Odd cypriot words...

Dhavlos · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 6:15 pm Post subject: Odd cypriot words...

I was listening to my yiayia yesterday...and she said the word 'stede' , which i havent heard for ages....

It is the same word meaning as 'yiayia' - grandmother.

Is it just village talk? where does the word 'stede' come from? is it turkish origin? What is the turkish for 'mother-in-law' and/or 'yiayia'? Or is it just a cypriot word?

Also...are there other 'just-cypriot' words...like 'BATIXA' ? - watermelon - are these village-isms....or are they still widely used?

Bullika · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 6:53 pm Post subject:

is it linked to the word "to stefana"
wedding crowns? oxford greek dictionary, paperback, p.177.

Maybe the Phi [p?] in Stefana eventually changed over time began to be pronounced as Delta [d] in Kypriaki dialectos. or maybe not....

Bullika · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 7:13 pm Post subject:

BATIXA' might be from the french pastèque for watermelon, the p would have been altered to b.

Dhavlos · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 8:37 pm Post subject:

what is the turkish for watermelon? is it similar to bati[ch]a?

i couldnt imagine it was related to french.....were too far away..greece has more borrowed words from french...

cypriot greek borrows more words from turkish imo...like beetroot, in turkish it is pronounced:

panjar...in cypgreek it is panjari...thats why i was wondring what the word for mother-in-law is in turkish...could be close to the word stede

Leon · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 8:57 pm Post subject:

Ste-de also (and more commonly) meant yaya.

By the way, Memo, what does bullika mean?

Leon.

Dhavlos · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 9:13 pm Post subject:

apparently bullika means willy in turkish

PS leon...you wouldnt know where the word ste-de comes from ?!

Bullika · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 9:58 pm Post subject:

Bullika · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 10:02 pm Post subject:

Dhavlos · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 10:11 pm Post subject:

okok, sorry re memo...its just that bro said it mean 'willy' so i just assumed...lol...

the turkish fro watermaleon is virtually the same as the 'proper' greek one 'karpouzi' ...

oh well, i suppose ste'de will be a mystery!

Bullika · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 10:17 pm Post subject:

it does mean willy but it is not derogatory

depurple · Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:47 am Post subject:

The music word Tsiftetelli is also 2 Turkish words I think:
Tsifte I think is a Turkish 10Cent Coin: and Telli is the wire: So I think in the old days the Turkish muso used a 10 Cent Coin in stead of a plastic plectrum like Richie Blackmore from Deep Purple uses:
Someone also said that the famous Morphou oranges the Shekerica is also a Turkish Word meaning Sugar? Is that so?
A funny word is the Carob: Some call it Haroupia and others Xerokerata and others Teratia? So where did all these words come from?
ALSO I know that the Lemon (Oxino) is from the ancient Greek word?
cheers welcome to 2006!

antonis · Villager Joined: 20 Aug 2005 Posts: 70

Crash Test Dummy · Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 6:26 pm Post subject:

i love karpouzi

Bullika · Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:19 pm Post subject:

you cant go wrong with karpuz

Bananiot · Deputy Joined: 13 Aug 2005 Posts: 1244 Location: Nicosia

I thought dede is grandmother and stede certainly comes from dede. Grandpa is buyuk something. In many villages husbands used to called their wives affectionate "bulla mou". Perhaps it comes from the potato-like tuber bulla, which is white inside. And chifteteli is a dance but chifte means double, because the musical organs had double strings, pretty much like a bouzuki. Karpouz is surely arabic.