A Small Island With Big Differences? Folk Perceptions in the Context of Dialect Levelling and Koineization

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the first study within a perceptual dialectology framework in the Greek-speaking community in Cyprus. Thirty participants from three age groups of equal size took part in a sociolinguistic interview. As part of the language module component of the interview, they discussed their beliefs about regional variation in Cyprus and completed the so-called ‘draw-a-map task’. All participants were residents of urban areas of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. The Greek-speaking community in Cyprus is diglossic: Standard Modern Greek is the High variety, while Cypriot Greek—the mother tongue of Greek Cypriots—is the Low variety. The latter is currently undergoing levelling of marked local basilect features and subvarieties. A quantitative analysis of the maps demonstrates that some areas in Cyprus (mainly in the periphery) have a stronger sociolinguistic salience than others. At the same time, the participants’ own way of speaking is perceived as unmarked, neutral and one that enjoys wider acceptance over other regional dialects. This study also shows a clear preference for characterizing a (presumed) dialect area with linguistic characteristics, rather than with evaluative commentary contra many similar studies in the literature and suggests a number of reasons why this may be so. Overall, this research shows how studies on language perception can inform and complement studies on language production in a given community. The participants drew an average of just four regional areas on their maps and viewed the different cities and their districts, or combinations thereof, as the different regional dialect areas they perceive to exist in Cyprus. It is argued in this paper that the small number of areas drawn and the emphasis on urban sites are consistent with regional dialect levelling. Consistent with regional dialect levelling is also the finding that the participants’ linguistic description of regional variation, while mainly accurate, is superficial and lacks detail. Interestingly, many of the participants also seem to be well aware of regional dialect levelling in their community. Other studies in the literature do not really discuss speakers’ awareness of levelling and this should be further explored in future studies.

Adaptation of The Scenario Test for Greek‐speaking people with aphasia: A reliability and validity study

“…Standard Modern Greek is the socio-linguistically High variety in Cyprus which is acquired at school, and it is the variety people use in formal written and oral communication. Cypriot Greek, which is the mother tongue of Greek Cypriots, is the Low variety and is used in informal interactions (Fotiou & Grohmann, 2022). For this reason, the test manual and scoring sheets were translated into Standard Modern Greek by an academic linguist from the Linguistics Department of the University of Cyprus and then back-translated into English by the two main authors (MC and MK), with excellent correspondence to the original source.…”

“…Adapting and validating The Scenario Test‐GR involved translating and adapting the test manual (administration instructions on how to score and interpret responses) and the scoring sheets of The Scenario Test UK (Hilari et al., 2018) into Standard Modern Greek. Standard Modern Greek is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Cyprus (the other being Turkish) (Fotiou & Grohmann, 2022). Specifically, ‘the Greek‐speaking community in Cyprus is diglossic: Standard Modern Greek is the High variety, while Cypriot Greek—the mother tongue of Greek Cypriots—is the Low variety’ (Fotiou & Grohmann, 2022: 1).…”

“…Standard Modern Greek is one of the two official languages of the Republic of Cyprus (the other being Turkish) (Fotiou & Grohmann, 2022). Specifically, ‘the Greek‐speaking community in Cyprus is diglossic: Standard Modern Greek is the High variety, while Cypriot Greek—the mother tongue of Greek Cypriots—is the Low variety’ (Fotiou & Grohmann, 2022: 1). Standard Modern Greek is the socio‐linguistically High variety in Cyprus which is acquired at school, and it is the variety people use in formal written and oral communication.…”

Adaptation of the Aphasia Impact Questionnaire-21 into Greek: A Reliability and Validity Study

“…Adapting and validating the AIQ-21-GR involved translating and adapting the test manual from English into Greek, including instructions on administration, the scripts, the scoring sheet, and the consent forms. Standard Modern Greek (Greek) is the native language of Greeks living in Greece and is acquired at school in Cyprus, as it is the variety used in formal oral and written communication [39]. Cypriot Greek, a dialect of Standard Modern Greek, is the mother tongue of Greek Cypriots and is used in informal interactions [39].…”

“…Standard Modern Greek (Greek) is the native language of Greeks living in Greece and is acquired at school in Cyprus, as it is the variety used in formal oral and written communication [39]. Cypriot Greek, a dialect of Standard Modern Greek, is the mother tongue of Greek Cypriots and is used in informal interactions [39]. For this reason, all materials were translated and adapted into Standard Modern Greek to serve clinicians in both Greek-speaking countries.…”