| Also Known As: Tsakonia
Description:
Tsakonian, Tsaconian, Tzakonian or Tsakonic (Greek Τσακωνικά) is a highly divergent dialect of modern Greek or a separate language spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece. It is named after its speakers, the 'Tsakonians', which is held to be an alteration of 'Laconians' - although Tsakonians themselves did not traditionally use this ethnonym. It is said to be from Exo-Lakones (meaning outer Lakonians) and morphed to Tsakones.
Tsakonian is a variety of Greek. It is not mutually intelligible with Standard Greek, and is therefore sometimes considered a separate language, though historically it derives from the Greek Doric dialect.
Tsakonian is found today in a group of mountain towns and villages slightly inland from the Argolic Gulf, although it was once spoken farther to the south and west as well as on the coasts of Laconia (ancient Sparta). There was formerly a Tsakonian colony on the Propontis (two villages near Gönen, Vatika and Havoutsi), probably dating from the 18th century, whose members were resettled in Greece with the 1924 population exchanges. Propontis Tsakonian appears to have died out around 1970.
Tsakonian has no official status. Prayers and..... full article at Wikipedia |
