycenean language, the classical Greek dialects Attic-Ionic, Aeolic, Doric and North-Western Greek, and ultimately the Koine and Modern Greek. ... Mycenaean is the most ancient attested form of the Greek language, spoken on the Greek mainland and on Crete in the 16th to 11th centuries BC, before the Dorian invasion. ... Beginning of Homers Odyssey The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage of the Greek language[1] as it existed during the Archaic (9th–6th centuries BC) and Classical (5th–4th centuries BC) periods in Ancient Greece. ... Ancient Greek, in classical antiquity before the development of the Koiné as the lingua franca of Hellenism, was divided into several dialects. ... Aeolic Greek is a linguistic term used to describe a set of rather archaic Greek sub-dialects, spoken mainly in Boeotia (a region in Central Greece), in Lesbos (an island close to Asia Minor) and in other Greek colonies. ... Arcadocypriot was an ancient Greek dialect spoken in Arcadia and Cyprus between ca. ... Attic Greek is the ancient dialect of the Greek language that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. ... Distribution of Greek dialects, ca. ... Distribution of Greek dialects, ca. ... Pamphylian is a little-attested dialect of Ancient Greek which was spoken in Pamphylia, on the southern coast of Asia Minor. ... Homeric Greek is the form of Ancient Greek that was used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey. ... Koine redirects here. ... Medieval Greek (Μεσαιωνική Ελληνική) is a linguistic term that describes the fourth period in the history of the Greek language. ... Main article: Greek language Modern Greek (Νέα Ελληνικά or Νεοελληνική, lit. ... The linguistic varieties of Modern Greek can be classified along two principal dimensions. ... Cappadocian, also known as Cappadocian Greek or Asia Minor Greek, is a dialect of the Greek language, formerly spoken in Cappadocia (Central Turkey). ... Cretan Greek (Cretan dialect, Greek: Κρητική διάλεκτος or Kritika Κρητικά) is a dialect of the Greek language, spoken by more than half a million people in Crete and several thousands in the diaspora. ... Dhimotiki (Greek Δημοτική, IPA //) or Demotic Greek is the standard language of Greece. ... Griko, sometimes spelled Grico, is a Modern Greek dialect which is spoken by people in the Magna Graecia region in southern Italy and Sicily, and it is otherwise known as the Grecanic language. ... Katharevousa (Greek Καθαρεύουσα, IPA: ) is a form of the Greek language, created during the early 19th century by Adamantios Korais (1748-1833). ... Pontic Greek is a form of the Greek language originally spoken on the shores of the Black Sea, the Pontus, today mainly in Greece. ... Tsakonian (also Tsakonic) (Standard Greek Τσακωνική Διάλεκτος — Tsakonic language — is a dialect of, or language closely related to, Standard Modern Greek, spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece. ... Yevanic, otherwise known as Yevanika, Romaniote and Judeo-Greek, was the language of the Romaniotes, the group of Greek Jews whose existence in Greece is documented since the 4th century BCE. Its linguistic lineage stems from Attic Greek and the Hellenistic Koine (Κοινή Ελληνική) and includes Hebrew elements as well. ... Arcadocypriot was an ancient Greek dialect spoken in Arcadia and Cyprus between ca. ... For dialects of programming languages, see Programming language dialect. ...

Usage and settings

It is the spoken everyday language of most Greek Cypriots. It is also the first language of older Turkish Cypriots from specific villages (e.g Louroudjina and the Tylliria/Dillirga region) and most other older Turkish Cypriots would speak it as a second language. 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 and on phone text messages. Greek Cypriot refers to the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus. ... Turkish Cypriots are those inhabitants of Cyprus who are ethnically Turkish[1], as opposed to those who are of Greek (the Greek Cypriots) or other ethnicities. ... Look up Diglossia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Main article: Greek language Modern Greek (Νέα Ελληνικά or Νεοελληνική, lit. ...

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 villager (χώρκατος) or of an uneducated and poor background. This can be particularly stigmatizing within formal and upper class circles. In linguistics, a basilect is a dialect of speech that has diverged so far from the standard language that in essence it has become a different language. ...

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 two Greek dialects currently still widely used; the other, 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. Dhimotiki (Greek Δημοτική, IPA //) or Demotic Greek is the standard language of Greece. ... Katharevousa (Greek Καθαρεύουσα, IPA: ) is a form of the Greek language, created during the early 19th century by Adamantios Korais (1748-1833). ... Pontic Greek is a Greek language which was originally spoken on the shores of the Black Sea (Pontus). Pontics linguistic lineage stems from Attic Greek, and contains influences from Byzantine Greek, Turkish influence and some Persian and Caucasian borrowings. ...

History and literature

The modern Cypriot dialect is not an evolution of the ancient Arcadocypriot dialect, but evolved from Koine. 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. Arcadocypriot was an ancient Greek dialect spoken in Arcadia and Cyprus between ca. ... Koine redirects here. ... The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... Byzantine redirects here. ... // Events May 12 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. ... The Third Crusade (1189–1192), also known as the Kings Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin. ... Byzantine Greek is an archaic variant of Greek language derived from Koine which was used by the administration of the Byzantine Empire from 395 until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. ...

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. The Kingdom of Cyprus was a Roman Catholic Crusader kingdom on the island of Cyprus in the late Middle Ages. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Leontios Makhairas (in Greek: Λεόντιος Μαχαιράς) was a medieval Greek Cypriot historian. ... From the c. ...

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). 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 Cypriot released an album named "sihnotites" with 2 tracks in Cypriot. (See also Music of Cyprus). Vasilis Michaelides (Greek: Βασίλης Μιχαηλίδης) was born in Cyprus in 1849. ... Dimitris Theophani Lipertis, was born in Larnaca, in 1866 (exact date disputed – either 22 Sep, or 26 Oct). ... The dozens is an African American custom in which two competitors -- usually males -- go head to head in a competition of often ribald trash talk. ... Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. ... Hip hop music is a style of music which came into existence in the United States during the mid-1970s, and became a large part of modern pop culture during the 1980s. ... History (Timeline and Samples) Genres: Classical music -Folk - Hip hop - Jazz - Rock Regional styles Aegean Islands - Arcadia - Argos - Athens - Crete - Cyclades - Dodecanese Islands - Epirus - Ionian Islands - Lesbos - Macedonia - Peloponnesos - Thessaloniki - Thessaly - Thrace - Cyprus The music of Cyprus includes a variety of classical, folk and popular genres. ...

Locally produced television shows, usually comedies or soap operas, make use of the dialect.

Technical characteristics

Phonology

• Double consonants preserved the stressed pronunciation of Ancient Greek.
  • Double unvoiced plosives (ττ, ππ, κκ) are pronounced aspirated ([t^h], [p^h], [k^h] or [c^h] depending on the succeeding vowel).
  • The rest of the double consonants are pronounced as geminates. (e.g. λλ as [lː], μμ as [mː], etc.)
• Extreme "palatalization" of Greek velars to palato-alveolars when followed by the front vowels [e] and [i] and the semivowel [j]. 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 (κάππα), i.e. κ > κ̌: Standard Greek [c] becomes a soft affricate [tʃ]. This sound is usually represented with τζι or the more correct κ̌. For example, Standard Greek καί [ce] meaning and becomes Cypriot Greek τζιαί or κ̌αί [tʃe]. Also Standard Greek εκείνος [e'cinos] becomes Cypriot Greek κ̌είνος ['tʃinos]. Note however this is not a hard and fast rule (counter-examples include loans from Standard Greek: κηδεία, κέρδος, άκυρο, ρακέττα).
  2. The "palatalization" of chi (χι), i.e. χ > χ̌: Similarly Standard Greek [ç] becomes [ʃ]. This sound is usually represented with σι or the more correct χ̌. For example, Standard Greek χέρι ['çeri] meaning hand becomes Cypriot Greek σιέρι or χ̌έρι ['ʃeri].
• Voicing of φ, θ and χ (aspirated consonants in Ancient Greek) before liquids and nasals, to β, δ and γ respectively. (e.g. γρόνος (Cypriot dialect) instead of χρόνος (Modern Greek) (= year), άδρωπος (Cypriot dialect) instead of άνθρωπος (Modern Greek) (= human)).This process is partially reversed in younger speakers due to the influence of Standard Greek.
• 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.
• /x/ > /θ/: e.g. άνθρωπος > άχρωπος "human"
• 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 Standard Greek would be pronounced as πκοιός [pcos], σπίτια ['spitça] in Standard Greek would be pronounced as σπίθκια ['spiθca]). This is carried further in some parts of Cyprus where speakers use e.g. πσοιός [pʃos]
• External sandhi rules for word-final nasal consonants:
  • /n/ before bilabials becomes [m]: e.g. τον παπαγάλον [tom bapa'ɣalon] the parrot (acc.).
  • /n/ before velars becomes [ŋ]: e.g. την κρατικήν [tiŋ grati'kin] the governmental (acc.).
  • Standard Greek sandhi rules for word-final [n] do not apply to Cypriot Greek; the /n/ is used much more frequently in Cypriot Greek.

Beginning of Homers Odyssey The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage of the Greek language[1] as it existed during the Archaic (9th–6th centuries BC) and Classical (5th–4th centuries BC) periods in Ancient Greece. ... Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... A stop or plosive or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... In phonetics, gemination is when a spoken consonant is doubled, so that it is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a single consonant. ... Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Semivowels (also glides, more rarely: semiconsonants) are non-syllabic vowels that form diphthongs with syllabic vowels. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... An affricate is a consonant that begins like a stop (most often an alveovelar, such as [t] or [d]) and that doesnt have a release of its own, but opens directly into a fricative (or, in one language, into a trill). ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... An affricate is a consonant that begins like a stop (most often an alveovelar, such as [t] or [d]) and that doesnt have a release of its own, but opens directly into a fricative (or, in one language, into a trill). ... Beginning of Homers Odyssey The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage of the Greek language[1] as it existed during the Archaic (9th–6th centuries BC) and Classical (5th–4th centuries BC) periods in Ancient Greece. ... Main article: Greek language Modern Greek (Νέα Ελληνικά or Νεοελληνική, lit. ... Main article: Greek language Modern Greek (Νέα Ελληνικά or Νεοελληνική, lit. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... Main article: Greek language Modern Greek (Νέα Ελληνικά or Νεοελληνική, lit. ... Sandhi is a cover term for a wide variety of phonological processes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ...

Morphology

• Present participles ending in -οντα instead of Modern Greek -οντας.
• Archaisms such as the use of infinitives as nouns (e.g. το δειν, the gaze)
• In slang the Turkish derivational suffix -lik, added as -λίκκι(ν), is used to transform a concrete noun to an abstract noun as noted here.
  For example: "ο πρόεδρος" (the president) becomes "το προεδριλίκκι" (the presidency).

  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. Main article: Greek language Modern Greek (Νέα Ελληνικά or Νεοελληνική, lit. ... For other uses, see Slang (disambiguation). ... In linguistics, derivation is the process of creating new lexemes from other lexemes, for example, by adding a derivational affix. ... Look up Suffix in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... In linguistics, a noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ... This article is a companion to Turkish grammar and contains some information that might be considered grammatical. ... Main article: Greek language Modern Greek (Νέα Ελληνικά or Νεοελληνική, lit. ...

• The suffixes -ούης/-ούα/-ούι(ν) for masculine, feminine and neuter respectively, are used to derive diminutives of nouns, in place of Standard Greek -άκης/-ίτσα/-άκι. The Cypriot Greek suffixes derive from the original -ούδης/-ούδα/-ούδι(ν) with the drop of Intervocalic δ.

A diminutive is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object named, intimacy, or endearment. ...

Vocabulary

• The Modern Cypriot lexicon contains loanwords mostly from Italian, Provençal, Turkish and English, and other languages, as well as words unique to Cyprus. Thus typically non Muslim speakers use standard Muslim expressions such as i(n)shalla(h) or mashalla(h) which have become part of the vocabulary.
• The Cypriot lexicon also contains Ancient Greek vocabulary which is no longer used in Standard Greek. Example: Συντυχάννω/λαλώ (talk).

Look up lexicon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A loanword (or a borrowing) is a word taken in by one language from another. ... Provençal (Provençau) is one of several dialects of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France and other areas of France and Italy. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Syntax

• The verb is: ένι and εν instead of είναι (Modern Greek). εν is ambiguous between the negative particle (Standard Greek δεν), in front of a verb (e.g. εν πειράζει = δεν πειράζει "it doesn't matter"), and the copula (e.g. εν καλά = είναι καλά "she is well").
• "έννα" used as the Future particle, in contrast to standard Greek "θα" (each of these being a different contraction from θέλει νά)
• Personal pronouns

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. Main article: Greek language Modern Greek (Νέα Ελληνικά or Νεοελληνική, lit. ... For other uses, see Copula (disambiguation). ...

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).

• Order of personal pronoun-verb is different than modern Greek, example:

"(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", cannot be spelled as πάσι, since that will be interpreted as [pasi]. Since diacritics are not used outside linguistics, Cypriots will frequently recourse to the English spelling instead: παsh.

References

• Beaudouin, M. 1884: Étude du dialecte chypriote moderne et medieval [Study of the Modern and Medieval Cypriot Dialect] (Paris).
• Horrocks, G. 1997: Greek: A History of the Language and its Speakers (London), ελλ. μτφ. υπό Μ. Σταύρου & Μ. Τζεβελέκου (Αθήνα 2006).
• Thumb, A. 1909: Handbuch der griechischen Dialekte [Handbook of Greek Dialects] (Heidelberg).
• Κοντοσόπουλος, Ν. 1994(2): Διάλεκτοι και Ιδιώματα της Νέας Ελληνικής [Dialects and Properties of Neo-Hellenic] (Αθήνα).
• Μενάρδος, Σ. 1969: Γλωσσικαί Μελέται [Language Studies] (Λευκωσία).
• Μηνάς, Κ. 1987: «Αφομοίωση του ερρίνου με τους άηχους κλειστούς φθόγγους στην ελληνική γλώσσα» [Assimilation of Nasal with Silent Closed Sounds in the Greek Language] ― Πρακτικά Β΄ Διεθνούς Κυπριολογικού Συνεδρίου, τόμ. 3, σελ. 253-283 (Λευκωσία).
• Μηνάς, Κ. 2000: «Φωνητικά και ετυμολογικά τής Κυπριακής διαλέκτου» [Phonetics and Etymologies of the Cypriot Dialect] ― Νεοελληνική Διαλεκτολογία 3, σελ. 151-188
• Newton, B. 1972: Cypriot Greek. Its phonology and inflexion (The Hague: Mouton).
• Παντελίδης, Χ. 1929: Φωνητική των Νεοελληνικών Ιδιωμάτων Κύπρου, Δωδεκανήσου και Ικαρίας [Phonetics of Neo-Hellenic Dialects of Cyprus, Dodecanese, and Icaria] (Αθήνα).
• Χατζηιωάννου, Κ. 1996: Ετυμολογικό Λεξικό τής Ομιλουμένης Κυπριακής Διαλέκτου [Etymological Dictionary of the Spoken Cypriot Dialect] (Λευκωσία).
• Χατζηιωάννου, Κ. 1999: Γραμματική τής Ομιλουμένης Κυπριακής Διαλέκτου [Grammar of the Spoken Cypriot Dialect] (Λευκωσία).
• Χριστοδούλου, Μ. 1970: "Περί των διαλεκτικών ζωνών εν τη νέα Ελληνική γλώσση και της θέσεως της κυπριακής διαλέκτου εν αυταίς" [The Position of the Cypriot Dialect within the Dialectical Zones of the Neo-Hellenic Language] - Επετηρίς Κέντρου Επιστημονικών Ερευνών Κύπρου, τόμ. 3, σελ. 119-138.

See also

• Cypriot Turkish
• List of Cypriots
• Gibrizlija

Cypriot Turkish is a dialect of Turkish spoken by Turkish Cypriots. ... The following is a list of Cypriots notable enough to have their own article. ... Gibrizlija, Gibrizlidja, or Kibrislica, is a Turkic language widely spoken in Cyprus. ...

External links

• Κυπριακή διάλεκτος (Ι)
• Κυπριακή διάλεκτος (ΙΙ)
• Κυπριακή διάλεκτος (ΙΙI)