Cyprus-Forum.com

[YFred]

Yes, Zabita is a policeman.

[Tim Drayton]

Who said there was no such thing as Cypriotness? - Dryton

So how comes there is no common language !!!

Sorry Byron, but you have a very defective logic and I wouldn't recommend you to take an IQ test, as you will be very disappointed of the results. Who said to you that there must be a common language, for a country to exist as one unit to which all will feel allegiance to it? Does Switzerland have one common language? It has at least four, as a matter of fact! Don't they all feel Swiss, above all? Yes they do!

Are these OFFICIAL languages....

Yes, Switzerland has four official languages.

Then a bit different to the picture painted of TCs...Not all by he way...Speaking Greek because of convenience. We taught Turkish in our schools and not Greek...Those in mixed villages, like my father, spoke both....Those in the North of Lefkosa and purely TC, like my mum, did not.

I hear what you are saying, but a great many elderly Turkish Cypriots are very fluent in the Greek Cypriot vernacular.

None of them were capable of writing Greek because it was not taught at school, why ? Is Turkish taught as a second language in Cyprus now ? I don't think so .

Turkish is now available as an optional second foreign language at some high schools in the RoC. There has also been an increase in the number of GC adults studying Turkish in evening classes.

[Oracle]

Who said there was no such thing as Cypriotness? - Dryton

So how comes there is no common language !!!

Sorry Byron, but you have a very defective logic and I wouldn't recommend you to take an IQ test, as you will be very disappointed of the results. Who said to you that there must be a common language, for a country to exist as one unit to which all will feel allegiance to it? Does Switzerland have one common language? It has at least four, as a matter of fact! Don't they all feel Swiss, above all? Yes they do!

Are these OFFICIAL languages....

Yes, Switzerland has four official languages.

Then a bit different to the picture painted of TCs...Not all by he way...Speaking Greek because of convenience. We taught Turkish in our schools and not Greek...Those in mixed villages, like my father, spoke both....Those in the North of Lefkosa and purely TC, like my mum, did not.

I hear what you are saying, but a great many elderly Turkish Cypriots are very fluent in the Greek Cypriot vernacular.

None of them were capable of writing Greek because it was not taught at school, why ? Is Turkish taught as a second language in Cyprus now ? I don't think so .

Turkish is now available as an optional second foreign language at some high schools in the RoC. There has also been an increase in the number of GC adults studying Turkish in evening classes.

Foreign being the operative word.

[zan]

Who said there was no such thing as Cypriotness? - Dryton

So how comes there is no common language !!!

Sorry Byron, but you have a very defective logic and I wouldn't recommend you to take an IQ test, as you will be very disappointed of the results. Who said to you that there must be a common language, for a country to exist as one unit to which all will feel allegiance to it? Does Switzerland have one common language? It has at least four, as a matter of fact! Don't they all feel Swiss, above all? Yes they do!

Are these OFFICIAL languages....

Yes, Switzerland has four official languages.

Then a bit different to the picture painted of TCs...Not all by he way...Speaking Greek because of convenience. We taught Turkish in our schools and not Greek...Those in mixed villages, like my father, spoke both....Those in the North of Lefkosa and purely TC, like my mum, did not.

I hear what you are saying, but a great many elderly Turkish Cypriots are very fluent in the Greek Cypriot vernacular.

None of them were capable of writing Greek because it was not taught at school, why ? Is Turkish taught as a second language in Cyprus now ? I don't think so .

Turkish is now available as an optional second foreign language at some high schools in the RoC. There has also been an increase in the number of GC adults studying Turkish in evening classes.

Old Chris doing the dirty on you diehard Greeks.....Soon you will be told that it has become an official language of the runaway state of the "RoC"....I can't wait

[bill cobbett]

Who said there was no such thing as Cypriotness? - Dryton

So how comes there is no common language !!!

Sorry Byron, but you have a very defective logic and I wouldn't recommend you to take an IQ test, as you will be very disappointed of the results. Who said to you that there must be a common language, for a country to exist as one unit to which all will feel allegiance to it? Does Switzerland have one common language? It has at least four, as a matter of fact! Don't they all feel Swiss, above all? Yes they do!

Are these OFFICIAL languages....

Yes, Switzerland has four official languages.

Then a bit different to the picture painted of TCs...Not all by he way...Speaking Greek because of convenience. We taught Turkish in our schools and not Greek...Those in mixed villages, like my father, spoke both....Those in the North of Lefkosa and purely TC, like my mum, did not.

I hear what you are saying, but a great many elderly Turkish Cypriots are very fluent in the Greek Cypriot vernacular.

I got a lift with a tissy taxi driver here in London a few months ago. A youngish chap, in his thirties, who had lived for years, 'til recently in Kyrenia Town. He spoke the Cy dialect perfectly.

Given the large number of Tr based words in the dialect, this shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it did.

Which one?????

Axirtir mate!

Must be Greek then because there is no such word in Turkish.....The other Cypriot dialect!!!!

Try this thread then, where we discussed the subject of tr words in the dialect a couple of years ago......

http://www.cyprus-forum.com/cyprus6114-10.html

where we find such words as

asihtir (from Sotos)

kebab, bakkali, dolmas, sokaki and pastourm

rusfeti

This is from the wiki on Cypriot Dialect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypriot_Greek

"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."



This one is very interesting...

A Dictionary with derivations of the dialect

http://wikipriaka.com/en

Contains a number of words in the dialect of Tr origin

Mashalla BillC.

[Tim Drayton]

http://www.starkibris.net/index.asp?haberID=23785

It seems that this year Greek is being taught as a foreign language on a trial basis at 6 schools in the north of Cyprus. Apparently, pupils have shown a lot of interest and 307 of them have enrolled to study Greek. The minister of education has announced that Greek lessons will be available at all schools next year.

[zan]

It's nearly the same for the OTHER Cypriot dialect!!

[Tim Drayton]

Who said there was no such thing as Cypriotness? - Dryton

So how comes there is no common language !!!

Sorry Byron, but you have a very defective logic and I wouldn't recommend you to take an IQ test, as you will be very disappointed of the results. Who said to you that there must be a common language, for a country to exist as one unit to which all will feel allegiance to it? Does Switzerland have one common language? It has at least four, as a matter of fact! Don't they all feel Swiss, above all? Yes they do!

Are these OFFICIAL languages....

Yes, Switzerland has four official languages.

Then a bit different to the picture painted of TCs...Not all by he way...Speaking Greek because of convenience. We taught Turkish in our schools and not Greek...Those in mixed villages, like my father, spoke both....Those in the North of Lefkosa and purely TC, like my mum, did not.

I hear what you are saying, but a great many elderly Turkish Cypriots are very fluent in the Greek Cypriot vernacular.

None of them were capable of writing Greek because it was not taught at school, why ? Is Turkish taught as a second language in Cyprus now ? I don't think so .

Turkish is now available as an optional second foreign language at some high schools in the RoC. There has also been an increase in the number of GC adults studying Turkish in evening classes.

Old Chris doing the dirty on you diehard Greeks.....Soon you will be told that it has become an official language of the runaway state of the "RoC"....I can't wait

Actually, this predates Chris. This practice started in 2003.

https://www.hri.org/news/cyprus/cmnews/ ... mnews.html

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003
Friday, May 16, 2003
[02] Pupils given Turkish option for September By Alexia Saoulli
THE EDUCATION Ministry will know how many students have chosen Turkish as a foreign language option by the end of the month.
Plans to introduce Turkish into the Greek Cypriot school curriculum are part of the government’s measures – announced on April 30 – for the Turkish Cypriot population in the occupied areas. The provision was also included in UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan’s plan for a solution. The new lessons will begin in the new academic year in September.

However, there are currently no thoughts to make the language compulsory in the education system, said Ministry official Charalambos Hadjithomas.

“At the moment, we have introduced Turkish as an optional foreign language for Lyceum students,” he said. Until now, students had to choose two foreign languages from a choice of six, including Russian, Italian, Spanish, French, German and English. With the introduction of Turkish, the choices have been extended to seven, and it is the first time the language has been available within the school system.

“So far, students wanting to learning Turkish had to do so at state institutions in the afternoon as an extra lesson. It was not part of the curriculum,” said Hajdithomas.

Although students have already filled in their option forms for next year, all Lyceums around the island have been instructed to inform their pupils that Turkish has now become an option.

“If they want to change their language option they can still do so. If they don’t want to learn Turkish, then that’s up to them,” he said. They will also have the option of having two, four or six periods of Turkish, as applies to all foreign languages, he added.

The ministry has not yet decided how many Turkish teachers will be needed, how many classes will be formed, how many periods a week the teachers will teach or how many students will make up each class.

“We are waiting to hear from the head teachers of all the schools by the end of the month and only when we have gathered all the information we need, will we decide how many Turkish teachers we need and for how many hours a week,” said Hadjithomas.

He said the suggestions would then be put before an educational committee, which would then approve or reject them, and decide on the finer points, such as whether or not they would be employing teachers from the occupied areas.

Hadjithomas would not speculate on how popular the Turkish option might prove with students. “I cannot hypothesise what sort of choices they’ll make. We’ll wait and see what sort of information all the schools’ headmasters give us at the end of the month.”

[Byron]

Who said there was no such thing as Cypriotness? - Dryton

So how comes there is no common language !!!

Sorry Byron, but you have a very defective logic and I wouldn't recommend you to take an IQ test, as you will be very disappointed of the results. Who said to you that there must be a common language, for a country to exist as one unit to which all will feel allegiance to it? Does Switzerland have one common language? It has at least four, as a matter of fact! Don't they all feel Swiss, above all? Yes they do!

Are these OFFICIAL languages....

Yes, Switzerland has four official languages.

Then a bit different to the picture painted of TCs...Not all by he way...Speaking Greek because of convenience. We taught Turkish in our schools and not Greek...Those in mixed villages, like my father, spoke both....Those in the North of Lefkosa and purely TC, like my mum, did not.

I hear what you are saying, but a great many elderly Turkish Cypriots are very fluent in the Greek Cypriot vernacular.

None of them were capable of writing Greek because it was not taught at school, why ? Is Turkish taught as a second language in Cyprus now ? I don't think so .

Turkish is now available as an optional second foreign language at some high schools in the RoC. There has also been an increase in the number of GC adults studying Turkish in evening classes.

What % of the Greek Cypriot population speak Turkish or are studying it?

[Tim Drayton]

Who said there was no such thing as Cypriotness? - Dryton

So how comes there is no common language !!!

Sorry Byron, but you have a very defective logic and I wouldn't recommend you to take an IQ test, as you will be very disappointed of the results. Who said to you that there must be a common language, for a country to exist as one unit to which all will feel allegiance to it? Does Switzerland have one common language? It has at least four, as a matter of fact! Don't they all feel Swiss, above all? Yes they do!

Are these OFFICIAL languages....

Yes, Switzerland has four official languages.

Then a bit different to the picture painted of TCs...Not all by he way...Speaking Greek because of convenience. We taught Turkish in our schools and not Greek...Those in mixed villages, like my father, spoke both....Those in the North of Lefkosa and purely TC, like my mum, did not.

I hear what you are saying, but a great many elderly Turkish Cypriots are very fluent in the Greek Cypriot vernacular.

None of them were capable of writing Greek because it was not taught at school, why ? Is Turkish taught as a second language in Cyprus now ? I don't think so .

Turkish is now available as an optional second foreign language at some high schools in the RoC. There has also been an increase in the number of GC adults studying Turkish in evening classes.

What % of the Greek Cypriot population speak Turkish or are studying it?

A tiny %, I would imagine. So what?

Another interesting peice of trivia. Apparently the majority of the students studying at Cyprus University's Turkology Department are from Greece.