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[Bullika]

Can a Greek Cypriot member of this forum please list some Cypriot Greek phrases, I m looking for really typical not too rude expressions.

I understand that in Cypriot Greek you use the 'ch and 'sh' like Turkish.

[Dhavlos]

yeh....also we tend to say 'je' instead of 'kai' (meaning 'and').the sound 'j' can sometimes be used instead of 'k'.

Surnames of people are sometimes 'turkified' like hajiantonis, haji...( i may be wrong, but i dont understand why there would be the 'j' sound in a name, unless there is some turkish influence)

In cyprus the word for the little 'saucepan/pot' used to make greek/turkish coffee in is called a 'flitzani', rather than in greece where it is called a 'mbriki'.
(i think i got that the right way round).

Also, cypriots call mainland greeks 'Kalamaraes' -but it is a bit derogitary.

[Bullika]

j as in jam?

[Dhavlos]

yeh

[Bullika]

i think christians use haji too

[Bullika]

how about sentence order? how does it differ from Demotiki?

I want to learn some expressions

[Bullika]

I found an online lexicon of Cypriot Greek words

Greek Cypriot - Hellenic Greek Glossary
http://www.translatum.gr/dictionary/cypriot.htm

H ορθή χρήση της γλώσσας στο γραπτό και προφορικό λόγο
http://www.pr.ucy.ac.cy/articles/2004/september/panagiotou.html

[Dhavlos]

this may help a bit...

http://www.talkcyprus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1143

basically, i think that mainland greek is more 'formal' than cypriot-greek....dont know how to explain it, but other Greek Cypriots will know what i mean.


My mind has gone blank on phrases, so otherpeople will have to tell you...sorry

[city]

Dhavlos wrote: yeh....also we tend to say 'je' instead of 'kai' (meaning 'and').the sound 'j' can sometimes be used instead of 'k'.

very true, even when it comes to names of places/villages. I've been told that J <-> K thing is village talk :-)

Dhavlos wrote: Surnames of people are sometimes 'turkified' like hajiantonis, haji...( i may be wrong, but i dont understand why there would be the 'j' sound in a name, unless there is some turkish influence)

Isn't the word haj coming from arabic roots? Hadj is what the journey to Mecca is called and once you have undertaken it you are allowed to call yourself a Hadji and thats how I think it's found its way into nower days names.

Dhavlos wrote: In cyprus the word for the little 'saucepan/pot' used to make greek/turkish coffee in is called a 'flitzani', rather than in greece where it is called a 'mbriki'.
(i think i got that the right way round).

hm, I've been taught thats a mbriki in "my" village :?

[CY]

yeah, i think it is mbriki.. and mbrikoui if its a small one! :D

[bg_turk]

MEHMET_OSMAN_KKTC wrote: i think christians use haji too

It is pretty common in bulgaria too to have haji in the name like in Hajidmitrov, Hajivalchev, etc...
If you donate money to a church you become a haji. For instance the turkish party leader Ahmed Dogan, donated some money to the bulgarian iron church in istanbul, and he became Haji Dogan.

[Bananiot]

In my village mbriki was called tzisve ... and haji is hadji in greek names and it does come from arabic. Also, we use the word tazetiko to describe something that is fresh.

[Xenos 2Fan]

Bananiot wrote: In my village mbriki was called tzisve ... and haji is hadji in greek names and it does come from arabic. Also, we use the word tazetiko to describe something that is fresh.

On the mainland we use "taze" for fresh. Like in Taze ekmek: Fresh Bread

[Dhavlos]

yeh, i wasnt sure about the mbriki/flitzani thing...i can never rememebr which way round it goes!

A story my yiayia told me was when her and my bappou had their restaurant, one day a Greek-mainland friend came over.
When he had dinner etc... he asked if he could go make a coffee...so he went in to the kitchen, but couldnt find the mbriki/flitzani. He asked my yiayia whether they had one, but used the mainland word. My yiayia didnt understand, and said she didnt have one....so the greek guy was a bit miffed as to how a greek restaurant didnt have a thing to make coffee in. When my bappou got in on the conversation, he realised what he was saying, and they solved the problem!

But do you see the problem that one thing can make if it has two words!

[city]

Dhavlos wrote: ......But do you see the problem that one thing can make if it has two words!

hihi, that happened to me when I went to Crete and asked for an ashtray.
I actually forgot now the cypriot word (tassaki? or something similar?) for it but it was much easier then the long greek version (stachtodochio). :)