CYPRIOT GRAMMAR

Chapter 16: Present Tense – Ενεστώτας (1)
Cypriot has a rich system of verbs and tenses since it has been influenced greatly by Ancient, Medieval and Modern Greek during which
verbs and their endings changed to a degree. There are three types of verbs, two voices: Active and Passive, 11 Tenses, three Imperative
forms and many more. However I will try and present to you all this complex system in the easiest way possible.
Like I said before there are three main types of Cypriot verbs, -α, –εις and -μαι. They are classified as such because of their endings when
conjugated. It is hard to distinguish to which cateogory a verb belongs, since Cypriot has long stop using the Indefinite form, a form of
verbs with a root ending, and instead simply uses the first person singular of each verb in the present tense. However there are specific
final syllables which give us a hint.
In this chapter we shall be covering the Present Tense and at the same time the first category of verbs.
16.1 1 st Category –εις
This category contains the largest number of verbs of Cypriot or atleast the most common. It is fairly easy to spot which verbs belong to
this category although there are of course some which need to be learned individually. The easiest way to spot these verbs is to see
whether there is a tone mark over the Omega. If there is none then the verb belongs to this category. Note that the verbs ending is -ρώ
also belong to this category. Below are the most common suffixes of verbs which belong to the 1 st category.
The verbs in this category take the following adverbial endings:
ΕΝΝΙΚΟΣ________ ΠΛΥΧΗΝΝΤΙΚΟΣ
Greek___________English
Pers.Pr.__Verb____Pers.Pr.___Verb
Εγιώνι___-ω__Εμείς___-ομεν/-ουμεν
Εσούνι__-εις__Εσείς___-ετε
Τούτος__-ει__Τούτοι__-ουσιν/-ουν
Τούτη___-ει__Τούτες__-ουσιν/-ουν
Τούτον__-ει__Τούτα__-ουσιν/-ουν
You simply take the verb in its form in the 1 st person singular, drop the omega and add the above endings according to number and person.
16.1.1 –ύκω/-φκω
The above suffixes are homophones; they are pronunounced the same way but are spelt differently due to different ancient roots.
Example
Φιλεύκω = To treat/make friends with
ΕΝΝΙΚΟΣ________ ΠΛΥΧΗΝΝΤΙΚΟΣ
Greek___________English
Pers.Pr.__Verb____Pers.Pr.___Verb
Εγιώνι___φιλεύκω__Εμείς___φιλεύκομεν/φιλεύκουμεν
Εσούνι__φιλεύκεις__Εσείς___φιλεύκετε
Τούτος__φιλεύκει__Τούτοι__φιλεύκουσιν/φιλεύκουν
Τούτη___φιλεύκει__Τούτες__φιλεύκουσιν/φιλεύκουν
Τούτον__φιλεύκει__Τούτα__φιλεύκουσιν/φιλεύκουν
(I&you treat, he/she/it treats, we/you/they treat)
As you can see this verb is conjugated in a similar way as ‘έχω’
–ύκω examples
Δουλεύκω (to work), κουρσεύκω (to loot/steal), παντρεύκω (to marry sb), πλανεύκω (to wander), παιδεύκω (to trouble sb), σακκατεύκω
(to cripple sb), σημαεύκω (to aim), σ’ηρεύκω (to be widowed), συμπεθθερεύκω (to become relatives with the parents of your child’s
spouse), σκαρτεύκω (to render something useless), στενεύκω (to narrow), συγγενεύκω (to become relatives with sb), συνορεύκω (to
border), μαννεύκω (to become dummer), στροντζ’υλεύκω (to round up), ττερπιζεύκω (to behave inappropriately), τουρτρζ’εύκω (to
become a turk), φεύκω (to leave), φρονιμεύκω (to behave), φυτεύκω (to plant), χαεύκω (to pet/caress), χαντεύκω (to become dummer),
χορεύκω (to dance), χωραττεύκω (to joke), χρησιμεύκω (to use), ψαρεύκω (to fish), τελέυκω.
-φκω examples
Θάφκω (to bury), κόφκω (to cut) λείφκω (to run out yourself), νίφκω (to wash your face), πάφκω (to stop), ράφκω (to sow), ρίφκω (to
throw), ξηλείφκω (to eradicate).
16.1.2 –ώννω, -άννω, -ήννω, -ύννω, -ίννω, -αίννω, -ούννω
Example
Πκιορώννω = To pay
ΕΝΝΙΚΟΣ________ ΠΛΥΧΗΝΝΤΙΚΟΣ
Greek___________English
Pers.Pr.__Verb_____Pers.Pr.___Verb
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