| Pontic Greek | |
| Nativename: | ποντιακά, ρωμαίικα |
| Region: | originally the Pontus on the Black Sea coast; Greece, Russia, Georgia, and Turkey |
| Speakers: | 778,000 |
| Date: | 2009–2015 |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Hellenic |
| Fam3: | Attic–Ionic |
| Dia1: |
|
| Script: | Greek, Latin, Cyrillic |
| Iso3: | pnt |
| Lingua: | 56-AAA-aj |
| Glotto: | pont1253 |
| Glottorefname: | Pontic |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Map: | Lang Status 60-DE.svg |
| Ethnicity: | Pontic Greeks |
Pontic Greek (Ρωμαίικα|translit=Rhomaiika, Greek, Modern (1453-);: Ποντιακά|translit=Pontiaka; Turkish: Rumca or Romeika)[1] [2] is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, and the Eastern Turkish and Caucasus region. An endangered Greek language variety,[3] Pontic Greek is spoken by about 778,000 people worldwide, who are known as Pontic or Pontian Greeks.[4]
Like nearly all of Greek varieties spoken today, the linguistic lineage of Pontic Greek stems from the Hellenistic Koine, itself based on Attic–Ionic Greek, which later developed into the Byzantine Greek of the Middle Ages. Following its geographic isolation from the rest of the Greek–speaking world, Pontic continued to develop separately along with other Anatolian Greek dialects, like Cappadocian, from the 11th century onwards.[5] As a result, Pontic Greek is not completely mutually intelligible with the standard Demotic Greek spoken in mainland Greece today.[6] [7] [8] [9] Pontic also contains influences from Russian, Turkish, Kartvelian (namely Laz and Georgian) and Armenian.
Today, Pontians live predominantly in Northern Greece, following the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Out of their total population, around 200,000–300,000 are considered active Pontic speakers.[10] Pontic Greek is also spoken in Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Kazakhstan, as well as by the Pontic diaspora. It remains spoken in pockets of the Pontus region, mostly by Pontic Greek Muslims in the eastern districts of Trabzon Province. Pontic is primarily written in the Greek script; the Latin script is sporadically used in Turkey, while the Cyrillic alphabet is rarely used in Russia and former Soviet countries.
Pontic Greek is classified as an Indo-European, Greek language of the Attic-Ionic branch.
Historically, the speakers of Pontic Greek referred to their language as Romeika, also spelled in Latin as Romeyka (Ρωμαίικα); a historical and colloquial term also used for the Modern Greek language as a whole. Originating in Byzantine times, the term reflects the identification of the Greek–speaking Byzantine subjects as Rhomaioi (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ῥωμαῖοι) and the Medieval Greek language as Rhomaikḗ (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ῥωμαική). The term "Pontic" originated in scholarly usage, but it has been adopted as a mark of identity by Pontic Greeks living in Greece, where the language is commonly called Pontiaká .[11] Pontians also refer to their language as Ποντιακόν λαλίαν Pontiakón lalían and at times as Λαζικά Laziká. The variety is also called Greek, Modern (1453-);: Ποντιακή διάλεκτος Pontiakḗ diálektos in standard modern Greek.
In Turkish, there is no special name for Pontic Greek; it is called Turkish: Rumca (pronounced as /[ˈɾumd͡ʒa]/), derived from the Turkish word Rum, denoting Byzantine Greeks.[12] [13] Nowadays, Pontic speakers living in Turkey call their language Romeyka, Turkish: Urumce, Turkish: Rumca or Rumcika.
Similar to most modern Greek dialects, Pontic Greek is mainly derived from Koine Greek, which was spoken in the Hellenistic and Roman times between the 4th century BC and the 4th century AD. Following the Seljuk invasion of Asia Minor during the 11th century AD, Pontus became isolated from many of the regions of the Byzantine Empire.[14] The Pontians remained somewhat isolated from the mainland Greeks, causing Pontic Greek to develop separately and distinctly from the rest of the mainland Greek.[15] However, the language has also been influenced by the nearby Persian, Caucasian, and Turkish languages.
Greek linguist Manolis Triantafyllidis has divided the Pontic of Turkey into two groups:
Speakers of Chaldiot were the most numerous. In phonology, some varieties of Pontic are reported to demonstrate vowel harmony, a well-known feature of Turkish (Mirambel 1965).
Outside Turkey one can distinguish:
The inhabitants of the Of valley who had converted to Islam in the 17th century remained in Turkey and have partly retained the Pontic language until today.[16] [17] [18] [19] Their dialect, which forms part of the Trapezountiac subgroup, is called "Ophitic" by linguists, but speakers generally call it Romeika. As few as 5,000 people are reported to speak it.[20] [21] There are however estimates that show the real number of the speakers as considerably higher.[22] Speakers of Ophitic/Romeyka are concentrated in the eastern districts of Trabzon province: Çaykara (Katohor), Dernekpazarı (Kondu), Sürmene (Sourmena) and Köprübaşı (Göneşera). Although less widespread, it is still spoken in some remote villages of the Of district itself. It is also spoken in the western İkizdere (Dipotamos) district of Rize province. Historically the dialect was spoken in a wider area, stretching further east to the port town of Pazar (Athina).
Ophitic has retained the infinitive, which is present in Ancient Greek but has been lost in other variants of Modern Greek (except Italiot Greek); it has therefore been characterized as "archaic" or conservative (even in relation to other Pontic dialects) and as the living language that is closest to Ancient Greek. Because a majority of the population of these districts converted to Islam during the 17th to 19th centuries, some Arabic and Turkish loanwords have been adopted in the language. According to Vahit Tursun, writer of the Romeika-Turkish dictionary, loanwords from the neighboring Laz speakers of Rize province are strikingly absent in the Romeika vocabulary of Trabzon natives.
A very similar dialect is spoken by descendants of Christians from the Of valley (especially from Kondu) now living in Greece in the village of Nea Trapezounta, Pieria, Central Macedonia, with about 400 speakers.[23] [24] [25]
Though Pontic was originally spoken on the southern shores of the Black Sea, from the 18th and 19th century and on substantial numbers migrated into the northern and eastern shores, into the Russian Empire. Pontic is still spoken by large numbers of people in Ukraine, mainly in Mariupol, but also in other parts of Ukraine such as the Odesa and Donetsk region, in Russia (around Stavropol) and Georgia. The language enjoyed some use as a literary medium in the 1930s, including a school grammar (Topkharas 1998 [1932]).
After the massacres of the 1910s, the majority of speakers remaining in Asia Minor were subject to the Treaty of Lausanne population exchange, and were resettled in Greece (mainly northern Greece). A second wave of migration occurred in the early 1990s, this time from countries of the former Soviet Union.[26]
In urban areas in Greece the language is no longer spoken in daily life but in villages and towns with more homogeneous Pontic population, located mostly in the northern part of country, the language is still in active daily usage. Many radio stations broadcast in the Pontic language, and many associations exist for its safeguard.
In Greece, Pontic has no official status, like all other Greek dialects.
Historically, Pontic Greek was the de facto language of the Greek minority in the USSR, although in the Greek, Modern (1453-);: Πανσυνδεσμιακή Σύσκεψη (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Pansyndesmiakí Sýskepsi, All-Union Conference) of 1926, organised by the Greek–Soviet intelligentsia, it was decided that Demotic should be the official language of the community.[30]
Later revival of Greek identity in the Soviet Union and post-Communist Russia saw a renewed division on the issue of Rumaiic versus Demotic. A new attempt to preserve a sense of ethnic Rumaiic identity started in the mid-1980s. The Ukrainian scholar Andriy Biletsky created a new Slavonic alphabet, but though a number of writers and poets make use of this alphabet, the population of the region rarely uses it.[31]
The language has a rich oral tradition and folklore and Pontic songs are particularly popular in Greece. There is also some limited production of modern literature in Pontic, including poetry collections (among the most renowned writers is Kostas Diamantidis), novels, and translated Asterix comic albums.[32] The youth often speak standard Greek as their first language. The use of Pontic has been maintained more by speakers in North America than it has in Greece.
Pontic, in Greece, is written in the Greek alphabet, with diacritics:
Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: σ̌ ζ̌ ξ̌ ψ̌ for pronounced as //ʃ ʒ kʃ pʃ//, Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: α̈ ο̈ for pronounced as /[æ ø]/ (phonological pronounced as //ia io//). Pontic, in Turkey, is written in the Latin alphabet following Turkish conventions. In Russia, it is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. In early Soviet times, Pontic was written in the Greek alphabet phonetically, as shown below, using digraphs instead of diacritics; pronounced as /[æ ø]/ were written out as Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ια, Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ιο. The Pontic Wikipedia uses Greek script: it has adopted εα, εο for these vowels, to avoid clashes with Modern Greek ια, ιο, and uses digraphs from the Soviet system instead of diacritics, but otherwise follows historical orthography.| Greek alphabet | Turkish alphabet | Latin-English alphabet | Cyrillic alphabet | IPA | Example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Α α | A a | A a | А а | pronounced as /link/ | ρωμαίικα, romeyika, romejika, ромейика | |
| Β β | V v | Bb/Vv/Ww | В в | pronounced as /link/ | κατηβαίνω, kativeno, katibënô, кативено | |
| Γ γ | Ğ ğ | G g | Г г | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | γανεύω, ğanevo, ganeyô, ганево | |
| Δ δ | DH dh | D d | Д д | pronounced as /link/ | δόντι, dhonti, dónti, донти | |
| Ε ε | E e | E e | Е е | pronounced as /link/ | εγάπεσα, eğapesa, egápesa, егапеса | |
| Ζ ζ | Z z | Z z | З з | pronounced as /link/ | ζαντός, zantos, zantóſ, зантос | |
| Θ θ | TH th | Þ þ | С с, Ф ф, Т т | pronounced as /link/ | θέκω, theko, þékô, теко | |
| Ι ι | İ i | I i | И и | pronounced as /link/ | οσπιτόπον, ospitopon, ospitópon, оспитопон | |
| Κ κ | K k | K k | К к | pronounced as /link/ | καλάτσ̌εμαν, kalaçeman, kalácheman, калачеман | |
| Λ λ | L l | L l | Л л | pronounced as /link/ | λαλία, lalia, lalía, лалиа | |
| Μ μ | M m | M m | М м | pronounced as /link/ | μάνα, mana, mána, мана | |
| Ν ν | N n | N n | Н н | pronounced as /link/ | ολίγον, oliğоn, olígon, олигон | |
| Ο ο | O o | O o | О о | pronounced as /link/ | τ'εμέτερον, themeteron, þeméteron, ҭеметерон | |
| Π π | P p | Pp | П п | pronounced as /link/ | εγάπεσα, eğapesa, egápesa, егапеса | |
| Ρ ρ | R r | R r | Р р | pronounced as /link/ | ρωμαίικα, romeyika, romejika, ромейка | |
| Σ ς | S s | S s | С с | pronounced as /link/ | ασπαλώ, aspalo, aspalō, аспalо | |
| Χ̌ χ̌ | Ş ş | SH sh | Ш ш | pronounced as /link/ | χ̌έριν, şerin, shérin, шерин | |
| Τ τ | T t | T t | Т т | pronounced as /link/ | νόστιμεσσα, nostimesa, nóstimesa, ностимеса | |
| ΤΖ̌ τζ̌ | C c | C c | Ц ц | pronounced as /link/ | κεμεντζ̌ έ, kemence, kemencé, кemenце | |
| ΤΣ τς | Ç ç | CH ch | Ч ч | pronounced as /link/ | μανίτσα, maniça, manícha, манича | |
| Υ υ | U u | Uu/Yy | У у | pronounced as /link/ | υίαν, uian, uían, уи́aн | |
| Φ φ | F f | F f | Ф ф | pronounced as /link/ | έμορφα, emorfa, émopfa,.эморфа | |
| Χ χ | Hh, KHkh | Hh/Xx | Х х | pronounced as /link/ | χάσον, hason, háson, хасон |
The following are features of Pontic Greek which have been retained from early forms of Greek, in contrast to the developments of Modern Greek.
| Pontic | Ancient | |
| ειπείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: εἰπεῖν | |
| παθείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: παθεῖν | |
| αποθανείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀποθανεῖν | |
| πιείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: πιεῖν | |
| ειδείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: εἰδεῖν | |
| φυείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: φυγεῖν | |
| ευρείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: εὑρεῖν | |
| καμείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: καμεῖν | |
| φαείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: φαγεῖν | |
| μαθείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: μαθεῖν | |
| ερθέανε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐλθεῖν | |
| μενείνε | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: μένειν |
| Pontic | Ancient | |
| ανεβήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀναβῆναι | |
| κατεβήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: καταβῆναι | |
| εμπήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐμβῆναι | |
| εβγήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐκβῆναι | |
| επιδεαβήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀποδιαβῆναι | |
| κοιμεθήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κοιμηθῆναι | |
| χτυπεθήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κτυπηθῆναι | |
| ευρεθήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: εὑρεθῆναι | |
| βρασήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: βραχῆναι | |
| ραήναι | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ῥαγῆναι |
| Pontic | Ancient | |
| κράξειν | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: κράξαι | |
| μεθύσειν | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: μεθύσαι |
| Pontic | Ancient | |
| εδώκα | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἔδωκα | |
| εντώκα | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐνέδωκα | |
| εποίκα | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἐποίηκα | |
| εφήκα | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἀφῆκα | |
| εθήκα | Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ἔθηκα |
| Pontic | Ancient | |
| ερθέανε | ἐλθεῖν |