Does convergence generate stability?

The case of the Cypriot Greek koiné

Stavroula Tsiplakou

The diglossic situation between Cypriot and Standard Modern Greek is still a long way from being resolved; claims to the contrary often rest on the consideration of some structural properties of the emergent Cypriot Greek koiné, which are, arguably, of a ‘mixed’ nature, thereby pointing to a significant degree of convergence with Standard Modern Greek. Based on a host of naturalistic data as well as data collected quantitatively, I show that (a) convergence of the Cypriot Greek koiné to Standard Greek is only partial, as convergence qua structural mixing is mostly achieved through (surface) morphological, as well as lexical, choices, and that (b) the salient aspects of such convergence allow for the Cypriot Greek koiné to emerge as a relatively stable linguistic variety acting as a robust ‘buffer’ against contact-induced de-dialectization as a result of its relatively high (c)overt, prestige among Cypriot Greek speakers, which is, in turn, due to is perceived, if not actual, convergence with the Standard.

Published online: 26 November 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.16.08tsi

References

Arvaniti, A.

2010 Linguistic practices in Cyprus and the emergence of Cypriot Standard Greek. Mediterranean Language Review 17: 15–45.

Braunmüller, K.

2009 Converging genetically related languages: Endstation code mixing? In Convergence and Divergence in Language Contact Situations [(Hamburg Studies on Multilingualism 8], K. Braunmüller & J. House (eds), 53–69. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Contosopoulos, N.

1969 Συμβολή εις την μελέτην της κυπριακής διαλέκτου. [A contribution to the study of the Cypriot dialect]. Επετηρίς του Κέντρου Επιστημονικών Ερευνών [Yearbook of the Scientific Research Center] 3: 87–109.

Gryllia, S. & Lekakou, M.

2007 Clefts in Cypriot Greek. Μελέτες για την Ελληνική Γλώσσα [Studies in Greek Linguistics]27: 136–148. Thessaloniki: Institute for Modern Greek Studies – Manolis Triantafyllidis Foundation.

Hadjioannou, X., Tsiplakou, S. & Kappler, M.

2011 Language policy and language planning in Cyprus. Current Issues in Language Planning 12: 503–569.

Heine, B. & Kuteva, T.

2005 Language Contact and Grammatical Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kappler, M. & Tsiplakou, S

. In press. The subjunctive in Cypriot Turkish and Cypriot Greek: A case of dialect contact?In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Turkic Linguistics, É. Csató, B. Karakoç & A. Menz (eds) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Lipski, J.M.

2009 “Fluent dysfluency” as congruent lexicalization: A special case of radical code-mixing. Journal of Language Contact 2: 1–39.

Mackridge, P.

2009 Language and National Identity in Greece 1766–1976. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Melissaropoulou, D., Themistocleous, C., Tsiplakou, S. & Tsolakidis, S.

2013 The present perfect in Cypriot Greek revisited. In Studies in Language Variation – European Perspectives IV. Selected Papers from the 6th International Conference on Language Variation in Europe (ICLaVE 6), University of Freiburg, 27 June – 1 July 2011, P. Auer, J. Caro Reina & G. Kaufmann (eds), 159–172. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Menardos, S.

1925/1969 Κυπριακή Γραμματική. Γ΄. Ρήματα [Cypriot Grammar. C: Verbs]. Athena 37: 35–79. Reprinted in Menardos, S. 1969. Γλωσσικαί Mελέται [Language Studies]. Nicosia: Cyprus Centre for Scientific Research.

Myers-Scotton, C.

2002 Contact Linguistics: Bilingual Encounters and Grammatical Outcomes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Muysken, P.

2000 Bilingual Speech. A Typology of Code Mixing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Newton, B.

1972 Cypriot Greek: Its Phonology and Inflections. The Hague: Mouton.

Poplack, S.

2000 Sometimes I’ll start a sentence in Spanish y termino en español: Toward a typology of code switching. In The Bilingualism Reader, W. Li (ed.), 221–256. London: Routledge.

Rowe, C. & Grohmann, K.K.

.2013. Discrete bilectalism: Towards co-overt prestige and diglossic shift in Cyprus. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 224: 119–142.

Siegel, J.

2010 Second Dialect Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sitaridou, I. & Terkourafi, M.

2009 On the loss of the masculine genitive plural in Cypriot Greek: language contact or internal evolution? In Historical Linguistics 2007. Selected Papers from the 18th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Montréal, Québec, 6–11 August 2007, M. Dufresne, F. Dupuis & E. Vocaj (eds), 161–173. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Terkourafi, M.

2005 Understanding the present through the past. Processes of koineisation in Cyprus. Diachronica 22: 309–372.

Tsiplakou, S.

2009a Code-switching and code mixing between related varieties: establishing the blueprint. The International Journal of Humanities 6: 49–66.

2009b Γλωσσική εναλλαγή, ανταγωνιστικές γραμματικές και διαγλώσσα: ακόμα μια διάσταση του «κυπριακού» [Language alternation, competing grammars and interlanguage: Another facet of the “Cyprus problem”]. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Greek Linguistics (Ioannina, 30/8–2/9/2007), G.K. Giannakis, M. Baltazani, G.J. Xydopoulos & A. Tsangalidis (eds), 1195–1209. Ioannina: University of Ioannina.

2006 Cyprus: Language situation. In Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, 2nd edn, K. Brown (ed.), 337–339. Oxford: Elsevier.

Tsiplakou, S., Panagiotidis, P. & Grohmann, K.K.

2007 Properties of Cypriot Greek wh-question formation. In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Greek Linguistics, G. Tsoulas & A. Galani (eds). York: University of York. [http://icgl7.icte.uowm.gr].

Tsiplakou, S., Papapavlou, A., Pavlou, P. & Katsoyannou, M.

2006 Levelling, koineization and their implications for bidialectism. In Language Variation – European Perspectives. Selected Papers from the 3rd International Conference on Language Variation in Europe (ICLaVE 3), University of Amsterdam, 23–25 June 2005, F. Hinskens (ed.), 265–276. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.