Cyprus-Forum.com

[Lit]

The question of what constitutes a separate language is a complex one, and has as much to do with politics as linguistics. There used to be one language known as Serbo-Croat where there now exist Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and even Montenegrian. Yet the language(s) that people speak on the ground is exactly the same and all of these individual languages are, I believe, mutually comprehensible.

And what they speak in FYROM and they call "Macedonian" is actually a dialect of Bulgarian, a Slavic language which has absolutely nothing to do with the ancient Macedonians. One could also talk of an "Austrian language" while in fact is just German, or "American language" while it is actually English.

So if we wanted we could pretend that we had some different kind of language, and those that do so are indeed politically motivated.

Well said, Piratis.

[Piratis]

Tim, there is pretense when the language is essentially the same and you pretend it is different for political reasons. You can't say that the difference between Chinese and English is just pretense, for example.

Greek has 15 identifiable major dialect categories, all very similar to one another but with some distinctive characteristics. This is the same in most languages. If we would call every dialect a different language then we would end up with 1000s more languages. Some might want to do this for political reasons, but we have no reason to do so. If we wanted to pretend then we could even call "Paphian" a different language from Cypriot...

[Tim Drayton]

Tim, there is pretense when the language is essentially the same and you pretend it is different for political reasons. You can't say that the difference between Chinese and English is just pretense, for example.

Greek has 15 identifiable major dialect categories, all very similar to one another but with some distinctive characteristics. This is the same in most languages. If we would call every dialect a different language then we would end up with 1000s more languages. Some might want to do this for political reasons, but we have no reason to do so. If we wanted to pretend then we could even call "Paphian" a different language from Cypriot...

I agree, but there are many examples where the distinction made between two languages is more political than linguistic (e.g. Swedish-Norwegian, Farsi-Dari-Tajik, Central Asian Turkic languages). There are also counter-examples such as Swiss German where people in a separate country use a very different form of a language yet do not claim to have a separate language. We live in strange world.

[Get Real!]

And what they speak in FYROM and they call "Macedonian" is actually a dialect of Bulgarian, a Slavic language which has absolutely nothing to do with the ancient Macedonians.

Which makes perfect sense because the Slavs had overrun Greece ages ago…

[Simon]

And what they speak in FYROM and they call "Macedonian" is actually a dialect of Bulgarian, a Slavic language which has absolutely nothing to do with the ancient Macedonians.

Which makes perfect sense because the Slavs had overrun Greece ages ago…

Why don't the people of Greece talk a Slavic language then like the people of FYROM?

[Oracle]

Here we go .... It's the Simon and Get Real! Ping-Pong match again ...or is it Hide and Seek?

[Simon]

Here we go .... It's the Simon and Get Real! Ping-Pong match again ...or is it Hide and Seek?

Yes! GR hides and Simon seeks!

[Get Real!]

And what they speak in FYROM and they call "Macedonian" is actually a dialect of Bulgarian, a Slavic language which has absolutely nothing to do with the ancient Macedonians.

Which makes perfect sense because the Slavs had overrun Greece ages ago…

Why don't the people of Greece talk a Slavic language then like the people of FYROM?

Greeks DO speak some kind of Slavic dialect because I can't understand a word of what they're saying!

When “Greek” (read Cypriot) was invented as a language in Cyprus it made perfect sense to the locals (obviously) but Greeks have since come up with their own Slavic variation that no longer makes sense to us.

[Simon]

And what they speak in FYROM and they call "Macedonian" is actually a dialect of Bulgarian, a Slavic language which has absolutely nothing to do with the ancient Macedonians.

Which makes perfect sense because the Slavs had overrun Greece ages ago…

Why don't the people of Greece talk a Slavic language then like the people of FYROM?

Greeks DO speak some kind of Slavic dialect because I can't understand a word of what they're saying!

When “Greek” (read Cypriot) was invented as a language in Cyprus it made perfect sense to the locals (obviously) but Greeks have since come up with their own Slavic variation that no longer makes sense to us.

That is one of the most ignorant things I have ever read on this Forum, and believe me, that takes some doing!

GR can't understand it so it must be Slavic. Everybody take note, this is a rare insight into the workings of GR's mind. I'm beginning to comprehend why you believe Greeks are Slavs.

[Get Real!]

And what they speak in FYROM and they call "Macedonian" is actually a dialect of Bulgarian, a Slavic language which has absolutely nothing to do with the ancient Macedonians.

Which makes perfect sense because the Slavs had overrun Greece ages ago…

Why don't the people of Greece talk a Slavic language then like the people of FYROM?

Greeks DO speak some kind of Slavic dialect because I can't understand a word of what they're saying!

When “Greek” (read Cypriot) was invented as a language in Cyprus it made perfect sense to the locals (obviously) but Greeks have since come up with their own Slavic variation that no longer makes sense to us.

That is one of the most ignorant things I have ever read on this Forum, and believe me, that takes some doing!

GR can't understand it so it must be Slavic. Everybody take note, this is a rare insight into the workings of GR's mind. I'm beginning to comprehend why you believe Greeks are Slavs.

If it looks like a Slav, walks like a Slav, and quacks like a Slav… can’t possibly be Cypriot eh?