Present-day Cypriot Greek: Will the Dialect Survive?

A lecture by
Stavroula Tsiplakou
Associate Professor of Linguistics; Dean of Arts, Open University of Cyprus

on the occasion of International Greek Language Day
February 10, 2024
10 a.m. Los Angeles / 1 p.m. Washington, D.C. / 8 p.m. Greece & Cyprus

Via Zoom

Messages by
the Honorable Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Georgios Kotsiras
&
the Honorable Secretary General for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy,
Prof. John Chrysoulakis – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece

Opening remarks by
Her Excellency, Ekaterini Nassika,
Ambassador of Greece to the United States
&
His Excellency, Evangelos Savva,
Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the United States

Recent research has shown that the contemporary Cypriot Greek variety is changing because of close contact with Standard Modern Greek: mixed, hybrid structures are emerging which make the pancypriot, koine variety more standard-like; moreover, local subvarieties tend to disappear and be replaced by the koine variety as a result of demographic changes post 1974. However, we are a long way away from full convergence to Standard Greek, and the pancypriot variety displays linguistic vitality. In her talk, Professor Tsiplakou examines some of the reasons why Cypriot Greek does not fully converge with Standard Greek and argues that this is due to both structural and social factors, including the increased local prestige of the dialect.

Stavroula Tsiplakou is Associate Professor of Linguistics, Dean of Arts, and Academic Coordinator of the M.A. program in Greek Linguistics and Literature at the Open University of Cyprus. She holds a B.A. in Greek Literature from the University of Athens, an M.Phil. in Linguistics from the University of Cambridge, and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of London. Her research areas include syntax, pragmatics, text linguistics, sociolinguistics, and educational linguistics. She has published in Lingua, Linguistic Inquiry, Pragmatics, Journal of Pragmatics, and Multilingua, Linguistics and Education. She has co-authored national curricula for language in Cyprus and in Greece and she has produced digital platforms for teaching Greek as a second language.

In case you missed it, please view the video of the presentation below:

The event is held under the auspices of the Embassy of Greece in the United States, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in the United States, the Consulate General of Greece in Los Angeles, and the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Cyprus in Los Angeles. It is cosponsored by Thesaurus Linguae Graecae®. This program is made possible thanks to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).