Cypriot Greek
Template:Short description Template:More footnotes needed {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check |unknown=Template:Main other |preview=Page using Template:Infobox language with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| acceptance | agency | aiatsis | aiatsis2 | aiatsis3 | aiatsis4 | aiatsis5 | aiatsis6 | aiatsisname | aiatsisname2 | aiatsisname3 | aiatsisname4 | aiatsisname5 | aiatsisname6 | altname | ancestor | ancestor2 | ancestor3 | ancestor4 | ancestor5 | ancestor6 | ancestor7 | ancestor8 | ancestor9 | ancestor10 | ancestor11 | ancestor12 | ancestor13 | ancestor14 | ancestor15 | boxsize | coordinates | coords | created | creator | date | dateprefix | development_body | dia1 | dia2 | dia3 | dia4 | dia5 | dia6 | dia7 | dia8 | dia9 | dia10 | dia11 | dia12 | dia13 | dia14 | dia15 | dia16 | dia17 | dia18 | dia19 | dia20 | dia21 | dia22 | dia23 | dia24 | dia25 | dia26 | dia27 | dia28 | dia29 | dia30 | dia31 | dia32 | dia33 | dia34 | dia35 | dia36 | dia37 | dia38 | dia39 | dia40 | dialect_label | dialects | ELP | ELP2 | ELP3 | ELP4 | ELP5 | ELP6 | ELPname | ELPname2 | ELPname3 | ELPname4 | ELPname5 | ELPname6 | era | ethnicity | extinct | fam1 | fam2 | fam3 | fam4 | fam5 | fam6 | fam7 | fam8 | fam9 | fam10 | fam11 | fam12 | fam13 | fam14 | fam15 | family | familycolor | fontcolor | glotto | glotto2 | glotto3 | glotto4 | glotto5 | glottoname | glottoname2 | glottoname3 | glottoname4 | glottoname5 | glottopedia | glottorefname | glottorefname2 | glottorefname3 | glottorefname4 | glottorefname5 | guthrie | ietf | image | imagealt | imagecaption | imagescale | iso1 | iso1comment | iso2 | iso2b | iso2comment | iso2t | iso3 | iso3comment | iso6 | isoexception | lc1 | lc2 | lc3 | lc4 | lc5 | lc6 | lc7 | lc8 | lc9 | lc10 | lc11 | lc12 | lc13 | lc14 | lc15 | lc16 | lc17 | lc18 | lc19 | lc20 | lc21 | lc22 | lc23 | lc24 | lc25 | lc26 | lc27 | lc28 | lc29 | lc30 | lc31 | lc32 | lc33 | lc34 | lc35 | lc36 | lc37 | lc38 | lc39 | lc40 | ld1 | ld2 | ld3 | ld4 | ld5 | ld6 | ld7 | ld8 | ld9 | ld10 | ld11 | ld12 | ld13 | ld14 | ld15 | ld16 | ld17 | ld18 | ld19 | ld20 | ld21 | ld22 | ld23 | ld24 | ld25 | ld26 | ld27 | ld28 | ld29 | ld30 | ld31 | ld32 | ld33 | ld34 | ld35 | ld36 | ld37 | ld38 | ld39 | ld40 | linglist | linglist2 | linglist3 | linglist4 | linglist5 | linglist6 | lingname | lingname2 | lingname3 | lingname4 | lingname5 | lingname6 | lingua | lingua2 | lingua3 | lingua4 | lingua5 | lingua6 | lingua7 | lingua8 | lingua9 | lingua10 | linguaname | linguaname2 | linguaname3 | linguaname4 | linguaname5 | linguaname6 | linguaname7 | linguaname8 | linguaname9 | linguaname10 | listclass | liststyle | map | map2 | mapalt | mapalt2 | mapcaption | mapcaption2 | mapscale | minority | module | name | nation | nativename | notice | notice2 | official | posteriori | pronunciation | protoname | pushpin_image | pushpin_label | pushpin_label_position | pushpin_map | pushpin_map_alt | pushpin_map_caption | pushpin_mapsize | qid | ref | refname | region | revived | revived-cat | revived-category | script | setting | sign | signers | speakers | speakers_label | speakers2 | stand1 | stand2 | stand3 | stand4 | stand5 | stand6 | standards | state | states }}<templatestyles src="Template:Infobox/styles-images.css" />
Cypriot Greek (Template:Langx, Template:IPA or Template:Lang Template:IPA) is the variety of Modern Greek that is spoken by the majority of the Cypriot populace and Greek Cypriot diaspora. It is considered a divergent dialect as it differs from Standard Modern GreekTemplate:Efn in various aspects of its lexicon,Template:Sfn phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and even pragmatics,Template:Sfn not only for historical reasons but also because of geographical isolation, and extensive contact with typologically distinct languages.Template:Sfn
Classification
Cypriot Greek is not an evolution of ancient Arcadocypriot Greek, but derives from Byzantine Medieval Greek.Template:Sfn It has traditionally been placed in the southeastern group of Modern Greek varieties, along with the dialects of the Dodecanese and Chios (with which it shares several phonological phenomena).
As Cypriot Greek tends to be regarded as a dialect by its speakers, it remains largely understandable to speakers of Standard Modern Greek, though it can be challenging without prior exposure.Template:Sfn Greek-speaking Cypriot society is diglossic, with vernacular Cypriot Greek (the "low" variety) and Standard Modern Greek (the "high" variety).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Cypriot Greek is itself a dialect continuum with an emerging koine.Template:Sfn Davy, Ioannou & Panayotou (1996) have argued that diglossia has given way to a "post-diglossic [dialectal] continuum [...] a quasi-continuous spread of overlapping varieties".Template:Sfn
History
Cyprus was cut off from the rest of the Greek-speaking world from the 7th to the 10th centuries AD 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 the Crusaders. These periods of isolation led to the development of various linguistic characteristics distinct from Byzantine Greek.
The oldest surviving written works in Cypriot date back to the Medieval period. Some of these are: the legal code of the Kingdom of Cyprus, the Assizes of Jerusalem; the chronicles of Leontios Machairas and Georgios Boustronios; and a collection of sonnets in the manner of Francesco Petrarca. In the past hundred years, the dialect has been used in poetry (with major poets being Vasilis Michaelides and Dimitris Lipertis). It is also traditionally used in folk songs and Template:Lang (Template:Lang, battle poetry, a form of playing the Dozens) and the tradition of Template:Lang (Template:Lang, bards).
Cypriot Greek had been historically used by some members of the Turkish Cypriot community, especially after the end of Ottoman control and consequent British administration of the island. In 1960, it was reported that 38% of the Turkish Cypriots were able to speak Greek along with Cypriot Turkish. Some Turkish Cypriots of Nicosia and Paphos were also speaking Cypriot Greek as their mother tongue according to early 20th century population records.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the late 1970s, Minister of Education Chrysostomos A. Sofianos upgraded the status of Cypriot by introducing it in education. More recently, it has been used in music, e.g. in reggae by Hadji Mike and in rap by several Cypriot hip hop groups, such as Template:Lang (DNA). Locally produced television shows, usually comedies or soap operas, make use of the dialect, for example with Template:Lang (Template:Lang instead of Template:Lang) or Template:Lang (Template:Lang being a uniquely Cypriot name). The 2006 feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest features actor Jimmy Roussounis arguing in Cypriot with another crew member speaking Kibrizlija (Cypriot Turkish) about a captain's hat they find in the sea. Peter Polycarpou routinely spoke in Cypriot in his role as Chris Theodopolopoudos in the British television comedy series Birds of a Feather. In a July 2014 episode of the American TV series The Leftovers, Alex Malaos's character uses the dialect saying "Template:Lang" ('I recognised you'). In the American mockumentary comedy horror television series What We Do in the Shadows, actress Natasia Demetriou, as the vampiric character Nadja, occasionally exclaims phrases in Cypriot.
Today, Cypriot Greek is the only other variety of Modern Greek apart from Standard Modern GreekTemplate:Efn with a significant presence of spontaneous use online, including blogs and internet forums, and there exists a variant of Greeklish that reflects its distinct phonology.
Phonology
Studies of the phonology of Cypriot Greek are few and tend to examine very specific phenomena, e.g. gemination, "glide hardening". A general overview of the phonology of Cypriot Greek has ever been attempted only once, by Template:Harvnb, but parts of it are now contested.
Consonants
Cypriot Greek has geminate and palato-alveolar consonants, which Standard Modern Greek lacks, as well as a contrast between Template:IPA and Template:IPA, which Standard Modern Greek also lacks.Template:Sfn The table below, adapted from Template:Harvnb, depicts the consonantal inventory of Cypriot Greek.
Stops Template:IPA and affricate Template:IPA are unaspirated and may be pronounced weakly voiced in fast speech.Template:Sfn Template:IPA are always heavily aspirated and they are never preceded by nasals,Template:Sfn with the exception of some loans, e.g. Template:IPA "shampoo".Template:Sfn Template:IPA and Template:IPA are laminal post-alveolars.Template:Sfn Template:IPA is pronounced similarly to Template:IPA, in terms of closure duration and aspiration.Template:Sfn
Voiced fricatives Template:IPA are often pronounced as approximants and they are regularly elided when intervocalic.Template:Sfn Template:IPA is similarly often realised as an approximant Template:IPA link in weak positions.Template:Sfn
The palatal lateral approximant Template:IPA is most often realised as a singleton or geminate lateral Template:IPA or a singleton or geminate fricative Template:IPA, and sometimes as a glide Template:IPA (cf. yeísmo).Template:Sfn The circumstances under which all the different variants surface are not very well understood, but Template:IPA appear to be favoured in stressed syllables and word-finally, and before Template:IPA.Template:Sfn Template:Harvnb identifies the following phonological and non-phonological influencing factors: stress, preceding vowel, following vowel, position inside word; and sex, education, region, and time spent living in Greece (where Template:IPA is standard).Template:Sfn Template:Harvnb notes that speakers of some local varieties, notably that of Larnaca, "substitute" the geminate fricative for Template:IPA,Template:Sfn but Template:Harvnb contests this, saying that, "Template:IPA is robustly present in the three urban areas of Lefkosia, Lemesos and Larnaka as well as the rural Kokinohoria region, especially among teenaged speakers ... the innovative pronunciation Template:IPA is not a feature of any local patois, but rather a supra-local feature."Template:Sfn
The palatal nasal Template:IPA is produced somewhat longer than other single nasals, though not as long as geminates. Template:IPA is similarly "rather long".Template:Sfn
The alveolar trill Template:IPA is the geminate counterpart of the tap Template:IPA.Template:Sfn
Palatalisation and glide hardening
In analyses that posit a phonemic (but not phonetic) glide Template:IPA, palatals and postalveolars arise from Template:Mono (consonant–glide–vowel) clusters, namely:Template:Sfn
The glide is not assimilated, but hardens to an obstruent Template:IPA after Template:IPA and to Template:IPA after Template:IPA.Template:Sfn At any rate, velar stops and fricatives are in complementary distribution with palatals and postalveolars before front vowels Template:IPA;Template:Sfn that is to say, broadly, Template:IPA are palatalised to either Template:IPA or Template:IPA; Template:IPA to Template:IPA or Template:IPA; and Template:IPA to Template:IPA.
Geminates
There is considerable disagreement on how to classify Cypriot Greek geminates, though they are now generally understood to be "geminates proper" (rather than clusters of identical phonemes or "fortis" consonants).Template:Sfn Geminates are 1.5 to 2 times longer than singletons, depending, primarily, on position and stress.Template:Sfn Geminates occur both word-initially and word-medially. Word-initial geminates tend to be somewhat longer.Template:Sfn Template:Harvnb have found that "for stops, in particular, this lengthening affects both closure duration and VOT",Template:Sfn but Template:Harvnb claim that stops contrast only in aspiration, and not duration.Template:Sfn Template:Harvnb undertook a perceptual study with thirty native speakers of Cypriot Greek,Template:Sfn and has found that both closure duration and (the duration and properties of) aspiration provide important cues in distinguishing between the two kinds of stops, but aspiration is slightly more significant.Template:Sfn
Assimilatory processes
Word-final Template:IPA assimilates with succeeding consonants—other than stops and affricates—at word boundaries producing post-lexical geminates.Template:Sfn Consequently, geminate voiced fricatives, though generally not phonemic, do occur as allophones. Below are some examples of geminates to arise from sandhi.
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "Lucas" (acc.)
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "[s/he] is here"
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "from the root"
In contrast, singleton stops and affricates do not undergo gemination, but become fully voiced when preceded by a nasal, with the nasal becoming homorganic.Template:Sfn This process is not restricted to terminal nasals; singleton stops and affricates always become voiced following a nasal.Template:Sfn
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "[we] smoke cigars"
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "even though"
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "on Sunday"
Word-final Template:IPA is altogether elided before geminate stops and consonant clusters:Template:Sfn
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "[we] bought flowers"
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "on the head"
Like with Template:IPA, word-final Template:IPA assimilates to following Template:IPA and Template:IPA producing geminates:Template:Sfn
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "let it snow"
Lastly, word-final Template:IPA becomes voiced when followed by a voiced consonant belonging to the same phrase, like in Standard Greek:Template:Sfn
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "of Malta"
- Template:IPA → Template:IPA Template:Lang "race"
Vowels
Cypriot Greek has a five-vowel system Template:IPATemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn that is nearly identical to that of Standard Modern Greek.Template:Efn
Close vowels Template:IPA following Template:IPA at the end of an utterance are regularly reduced (50% of all cases presented in study) to "fricated vowels" (40% of all cases, cf. Slavic yers), and are sometimes elided altogether (5% of all cases).Template:Sfn
In glide-less analyses, Template:IPA may alternate with Template:IPA or Template:IPA,Template:Sfn e.g. Template:IPA "cage" → Template:IPA "cages", or Template:IPA "koulouri" → Template:IPA "koulouria"; and, like in Standard Modern Greek, it is pronounced Template:IPA when found between Template:IPA and another vowel that belongs to the same syllable,Template:Sfn e.g. Template:IPA "one" (f.).
Stress
Cypriot Greek has "dynamic" stress.Template:Sfn Both consonants and vowels are longer in stressed than in unstressed syllables, and the effect is stronger word-initially.Template:Sfn There is only one stress per word, and it can fall on any of the last four syllables. Stress on the fourth-last syllable in a word is rare and normally limited to certain verb forms. Because of that possibility, however, when words with antepenultimate stress are followed by an enclitic in Cypriot Greek, no extra stress is added unlike Standard Modern Greek in which stress falls only on one of the last three syllables),Template:Sfn e.g. Cypriot Greek Template:Lang Template:IPA, Standard Modern Greek Template:Lang Template:IPA "my bicycle".
Grammar
An overview of syntactic and morphological differences between Standard Modern Greek and Cypriot Greek can be found in Template:Harvnb.
Cypriot Greek is known for having a more conservative grammatical system than Standard Modern Greek. One of the most distinctive conservative features of Cypriot Greek is the preservation of older verb forms and aspectual distinctions that have been lost in the standard language. For instance, where Standard Modern Greek uses a single form έκανε for both the simple past "he did" and the past continuous "he was doing", Cypriot Greek maintains a clear morphological distinction: έκαμεν "he did" and έκαμνεν "he was doing". This mirrors Classical Ancient Greek, which similarly distinguished ἔκαμεν and ἐκάμνεν for those respective meanings. These distinctions are still actively used in spoken Cypriot today, showcasing the dialect's conservative grammatical structure.
Another example is the third person plural present tense form. Where Standard Modern Greek uses κάνουν "they do", Cypriot Greek preserves the older form κάμνουσιν, identical to the Classical Attic Greek κάμνουσιν. This ουσιν ending, now archaic or lost in most other varieties of Greek, remains productive in the Cypriot dialect, further illustrating its retention of ancient morphological patterns.
Vocabulary
More loanwords are in everyday use than in Standard Modern Greek.,Template:Sfn largely because Standard Greek, now the official language of Cyprus, introduced many foreign borrowings into the island. In addition to these shared influences, Cypriot Greek also preserves a number of unique, locally developed loanwords from Old French, Italian, Occitan, and, increasingly, English. As a result, the vocabulary of Cypriot Greek is broader and more varied, drawing from both the standard and its own historical linguistic layers. Despite this lexical diversity, the dialect as a whole is more conservative than Standard Modern Greek, especially in terms of verbs, grammar and certain archaisms. For example, Cypriot Greek retains older forms such as πόθεν for “from where?”, an equivalent of the archaic English “whence.” Many everyday words also differ, such as συντυχάννω alongside μιλώ "I talk" and θωρώ in place of βλέπω "I look".
Some Arabic expressions, such as μάσ̌σ̌αλλα [ˈmaʃːalːa] "mashallah" and ίσ̌σ̌αλλα [ˈiʃːalːa] "inshallah", are sometimes used in Cypriot Greek. Ethnologue reports that the lexical similarity between Cypriot Greek and Demotic Greek is in the range of 84–93%.<ref>Template:E18</ref>
Orthography
There is no established orthography for Cypriot Greek.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Efforts have been made to introduce diacritics to the Greek alphabet to represent palato-alveolar consonants found in Cypriot, but not in Standard Modern Greek, e.g. the combining caron Template:Angle bracket, by the authors of the "Syntychies" lexicographic database Template:Webarchive at the University of Cyprus.Template:Sfn When diacritics are not used, an epenthetic Template:Angle bracket—often accompanied by the systematic substitution of the preceding consonant letter—may be used to the same effect (as in Polish), e.g. Standard Modern Greek Template:Lang Template:IPA → Cypriot Greek Template:Lang Template:IPA, Standard Modern Greek Template:Lang Template:IPA → Cypriot Greek Template:Lang Template:IPA.
Geminates (and aspirates) are represented by two of the same letter, e.g. Template:Lang Template:IPA "today", though this may not be done in cases where the spelling would not coincide with Standard Modern Greek's, e.g. Template:Lang would still be spelt Template:Lang.Template:Efn
Despite the centuries-long existence of Greek Cypriot literature, the dialect wasn't widely written until the rise of computer-mediated communication in the 2000s. Online and in text messaging, Cypriot Greek, like Standard Modern Greek, is commonly written in the Latin script,Template:Sfn and English spelling conventions may be adopted for shared sounds,Template:Sfn e.g. Template:Angle bracket for Template:IPA (and Template:IPA).
Some comparisons between Cypriot Greek and Standard Greek
Template:Original research section
Cypriot Greek demonstrates a prevalence of archaic elements. The following comparisons provide a visual representation of this phenomenon.
The tables below do not imply that they were written down the same in Attic Greek but it is simply using the modern Greek alphabet's pronunciation system applied on attic Greek for comparison purposes.
The classical attic Greek X was pronounced as an aspirated Κ similar to the English K. Θ = aspirated Τ, Γ = ΓΚ/ΓΓ and Β = ΜΠ. In classical attic Greek Η was pronounced a long Ε and not like the modern Greek I, Y<ref name=":1">Template:Citation</ref>
| Standard<ref name=":1" /> | Classical Attic pronunciation<ref name=":0">Template:Citation</ref><ref name=":1" /> |
|---|---|
| Χ [x] | kʰ |
| Θ [θ] | tʰ |
| Γ [ɣ] | ΓΚ [g] |
| Β [v] | ΜΠ [b] |
| Η [i] | ΕΕ [ɛː] |
| CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
Standard<ref name=":1" /> | Cypriot | Classical Attic
pronunciation<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> |
|---|---|---|---|
| άργησα | άρκησα | άργκησα (άρgησα) | |
| άρχισα | άρκεψα | άρkʰισα | |
| έρχομαι | έρκομαι
έρκουμαι |
έρkʰομαι | |
| ευχαριστώ | ευκαριστώ | ευkʰαριστώ | |
| πάσχα | πάσκαν | πάσkʰαν | |
| έρθω | έρτω | έρtʰω | |
| βλέπω | ημπλέπω | μπλέπω (bλέπω) | |
| είδα | άμπλεψα/έμπλεψα | έμπλεψα (έbλεψα) | |
| αγρίζω | αγκρίζω | αγκρίζω (αgρίζω) | |
| ποτέ | ποtʰέ | ποτέ |
αγκρίζω is often confused for an English loan word but it's actually derived from the ancient αγρίζω, from άγριος.
| Standard<ref name=":1" /> | Cypriot | Classical Attic
pronunciation<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> |
|---|---|---|
| σκληρό | σκλερό | σκλεερό (σκλɛːρό) |
| μην | μεν | μεεν (μɛːν) |
| Standard<ref name=":1" /> | Cypriot | Classical Attic
<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> |
|---|---|---|
| αρέσει | αρέσκει | αρέσκει |
| κάνω | κάμνω | κάμνω |
| κάνουν | κάμνουσιν | κάμνουσιν |
| από που | πόθεν | πόtʰεν |
| Standard<ref name=":1" /> | Cypriot | Classical Attic
<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> |
Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| κάνω | κάμνω | κάμνω | I'm doing |
| έκανες | έκαμες | έκαμε | You did |
| έκανες | έκαμνες | έκαμνες | You were doing |
| έκανε | έκαμεν | έκαμεν | He did |
| έκανε | έκαμνεν | έκαμνεν | He was doing |
| κάνουν | κάμνουσιν | κάμνουσιν | They are doing |
| κάνουμε | κάμνουμεν | κάμνομεν | We are doing |
| κάνετε | κάμνετε | κάμνετε | You are doing (plural) |
| κάνετε | κάμετε | κάμετε | Do it (plural) |
| κάνατε | εκάματε | εκάματε | You did (plrural) |
| κάνουμε | κάμνουμεν | κάμνομεν | We are doing |
| το κάνεις | κάμνειστο | κάμνεις αὐτό | You are doing it |
| το κάνει | κάμνειτο | κάμνει αὐτό | He is doing it |
Example texts of the dialect
| citation | CitationClass=web
}}Template:PD-notice</ref> |
|---|---|
| 18 «Η Ρωμιοσύνη εν φυλή συνότζαιρη του κόσμου,
κανένας δεν εβρέθηκεν για να την ι-ξηλείψη, κανένας, γιατί σιέπει την που τα 'ψη ο Θεός μου. Η Ρωμιοσύνη εν να χαθή, όντες ο κόσμος λείψει! 19 Σφάξε μας ούλους τζι ας γενεί το γαίμαν μας αυλάτζιν, κάμε τον κόσμον ματζιελλειόν τζαι τους Ρωμιούς ταούλλια, αμμά ξέρε πως ύλαντρον όντες κοπεί καβάτζιν τριγύρου του πετάσσουνται τρακόσια παραπούλια. Το 'νιν αντάν να τρώ' την γην, τρώει την γην θαρκέται μα πάντα τζιείνον τρώεται τζαι τζιείνον καταλυέται. Είσαι πολλά πικράντερος, όμως αν θεν να σφάξης, σφάξε τους λας που πολεμούν αλλού αρματωμένοι. Εμάς με σιέρκα όφκαιρα γιατί να μας πειράξεις, πού 'μαστον δίχως άρματα, τζι είμαστον νεπαμέν 8 Η νύχτα πκιον αρκίνησεν περίτου ν' αναρκώνη, εγίνην η ανατολή κροκότσιηνη περίτου, άρτζιεψεν πκιον το Σάββατον να πικροξημερώννη τζι ακούστηκεν του ξύλενου σημάντρου η φωνή του. Εξέβην ο Τζιυπριανός με τζιείνον τον καμόν του, τζι επήεν εις την εκκλησ'ιάν τζαι βάλλει τον σταυρόν του τζι ήτουν όσον τζι εκάμασιν αρκήν της λειτουργίας, τζι εστάθηκεν περίλυπος τζαι σγιαν να δκιαλοίστην, τζι επήεν τζι εγονάτισεν ομπρός της Παναίας τζαι κάτι εψουψούρισεν τζι ευτύς εκλαμουρίστην. 27 «Εγιώ, αφέντη, μανιχά άκουσα να λαλούσιν, πως ήρτεν ένας τοπκιανός καλόηρος που πέρα τζι έφερεν κάμποσα χαρκιά πο τζιει που πολεμούσιν τζι έδωκεν τα τζαι χάθηκεν, δεν έμεινεν με μέραν, τζαι τζιείνα ούλλα τα χαρκιά πως ήταν του πολέμου. Τα άλλα ούλλα που λαλείς εν τάκουσα ποττέ μου.» «Είντα μας περιπαίζεις, βρε, είμαστον μισταρκοί σου; Είπες το με το στόμαν σου μεσ' σ' τόσον παναύριν, πε το, γιατί σκοτώννω σε, κόβκω την τζιεφαλήν σου. Φέρτε μου τον τζιελλάττην δα, ναν δαχαμαί χαζίριν!» 30 Τότες πκιον εσυντύχασιν ούλοι κάμποσην ώραν, για τζιείνους πων να κόψουσιν τζι αννοίξαν το δεφτέριν τζι είδασιν πόσοι εν π' αλλού τζιαι πόσοι που την Χώραν τζιαι πόσοι για συρτοθηλειάν τζιαι πόσοι για μασιαίριν. τζι είσιεν πεντ' έξι πούπασιν πως εν πολλοί τζι εν κρίμαν, τζι ο Μουσελλίμης είπεν τους: «Εν ούλλοι για το μνήμαν»! Ο ήλιος πκιον εστύλλωσεν, εγίνην μεσομέριν τζι ακούστην εις τον μιναρέν ο χότζ'ας να φωνάζη τζι επάψασιν την συντυσιάν τζι αφήκαν το δεφτέριν τζι εσηκωθήκαν ούλοι τους τζι επήαν στο ναμάζι. |
| English translation of "Η 9η Ιουλίου του 1821" |
| 18 Romaness is a race as old as the world,
No one has ever been found to erase it, No one, because my God shields it from above. Romaness will vanish only when the world ceases to exist! 19 Slaughter us all, let our blood become a stream, Turn the world a slaughterhouse and the Romans herds of sheep But know that when a stump is cut at the base, Around it, three hundred new sprouts will burst forth. |
See also
- Languages of Cyprus
- Arcadocypriot Greek for the ancient Greek spoken on Cyprus
Footnotes
Explanatory notes Template:Notelist
Citations Template:Reflist
Bibliography
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