Tsakonian language

Tsakonian
Τσακωνικά Tsakōniká
Spoken in
Region Eastern Peloponnese around Mount Parnon
Total speakers 3,000—4,000 fluent
Language family Indo-European
  • Hellenic
Language codes
ISO 639-1 None
ISO 639-2 ine
ISO 639-3 tsd
Linguasphere
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Tsakonian, Tsaconian, Tzakonian or Tsakonic (Greek: Τσακώνικα) is a Hellenic language, spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece. It is named after its speakers, the 'Tsakonians', which is held to be an alteration of 'Laconians' - although Tsakonians themselves did not traditionally use this ethnonym. It is said to be from Exo-Lakones (meaning outer Lakonians) and morphed to Tsakones.

Contents

Classification

History of the
Greek language
(see also: Greek alphabet)
Proto-Greek
Mycenaean (c. 1600–1100 BC)
Ancient Greek (c. 800–330 BC)
Dialects:
Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, Attic-Ionic,
Doric, Locrian, Pamphylian;
Homeric Greek.
Possibly Macedonian.
Koine Greek (c. 330 BC–330)*
Medieval Greek (330–1453)
Modern Greek (from 1453)
Dialects:
Cappadocian, Cheimarriotika, Cretan,
Cypriot, Demotic, Griko, Katharevousa,
Pontic, Tsakonian, Sarakatsanian, Maniot, Yevanic

*Dates (beginning with Ancient Greek) from Wallace, D. B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. p. 12. ISBN 0310218950. 

Tsakonian derives from Doric Greek.[1]

Geographic distribution

Old ethnic map of Peloponnese. Tsakonian-speaking areas in blue.

Tsakonian is found today in a group of mountain towns and villages slightly inland from the Argolic Gulf, although it was once spoken farther to the south and west as well as on the coasts of Laconia (ancient Sparta). There was formerly a Tsakonian colony on the Sea of Marmara (or Propontis; two villages near Gönen, Vatika and Havoutsi), probably dating from the 18th century, whose members were resettled in Greece with the 1924 population exchanges. Propontis Tsakonian appears to have died out around 1970.

Official status

Tsakonian has no official status. Prayers and liturgies of the Greek Orthodox Church have been translated into Tsakonian, but the ancient Koine of the traditional church services is usually used as in other locations in Greece. Some teaching materials in Tsakonian for use in local schools have reportedly also been produced.[2]

Dialects

Tsakonian is divided by scholars into three dialects, Northern Tsakonian, Southern Tsakonian and Propontis Tsakonian.

Another difference between Tsakonian and the common Demotic Greek dialect is its verb system - Tsakonian preserves different archaic forms, such as participial periphrasis for the present tense. Certain complementisers and other adverbial features present in the standard Modern Greek dialect are absent from Tsakonian, with the exception of the Modern που (pu) relativiser, which takes the form πη (pʰi) in Tsakonian (note: the traditional Tsakonian orthography uses the digraph πφ + η, giving πφη). Noun morphology is broadly similar to Standard Modern Greek, although Tsakonian tends to drop the nominative "s" from masculine nouns, thus Tsakonian ο τσχίφτα for Standard o τρίφτης (o tshifta/o triftis: "grater").

(English/Tsakonian/Greek) "Our language is Tsakonian. Ask and they'll tell you./Groússa námou eíni ta Tsakónika. Rotéete na nioúm'aléoi./E glóssa mas eínai ta Tsakónika. Rotéste na sas poun.", bilingual (Tsakonian and Standard Greek) sign in the town of Leonidio and Tyros Greece.

The Propontis dialect was much more heavily influenced by the modern Thracian dialect and although there were significant grammatical differences, in terms of vocabulary it was much closer to Standard Modern Greek. Compare the Northern and Southern word for water, ύο (io, derived from Ancient Greek ὕδωρ) to Propontic νερέ and Standard νερό (nere, nero).

However, there has always been contact with Koine Greek speakers and the language was affected by the neighboring Greek dialects. Additionally, there are some lexical borrowings from Arvanitika Albanian and Turkish. The core vocabulary remains recognizably Doric, though experts disagree on the extent to which other true Doricisms can be found. There are only a few hundred, mainly elderly true native speakers alive, although there are a great many more who can speak the language less than fluently.

Geographical barriers to travel and communication kept the Tsakonians relatively isolated from the rest of Greece until the 19th century, although there was some trade between the coastal towns. The rise of mass education and improved travel beginning after the Greek War of Independence meant that fluent Tsakonian speakers were no longer as isolated from the rest of Greece and there began a rapid decline from an estimated figure of some 200,000 fluent speakers to the present fluent core estimated in the hundreds.

Derived languages

There are no creole dialects described in the literature, although as noted above, the Propontis dialect is much closer to the standard dialect of Greek than are the other two, and all dialects have been in constant contact with the standard. The northern dialect which in the mid-twentieth century was retreating much faster than its southern cousin, reportedly had a greater affinity to Demotic Greek. An indeterminate number of persons speak Tsakonian less-than fluently, so it is possible that some degree of creolization has taken place.

Since the introduction of electricity to all villages in Tsakonia by the 1970s, the Greek mass media can reach the most remote of areas and profoundly affect the speech of younger speakers. Some efforts to revive the language by teaching it in local schools don't seem to have had much success. Standard Modern Greek is the official language of government, commerce and education, and it appears inevitable that the continued modernization of Tsakonia will lead to the language's disappearance sometime this century.

Sounds

Vowels

A) /a/ can appear as a reflex of Doric /aː/, in contexts where Attic had η /ɛː/ and Modern Greek has /i/: αμέρα /amera/ corresponding to Modern ημέρα /imera/ "day", στρατιώτα /stratiota/ corresponding to Modern στρατιώτης /stratiotis/ "soldier".
Ε) /e/ > /i/ before vowels: e.g. Βασιλήα /vasilia/ instead of βασιλέα /vasilea/.
O) occasionally /o/ > /u/: ουφις /ufis/ < όφις /ofis/ "snake", τθούμα /tʰuma/ < στόμα /stoma/ "mouth". Final /o/ > /e/ after coronals and front vowels: όνος /onos/ > όνε /one/, χοίρος /xyros/> χιούρε /xjure/, γραφτός /ɣraftos/> γραφτέ /ɣrafte/, χρέος /xreos/ > χρίε /xrie/, but δρόμος /ðromos/> δρόμο /ðromo/
Υ) Pronounced in Modern Greek /i/, this was /u/ in Doric and /y/ in Attic. The reflex of this phoneme in Tsakonian is /u/, and /ju/ after coronals (suggesting an origin in /y/). σούκα /suka/ corresponding to Modern σύκα /sika/ "figs", άρτουμα /artuma/ corresponding to άρτυμα /artima/ "bread"; λύκος /lykos/ > λιούκο /ljuko/ [ʎuko] "wolf"
Ω) /ɔː/ in Ancient Greek, regularly goes to /u/: μουρήα /muria/ (Ancient μωρέα /mɔːrea/, Modern μουριά /murja/), αού /au/ < λαλών /lalɔːn/ "speaking".

(Note: Tsakonian citation forms for verbs are participles, hence they are given as derived from the ancient participle in -ών.)

Consonants

Tsakonian in some words preserves the pre-classical Greek w-sound, represented in some Ancient Greek texts by the digamma. In Tsakonian, this sound has become a fricative v: βάννε /vane/ "sheep", corresponding to Ancient ϝαμνός /wamnos/ (Attic ἀμνός).

Tsakonian has extensive changes triggered by palatalisation:

In Southern Tsakonian, /l/ is deleted before back and central vowels: λόγος /loɣos/ > Northern λόγo /loɣo/, Southern όγo /oɣo/; λούζων /luzɔːn/ > Northern λούκχου /lukʰu/, Southern ούκχου /ukʰu/;

Occasionally /θ/ > /s/, which appears to reflect an earlier process in Laconian, but in others /θ/ is retained though the word is absent in Standard Greek: θυγάτηρ /θyɣatir/ > σάτη /sati/, but Ancient θύων /θiɔːn/ (Modern σφάζω /sfazo/) > θύου /θiu/

Word-final /s/ > /r/, which reflects an earlier process in Laconian; in Tsakonian, it is a liaison phoneme: τίνος /tinos/ > τσούνερ /tsuner/

Word-initial /r/ > /ʃ/: *ράφων /rafɔːn/ > σχάφου /ʃafu/

In the common verb ending -zo, /z/ > /nd/ : φωνάζων /fonazɔːn/ > φωνιάντου /foɲandu/

Tsakonian avoids clusters, and reduces them to aspirated or prenasalised stops and affricates:

/z, v/ are added between vowels: μυία, κυανός /myia, kyanos/ > μούζα, κουβάνε /muza, kuvane/

/ɣ, ð/ often drop out between vowels: πόδας, τράγος /poðas, traɣos/ > πούα, τσχάο /pua, tʃao/

Prosody

original song-Tsakonian In Latin characters for pronunciation

Πουλάκι έμα έχα τθο κλουβί τσαί μερουτέ ωι έμα έχα
τάχιγα νι εμα ζάχαρι ποκίχα νι έμα μόσκο,
τσαί από το μόσκο το περσού τσαί από τα μυρωδιά
εσκαντάλιστε το κλουβί τσ' εφύντζε μι τ'αϊδίνι.
Τσ'αφέγκι σι νιε τσυνηγού με το κλουβί τθα τζέρρι.
Έλα πουλί τθο τόπο ωτι έλα τθα κατοιτσία
ω'αλάτσου τα κουδούνια ωτι να βάλου άλλα τσαινούρζα.

Poulaki ema echa t-tho klouvi tse meroute oi ema echa
tachigha ni ema zachari pokicha ema mosko
tse apo to mosko to persu tse apo ta mirodia
eskantaliste to klouvi ts efitze mi taidine.
Tsafegi si ni tsinighou me to klouvi t-tha chera
Ela pouli t-tho topo oti ela t-tha katitsia
o alatsou ta koudhounia oti na valou alla tsenourza.
In modern Greek Modern Greek pronunciation - Latin guideline

Πουλάκι είχα στο κλουβί και μερομένο το είχα.
το τάιζα ζάχαρι και το πότιζα μόσχο
και από τον πολύ τον μόσχο και την μυρωδιά του
εσκανταλίστη και το κλουβί και μου έφυγε τ'αϊδόνι
Κι ο αφέντης το κυνηγάει με το κλουβί στο χέρι:
Έλα πουλί στον τόπο σου, έλα στην κατοικία σου
ν'αλλάξω τα κουδούνια σου να βάλω άλλα καινούργια

Poulaki icha sto klouvi ke meromeno to icha
to taiza zachari ke to potiza moscho
ke apo ton poli ton moscho ke tin mirodia tou
eskantalisti le to klouvi ke mou efyghe taidoni.
ke o afegis to kinigai me to klouvi sto cheri
Ela pouli ston topo sou, ela stin katikia sou
Nallaxo ta koudounia sou na valo alla kenourgia.
English translation

I had a bird in a cage and I kept it happy
I gave it sugar and wine-grapes
and from the great amount of grapes and their essence,
it got naughty (possibly means it got drunk) and escaped.
And its master now runs after it with the cage in his hands:
Come my bird back where you belong, come to your house
I will remove your old bells and buy you new ones.

Phonotactics

Tsakonian avoids consonant clusters, as seen, and drops final /s/ and /n/; as a result, syllable structure tends more to CV than in Standard Modern Greek. (The use of digraphs in tradition spelling tends to obscure this). For instances, ancient /hadros/ "hard" goes to Tsakonian /a.tʃe/, where /tʃ/ can be considered a single phoneme; it is written traditionally with a trigraph as ατσχέ (= atskhe).

Grammar

Tsakonian has undergone considerable morphological simplification: there is minimal case inflection.

The present and imperfect indicative in Tsakonian are formed with participles, like English but unlike the rest of Greek: ενεί αού, έμα αού "I am listening, I was listening" < εινί ναού, έμα ναού

Writing system

Traditionally, Tsakonian used the standard Greek alphabet, along with digraphs to represent certain sounds which either do not occur in Demotic Greek, or which do not commonly occur in combination with the same sounds as they do in Tsakonian. For example, the "sh" sound, which does not occur in standard Greek, does in Tsakonian, and is spelled "σχ" (much like German sch). Another sound recalls Czech ř. Prof. Thanasis Costakis invented an orthography using dots, spiritus asper, and caron for use in his works, which has been used in his grammar and several other works. This is more like the Czech usage of haceks (such as š). Lastly, unpalatalized n and l before a front vowel can be written double, to contrast with a palatalised single letter. (e.g. in Southern Tsakonian ένι [eɲi] "he is", έννι [eni] "I am" -- the latter corresponding to Northern Tsakonian έμι [emi] and Standard Greek είμαι [ime].)

  Representing Tsakonian sounds. Sources: Nicholas, Houpis, Costakis
Digraphs Costakis IPA
σχ σ̌ ʃ
τσχ σ̓ tʃ
ρζ ρζ rʒ
τθ τ̒ tʰ
κχ κ̒ kʰ
πφ π̒ pʰ
τζ (Κ) τζ ̌ - τζ & τρζ ̌ – τρζ
(Λ) τζ ̌ - τζ		 (K) tɕ, trʒ
(L) tɕ d͡ʒ
νν ν̇ n (not ɲ)
λλ λ̣ l (not ʎ)
*Note: (K) is for the northern dialect of Kastanitsa & Sitaina, (Λ) and (L) for the southern which is spoken around Leonidio and Tyros.

Examples

English Modern Greek Tsakonian (Greek alphabet) Tsakonian (Latin alphabet) Tsakonian (Costakis Notation)
Where is my room? Πού είναι το δωμάτιό μου; Κιά έννι τθο όντα νι; Ciá éñi o óda ni? κιά έν̇ι τ̒ο όντα νι;
Where is the beach? Πού είναι η παραλία; Κιά έννι τθο περιγιάλλι; Ciá éñi to perigiálli? κιά έν̇ι α περιγιάλ̣ι;
Where is the bar? Πού είναι το μπαρ; Κιά έννι τθο μπαρ; Ciá éñi to bar? κιά έν̇ι τ̒ο μπαρ;
Don't touch me there! Μη μ' αγγίζεις εκεί! Μη' μ' αντζίτζερε όρπα! Mē' m'adzíchere órpa! Μαν με ατζ ̌ίτζερρε όρπα!

See also

References

  1. ↑ Linguist List
  2. ↑ P. Trudgill, D. Schreier (2006): Greece and Cyprus. In: U. Ammon (ed.), Sociolinguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

External links

Sources