On our island where at noon it still smells of jasmine and mint, where a bright sun always illuminates us, offering a view of the endless blue of the sky…
Something very beautiful also stands out: our language. The Greek language and our Cypriot dialect, our local dialect with the many foreign influences.
Most of us are very proud of our Greek language, which is the oldest language in the world and according to the Guinness Book of Records in 1990, it is the richest language in the world with 5 million words. However, it is also our Cypriot dialect (a variation of the Greek language) that is considered by historians to be the only truly living Greek dialect. It is the one that our ancestors left us as a legacy. Great Cypriot poets, Michaelides, Lipertis, Carneras and so many others expressed and wrote wonderful poems with her. The Tsiatistas (improvised poetic creations of instant inspiration, mostly of a competitive nature) that came out of the soul of our people, singers and poets managed to keep our language alive, our Cypriot dialect.
Where did he first appear?
The real Cypriot dialect appears for the first time in the folk songs (To Trauin tou Digenis, I Arodafnousa, O Pramateftis, I Triantaphylleni, Pertika, etc), which it is not known who or who inspired them, nor when exactly they were composed: it is estimated that crystallized from the middle of the Byzantine period until the end of the Venetian occupation.
However, the Cypriot dialect has been and still is a subject of intense discussion and disagreement.
Questions answered by our compatriots:
Are we proud of our language? Does the Cypriot dialect ever make us feel uncomfortable?
Do we love the Cypriot dialect, our strange words? Does the double "ππ" "νν" sound beautiful aesthetically?
Why do many Cypriots when they go to Greece prefer to speak English instead of Greek? Do we feel bad because we do not know how we sound when we "forget" and speak Cypriot?
Answers:
Andreas: "Of course we are proud of the Cypriot dialect and when we refer to the Cypriot dialect we do not mean the supposed Cypriot spoken by some today which is a mixture of Greek, English and various words that come out of nowhere, we refer to the dialect we inherited from our ancestors! The Cypriot dialect plays a huge role in preserving our identity, which is why we must respect and protect it! In private discussions, as long as all participants can understand it, we use it without feeling at all uncomfortable! When the Cypriot dialect is used correctly and aesthetically nice it is and facilitates our communication! Now, as far as the use of public speech is concerned, the common modern Greek must be limited and used, although many times public figures borrow words from the Cypriot dialect as a communication tool ".
Emilia: "The truth that sometimes the Cypriot dialect puts us in a difficult position σύμφωνα According to us, these people sometimes reduce us as if it is something strange and we do not live in Cyprus… They may call you a villager because you just speak the Cypriot dialect… Although it does not sound so beautiful in terms of aesthetics, but you can not easily change your way and place of life! "
George: "Whether we are proud or not - rather proud of the purely preserved Homeric elements of our dialect - this is our dialect and we should know it consciously and with education as an element of our identity. At the same time, we should not use it in a way that makes our communication with others difficult, that is, we should not consider it a shame to use the common modern Greek in public speech ".
Andri: "The Cypriot dialect survives over the years with the necessary changes, remaining rich and expressive. It is a strong link to our history, tradition, manners and customs. An indisputable element of our local identity and our cultural path. It is no exaggeration to say that our dialect is a phenomenon that activates the research interest of well-known linguists.
Words beginning with a double consonant are characterized by researchers as a rare phenomenon, as something similar is recorded in very few languages. Of course, our dialect cannot be subject to lifestyle rules or treated with the lens of aesthetics - as we mean it today. The Cypriot dialect is in no way in conflict with the common Greek but one complements the other and as living organisms evolve and express our life.
So we can only be proud of our dialect, without feeling complex or disadvantaged - in such a case we enter a vicious circle of useless conflict with our history, with our own existence and our experiences ".
Georgia: "We are very proud of our language and we should not feel uncomfortable, after all, the Cypriot language should be heard with so many foreigners that Cyprus is full. "Some newly rich people feel uncomfortable."
Alexis: "I am proud and I do not feel uncomfortable at all. I am in Cyprus and I am very proud "
Christina: "I believe every people should be proud of their language because it is part of their heritage. Some may feel uncomfortable listening to the most "heavy" dialect, but this is what reminds us of our past. I would not say that our dialect sounds good or bad, but that it has its own grace like any other language ".
Andriani: "Yes! We are proud of our language. I do not feel at all uncomfortable on the contrary, I feel beautiful when I speak Cypriot ".
Paul: “We are proud of our language and more proud of our dialect. We must all accept each other's language and where the other person cannot understand it, give him the closest explanation. All of Greece is a language but in every region you go they have a different dialect ".
Antonis: "They gave me the Greek language in the house on the poor sandy beaches of Homer. And the Cypriot ancient Greek is not to be misunderstood, I believe ".
Andreas: "We are proud because it is a dialect that, in addition to being very rich in words, also sounds beautiful, sung. Even the bird, the mannos and enna, have their beauty ".
Antonis: "Of course we are proud of our language. Let us not forget that linguists claim that it has much in common with the Byzantine language and Byzantine vocabulary. The Cypriot language has and is a whole history which is based on the peoples and cultures that conquered us over the years. This is what makes the Cypriot language so special and unique. A simple analysis of the Cypriot language and one can understand the number of peoples who conquered us. Greek, Turkish, Italian and Arabic ".
Kleoniki: "We are proud! It is our tradition, our history, our way of free expression! There may be times when we feel a little but it depends on where you are and with whom. "Personally, I do not consider 'ππ', 'λλ' and 'νν' to be unsightly".
George: "We are definitely proud of our Greek language. But this patchwork of the Cypriot dialect from Turkish Arabic, Italian and other languages is not the best. Watching this turn of television in many Cypriot works. In a little while the younger generations will not be able to communicate with the Greeks. Yes! "I started to feel very uncomfortable."
Christos: "I am not a linguist but I am proud to speak both the modern Greek and the Cypriot dialect. I do not feel uncomfortable when I speak to her, nor does she sound bad aesthetically.
Anastasia: "I personally am proud of the Cypriot language we speak… For me the" ππ "sounds" λλ "" νν "and I do not feel uncomfortable".
Antonis: "No, I do not feel uncomfortable at all, I like it and I speak it without being ashamed".
Christos: "I am extremely proud of my language since it is one of the oldest. If you happen to read Vassilis Michailidis, are you ashamed? I do not think".
Anastasia: "I am proud but several times I feel uncomfortable with my accent. I prefer to speak squidly as we say… Ha ha and my daughter also when she started talking and we had gone to Greece…. He was shocked and made remarks to us why we should speak in a rural way ".
Katerina: I really like the Cypriot dialect and I often use it in writing. "Sometimes I can say a Cypriot word and they tell me not to say it like that but I always answer that this is our language and I am very proud to be Cypriot and I speak Cypriot".
Barbara: "Personally, although I have Greek roots, I feel very proud of the peculiarities of the Cypriot dialect and that is why I do not violate them at all during my speech."
Sotiroula: "I do not feel at all uncomfortable when I use the Cypriot dialect, I am just obliged, due to my profession, to use more common modern Greek. Our inspectors prefer not to use it in the classroom, which forces me not to use it so much, due to habit. Nevertheless, I do not feel ashamed at all. The double "ππ" "λλ" "νν" does not sound bad aesthetically, because that is how it should sound. It is correct, at least in most of the words we use, since it comes from ancient Greek. Someone who knows the grammar of Ancient Greek would say that this is how these words should be said. If we remove the double consonants, the meaning and time of a word or a verb often change ".
George: "No, I'm not proud of our language and yes, sometimes the Cypriot dialect makes us feel uncomfortable. The double "ππ" "λλ" "νν" sounds fine ".
Luis: "We are always proud of our language and I have never felt uncomfortable with the Cypriot dialect. The double "ππ" "λλ" "νν" sounds beautiful ".
Andreas: "Yes, we are proud of our language and I do not feel uncomfortable with the Cypriot dialect. It depends on each of us. I personally feel beautiful with the double "ππ" "λλ" and "νν" that I hear and I feel very nice that foreigners try to say it especially the Greeks ".
Giannos: "I feel proud of our Cypriot dialect and nothing bothers me about it. It is our roots and our history through the centuries! When I'm among people who do not understand our dialect, I just use the vernacular. It is a pity that young people today do not even know the Cypriot dialect but neither do they know how to write the Greek language correctly and that is why they resort to the awful greeklish ".
Source: ant1iwo.com