Learning Greek Cypriot

KLB · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:59 pm Post subject:

Tut Tut!!

My in laws can teach me really but it's not the same as actually having lessons.

My fear is having a baby and it's yia yia teaching it Greek and then my child will be able to answer back and I won't know what they're saying!

cypezokyli · Ministerial Joined: 20 Dec 2005 Posts: 2344

then start learning greek KLB Wink

but let any future kid talk to its yiayia. being a natural billingual is a huge advantage imho.

city · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:07 am Post subject:

cypezokyli · Ministerial Joined: 20 Dec 2005 Posts: 2344

i know that, using the easy was out - english.
it didnt help me with my german at all

city · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 12:55 am Post subject:

cypezokyli · Ministerial Joined: 20 Dec 2005 Posts: 2344

in the uni, all of them speak english and some have a much better accent than my heavy cypriot one. and thats the people i spend most time with Wink

outside the uni... in the east it was difficult with older people. they are more familiar with russian i guess. in the west, i never tried since in the meantime i can communicate in german...one way or another.

city · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2006 1:35 am Post subject:

Dhavlos · Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:54 pm Post subject:

erm....just thought....what is n'ambou short for?

like when you say: --> n'ambou kamneis re? instead of ti kaneis....??

i cant think of anything in 'greek-greek' that is similar.

Gardash · Senior Villager Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 274

inta en pou kamneis shortened

inta- what

en- is it

pou- that

kamneis- you are doing

Simple!!!

Dhavlos · Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:46 pm Post subject:

ah...thanks!

still, ive never heard 'inta' outside of casual speaking....ive never been 'taught it'...is it just a cypriot word?

Gardash · Senior Villager Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 274

It's a slang corruption of 'ti einai' from greek

another old form

Bullika · Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:52 am Post subject:

cypezokyli · Ministerial Joined: 20 Dec 2005 Posts: 2344

Gardash · Senior Villager Joined: 20 Jan 2006 Posts: 274

Cypriot is closer to ancient greek than modern greek. Like, for example, we use 'ornitha'- the ancient word for bird- rather than 'kotopoullo' (chicken)

filio · Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 3:21 pm Post subject:

even in ancient Greek years we had a special dialect in Cyprus. the Arcadocypriot dialect 800 - 300 BC. In Cyprus there was a different writing system ,the Cyprus syllabary( look like hieroglyphics) ( most of scripts where found in ancient city of Amathus) until the 4TH century B.C. when Evagoras of Salamis established the use of the Greek alphabet.

thought out the years ,up to 19 century, Greek language developed and absorbed many elements from other languages mostly Turkish and other European (Latin) languages. Adamanfdios Korais established the use of a new "purified" Greek language that was situated somewhere between ancient and modern Greek and it was "cleaned" from all foreign loan words.The grammar was simplified ancient Greek grammar and the idea behind it was that this is how Greek language would have really evolved if it wasn't for foreign influences and Ottoman rule.

In Cyprus, isn't there more similarities with katharevousa rather than ancient Greek?

However years later, post second world war, language was added to a political issue list, with the Conservative supporting the use of katharevousa and left wing the Modern Greek.

Eventually,Katharevousa became a strictly official language With "demotic", being the every day Greek language ( of course influenced by katharevousa especially in the written form).