Cyprus-Forum.com

[Cap]

Strong points by Mihalis Eleftheriou from CY Mail.
I've noticed GR has commented too.

THE Church of Cyprus has said something wonderful. As most of you may know, the holy- and political-ness have their pants in a fiddle over the naughty if not imperialist actions of our cheeky little dialect which, they would have you believe, harbours an agenda to overthrow Greek and take over the world.

According to Archbishop Chrysostomos II (or ‘GoldenMouth’ II, true story), the cessation of punishment for use of the Cypriot dialect in schools as effected by the previous government has constituted a threat to our ‘Greek national consciousness’.

Many leftists, liberals and pluralists are outraged by the upcoming land grab of the little progress the last government brought to the island, but no one as of yet seems to have taken any time to marvel over the wonderfulness of GoldenMouth’s statement.

What the Archbishop is essentially complaining about is that the reality is contradicting the make-believe: the fact that we speak Cypriot, contradicts the notion that we are spawn of a ‘Greek national consciousness’.

If the chief representation of our identity is language, and our language is wonderfully colourful and pluralist – a hodgepodge of Greek, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, English, French, Latin and a thousand other lost and nameless dialects of history- then this melting pot is also what we are.

In trying to ignore this, the Archbishop and the politicians that vow to follow his counsel in the demonisation of Cypriot, reaffirm it.

We must not be what we are, because this is not what we are. Wonderful.

So now that we are seemingly no longer trying to hide from the embarrassing notion that we must be what we are evidently not, we can quite boldly ask some pressing questions:.......................

http://cyprus-mail.com/2013/10/01/mothe ... classroom/

[GreekIslandGirl]

Yes, his usual ignorant posts which demonstrate his failure to appreciate the distinction between dialect and unrelated language; and the quintessential foreigners telling us we don't know who we are.

Best post:

Cypriot Greek Linguistically shares phonological phenomena with the Dodecanese, Crete, Chios and specific areas of the Peloponnese amongst others. The lexical similarity between Greek spoken in Cyprus and Greek spoken in Greece is in the range of 84%–93%. It is a topically distinct idiom rather than a true dialect. You can argue as much as you like about it. The truth is right there in the language! Sure it has picked up foreign words (arabic, english, french, italian etc, mainly due to long periods of isolation from the rest of the Greek speaking world and thus has it's own continuum. This is a non argument really. Greek has been spoken here for thousands of years and will continue to be spoken for thousands more and there's nothing anyone can do about it. The forced implementation of a distinct Cypriot identity will ultimately fail. Hundreds of thousands of Greek Cypriots identify as Greek, I believe it is their right to do so. And if you cannot stand to see Greek flags on buildings and private houses (a right enshrined in the 1960's constitution) then may I suggest you move to the North of the Island at least you won't have to see Greek flags there, at least not for the time being. The Turks have a massive Turkish flag on the side of the Pendadaktylos, I have not heard one complaint about that on this forum, ever! Greek flags and Greek-national consciousness are here to stay get used to it. To most posters here "common sense" means making English the official language because it's "good for business" yet some things are more important than business. Maintaining your traditions and identity for instance. I am certain that the majority of Cypriots (excluding the brainwashed commies) will wholeheartedly agree!

[Cap]

How come Mainlander Kalamaraes don't understand true Cypriot?
I think mainland Kalamaraes need to revise their watered down inferior version of 'Greek'

[Oceanside50]

How come Mainlander Kalamaraes don't understand true Cypriot?
I think mainland Kalamaraes need to revise their watered down inferior version of 'Greek'

because their knowledge of the Greek language is not very good

[kurupetos]

How come Mainlander Kalamaraes don't understand true Cypriot?
I think mainland Kalamaraes need to revise their watered down inferior version of 'Greek'

For the same reason we don't understand the Pontian dialect.

[GreekIslandGirl]

How come Mainlander Kalamaraes don't understand true Cypriot?
I think mainland Kalamaraes need to revise their watered down inferior version of 'Greek'

Same reason the Queen doesn't understand Eastenders. Same language, different pronunciations ...

[DrCyprus]

The language called standard or modern Greek is actually an invention of French influenced poofters such as Adamantios Korais. The Greek spoken in Cyprus is actually purer and more faithful to koine Greek.

[Oceanside50]

Not so much pronunciation mostly their lack of knowledge of certain Greek words...go up to a mainlander and use the words. "Lalo" or "thoro" and there are other words, you'll see how lost they can get...

[Flying Horse]

How come Mainlander Kalamaraes don't understand true Cypriot?
I think mainland Kalamaraes need to revise their watered down inferior version of 'Greek'

Same reason the Queen doesn't understand Eastenders. Same language, different pronunciations ...

She'd need an interpreter when speaking to me then!

My other half is very much stuck in the 70s with his mother tongue. One might almost say quite old school with regards to speaking to Greek Cypriots who use the language every day and regularly interacting with relatives on the island. He's more than fluent, its just time has passed him by and the language has evolved, plus nobody to talk to to keep him up to date!!.

A bit like me talking to a far younger relative I suppose. These days its all txt speak n stuff innit

Languages change. Not always for the better IMO.

[GreekIslandGirl]

How come Mainlander Kalamaraes don't understand true Cypriot?
I think mainland Kalamaraes need to revise their watered down inferior version of 'Greek'

Same reason the Queen doesn't understand Eastenders. Same language, different pronunciations ...

She'd need an interpreter when speaking to me then!

My other half is very much stuck in the 70s with his mother tongue. One might almost say quite old school with regards to speaking to Greek Cypriots who use the language every day and regularly interacting with relatives on the island. He's more than fluent, its just time has passed him by and the language has evolved, plus nobody to talk to to keep him up to date!!.

A bit like me talking to a far younger relative I suppose. These days its all txt speak n stuff innit

Languages change. Not always for the better IMO.

Absolutely. Languages evolve and new words are added constantly. Add to that regional pronunciations and it's not difficult to see how propagandists think they can fool people into believing Greek as spoken on Cyprus is a completely different language.

By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth. George Carlin