CYPRIOT GRAMMAR

Υγω -> υκω
Φ -> χ
Φθ -> φτ
Φλ -> βλ
Φρ -> βρ
Χλ -> γλ
Χρ -> γρ
Χ -> φ
Between vowels:
βρ -> ρβ
πρι -> πιρ
κρι -> κιρ
ρ-λ -> λ-ρ
β, γ, δ, σ -> Dropped
Explanation for the changes in pronunciation and aplology of Greekcypriot words
Many fellow Greek Cypriots like many of their mainland Greek counterparts are often obsessed with keeping to the closest Ancient Greek
forms of words. However this does not mean that the Ancient Greek taught in classes all over the world is actually what was spoken by all
Greeks in Ancient times.
In fact the Ancient Greek taught today is itself a Greek dialect, the dialect that Greeks in Attica spoke. And this was simply one of the
many other dialects (Doric, Ionic, Aeolic, Northwestern, Achaean, Macedonian, Homeric, Pamphylia) spoken by Ancient Greeks throughout
the Hellenic world of ancient times. Arcadocypriot, which was spoken both in Cyprus and Arcadia in Peloponnesus, differed considerably
from Attic Greek. However this did not make Arcadocypriot or for that matter any other dialect of ancient Greek any less Greek or ancient
compared to Attic!
Koine Greek whose Greek Cypriot is a dialect was actually the dialect of Ancient Greek spoken by the soldiers of Great Alexander which
later became standard throughout the Hellenic-speaking world and which later (330AD) developed into Medieval Greek, the official
language of the Eastern Roman Empire, which in turn became Modern Greek.
In addition the Greeks of Cyprus influenced by both the Eteocypriot (spoken on the island until the 4 th century BC), Koine Greek and its
extremely strong ties with Egyptians, Persians and Phoenicians (1 in every 17 men in Cyprus has a Phoenician descent) already used
fricative vowels (j, sh, zh) in their dialects even before the foreign rule of Arabs, Venetians, Genoese, Turks, English etc. There are attested
examples of these in ancient scripts.
Moreover Greeks in Cyprus lived under a rather warmer climate than Mainland Greeks with frequent droughts. All languages formed in
warm climates contain a large collection of vowels in their words and fricative consonants which is a strong characteristic of Greek Cypriot.
The reason behind this is that such languages aid in the better ventilation of the body (exhaling warmer air and inhaling colder from the
outside) in response to the warmer climate.
In order for you to understand this better let’s use a practical example. Place your palm under your nose and try saying the following
word ‘heerokteeon’’ (Ancient Greek for glove). Did you feel the slight breeze of air on your palm? Now try saying the word ‘sherofteen’
(Greek Cypriot for glove). The air exhaled for the pronunciation is considerably more which helps for better ventilation in warmer climates
and thus explains why words in Cypriot Greek use fricatives like ‘sh’ instead of ‘h’ and ‘ft’ rather than ‘kt’. For the same reason Greek
Cypriot has retained the original Ancient Greek pronunciation of ππ, λλ, μμ etc (pronounced as double letters) which in Modern Greek did
not survive due to the colder climates while in other cases it dropped single vowels like ‘δ’ (dh) e.g. Παιχνίδι -> παιγνίιν because in order to
pronunounce ‘δ’ you have to stop the circulation of air. Another example of this phenomenon involves the letter ‘θ’. For example the verb
‘θέλω’ (to want) became ‘χιέλω’ and the verb ‘θυμάμαι’ (to remember) became ‘αττυμούμαι’ because it both cases the burst of air is
greater.
The point of this section it to give a logical explanation to the morphological changes words in Greek Cypriot have received and in order
to make it clear that they are not irrational or decayed and especially not pronunciations of uneducated and stupid people. Simply in
warmer climates the part of brain that controls speech is changed accordingly to help with the ventilation under the influence of the
mechanism of environmental adaptation. Therefore these changes are simply natural and have a history. They should be embraced for
what they are and should help us understand that heerokteeon is just as good as sheerofteen. Denying the variations in Ancient Greek is to
deny the asset of diversity of a civilization which came into being from the beginning of its existence.
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