www.talkcyprus.org

[cannedmoose]

Mod note:split from this topic in Cyprob resources.

TheC, is there any chance that you can also post the words in Greek text also... it would be far easier to grasp how it sounds if it was typed in Greek also.

[The Cypriot]

Hi Cannedmouse, thank you for your interest. I do sympathise - it does take a bit of time to get used to - but if you can get your head round this way of presenting the Cypriot vernacular, believe me, it all starts to fall in to place.

The use of Latin script is, of course, deliberate as it makes the original words and sounds more accessible to those not familiar with the Greek alphabet - so that all are able to share in their poetic and evocative beauty.

Moreover, I'm sure you can appreciate, normal modern Greek spelling conventions are inadequately equipped to do justice to a number of age-old characteristics of Cypriot pronunciation. Good examples are sounds such as 'j', 'sh' and 'ch'.

For more details:

http://www.cypriotacademy.com/writingcypriot.html

[Dhavlos]

maybe using the coptic script will enable us to read cypriot greek much easier...after all, they have ch/sh/j/h sounds as well...

www.omniglot.com/writing/coptic

http://www.copticchurch.net/coptic_fonts/alphabet.html

[cypezokyli]

there is no cypriot alphabet , but from the "kypriako anthologio" - a cypriot "book" we got in school (which we never read) , the problem of the extra sounds was solved by a kind of "hut" put over σ , χ , τζ , ζ
i dont know if there is a place where u can download the "cypriot alphabet"

besides that it is often the case in newspapers that they use the greek alphabet , and put latin characters for those sounds.

[Dhavlos]

do you mean the 'hat' which the french use:

Quote: â ê î ô û

i think that the coptic alphabet looks quite good tho in expressing the cypriot dialectos

[cypezokyli]

thats exactly what i meant dhavlos. thanks.

[The Cypriot]

But you're missing the point of this exercise, Dhavlo mu. It's not about contemplating our collective navel but sharing the beauty of our island's rich heritage with the world - and especially our compatriots in the north - who are unlikely to be familiar with either the Greek or Coptic alphabets, worthy though they both are.

[Dhavlos]

Oh, i understand that Cypriot, but im just contemplating a new script for the cypriot dialect in general, rather than greek.

[The Cypriot]

So what's wrong with the Latin script - which is itself a derivation of the Greek and which is accessible to the whole world, Cypriots in the north and Cypriots born in the UK, Australia, Canada etc. many of whom won't have learnt modern Greek at school and won't be familiar with any other alphabet?

[Bullika]

The Cypriot wrote: So what's wrong with the Latin script - which is itself a derivation of the Greek and which is accessible to the whole world, Cypriots in the north and Cypriots born in the UK, Australia, Canada etc. many of whom won't have learnt modern Greek at school and won't be familiar with any other alphabet?

cypriot greek could always use the turkish alphabet, since it has Ç
Ş and Dz

[Dhavlos]

Quote: cypriot greek could always use the turkish alphabet, since it has Ç
Ş and Dz

maybe kibrizlija should use the greek script then ;) :) as a good-will sign to reconciiation, lol

[Dhavlos]

The Cypriot wrote: So what's wrong with the Latin script - which is itself a derivation of the Greek and which is accessible to the whole world, Cypriots in the north and Cypriots born in the UK, Australia, Canada etc. many of whom won't have learnt modern Greek at school and won't be familiar with any other alphabet?
i duno, the latin script doesnt seem like it would expresss the cypriot dialect either as well..maybe a mix of the two would work...

im talking in the wider sense, say if a cypriot language was made official.

[Bullika]

Dhavlos wrote: Quote: cypriot greek could always use the turkish alphabet, since it has Ç
Ş and Dz

maybe kibrizlija should use the greek script then ;) :) as a good-will sign to reconciiation, lol

not really because its ill-suited to our language. The best script for us is Tatarça, because it has the nasal consenant ñ [ŋ]

[Gardash]

I like Lipertis's method where Greek is used with Latin characters for the inaccessible sounds. I find the Latin alphabet ambiguous on some sounds and unweildy when it comes to soft/hard consonants

[The Cypriot]

The use of the Latin alphabet explained. Please study and comment:

www.cypriotacademy.com/writingcypriot.html