Pontic Greek

Pontic Greek is classified as an Indo-European, Greek language of the Attic-Ionic branch. == Name ==

Historically, the speakers of Pontic Greek referred to their language as , also spelled in Latin as (); 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 () and the Medieval Greek language as Rhomaikḗ (). 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 (). Pontians also refer to their language as Pontiakón lalían () and at times as Laziká. The variety is also called Pontiakḗ diálektos () in standard modern Greek. In Turkish, there is no special name for Pontic Greek; it is called (), derived from the Turkish word Rum, denoting Byzantine Greeks. Nowadays, Pontic speakers living in Turkey call their language , , or . == History ==

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. The Pontians remained somewhat isolated from the mainland Greeks, causing Pontic Greek to develop separately and distinctly from the rest of the mainland Greek. However, the dialect has also been influenced by the nearby Persian, Caucasian, and Turkish languages. == Dialects ==

Greek linguist Manolis Triantafyllidis has divided the Pontic of Turkey into two groups: • the Western group (Oinountiac or ) around Oenoe (Turkish Ünye); • the Eastern group, which is again subdivided into: • the coastal subgroup (Trapezountiac) around Trebizond (Ancient Greek ) and • the inland subgroup (Chaldiot) in Chaldia (around Argyroupolis (Gümüşhane) and Kanin in Pontic), its vicinity (Kelkit, Baibourt, etc.), and around Kotyora (Ordu). 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 Northern group (Mariupol Greek or ), originally spoken in Crimea, but now principally in Mariupol, where the majority of Crimean Pontic Greeks of the Rumaiic subgroup now live. Other Pontic Greeks speak Crimean Tatar as their mother tongue, and are classified as "Urums". There are approximately half a dozen dialects of Crimean (Mariupolitan) Pontic Greek spoken. • Soviet Rumaiic, a Soviet variant of the Pontic Greek language spoken by the Pontic Greek population of the Soviet Union. Ophitic 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. Their dialect, which forms part of the Trapezountiac subgroup, is called "Ophitic" by linguists, but speakers generally call it . As few as 5,000 people are reported to speak it. There are however estimates that show the real number of the speakers as considerably higher. 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. == Geographic distribution ==

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]). Though many were displaced as a result of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, as of 2024 the majority of Mariupol's Greeks have opted to remain in the city and its adjacent villages. 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. 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. • Greece: 400,000 speakers, mostly in Macedonia (East, Central and West) and in Attica • Of-dialectical region: • Of: multiple villages • Çaykara: (24–70 villages) • Dernekpazarı: (13 villages) • Köprübaşı: (5 villages) • Sürmene: (31 villages) • To the west of Trabzon: • Maçka: A handful of villages, settled from the Of-Çaykara region • Tonya: (17 villages) • Beşikdüzü: 1 village • Giresun: (3 villages in Bulancak district) • Gümüşhane: Sparsely in Torul-ardasa, Yağlıdere-kromni, Dumanlı == Official status ==

Greece In Greece, Pontic has no official status, like all other Greek dialects. Soviet Union Historically, Pontic Greek was the de facto language of the Greek minority in the USSR, although in the (, All-Union Conference) of 1926, organised by the Greek–Soviet intelligentsia, it was decided that Demotic should be the official language of the community. 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. == Culture ==

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. 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. == Alphabets ==

Pontic, in Greece, is written in the Greek alphabet, with diacritics: for , for (phonological ). 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; were written out as , . 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. == Archaisms ==

The following are features of Pontic Greek which have been retained from early forms of Greek, in contrast to the developments of Modern Greek. Phonology • The vowel "η" sometimes merged with "ε" rather than "ι" (κέπιν = κήπιον, κλέφτες = κλέπτης, συνέλικος = συνήλικος, νύφε = νύ(μ)φη, έγκα = ἤνεγκον, έτον = ἦτον, έκουσα = ἤκουσα etc.). • The vowel "ω" merged with "o" even in those cases where Koine Greek received it as "ου" (ζωμίν = ζουμί, καρβώνι, ρωθώνι etc.). • Preservation of the Ionic consonant pair "" instead of Koine "" . Declension of nouns and adjectives • Preservation of the ancient nominative suffix "" in neuter diminutive nouns from Ancient Greek "-" (; Pontic ). • Preservation of the termination of feminine compound adjectives in • The declension of masculine nouns from singular, nominative termination "" to genitive • The ancient accenting of nouns in vocative form: Conjugation of verbs • The second aorist form in • The middle voice verb termination in . • The passive voice aorist termination in (anc. ): etc. • The imperative form of passive aorist in (anc • The sporadic use of infinitives • Pontic ("is") from Koine idiomatic form ' (standard Ancient Greek '), compare the Biblical form ("there is"), Modern Greek ine () Infinitive One of the most striking features of the Romeyka dialects spoken in the Trabzon region is the preservation of the ancient Greek infinitive, which has disappeared from all other Modern Greek varieties. In Standard Modern Greek, finite subjunctive clauses are used instead (e.g. Standard Greek θέλω να πάω “I want that I go” → “I want to go”), but Romeyka retains an aorist-based infinitive formed with the suffix -ίν(ι) or -είν(ι) (e.g. φαγίνι “to eat,” πιείνι “to drink,” κόψινι “to cut”). • in the complement of a negated past-tense modal or volitional verb: :ούτσ’ επορέσα τρέξινι – “I couldn’t run” • in clauses headed by πριν (“before”): :πριν δοσίνι τα παράν ο Αϊσέ – “before Aise gives the money” • in certain counterfactual constructions, especially in the Sürmene variety: :είχε ειπίν-α – “if I had said” Furthermore, some sub-varieties, particularly in Sürmene, preserve an inflected (personal) infinitive: person and number endings are attached directly to the infinitive form, producing paradigms such as ειπίν-α “(for) me to say,” ειπίν-ες “(for) you to say,” ειπίν-ε “(for) him/her to say,” etc. Lexicology • The sporadic use of in the place of : • Pontic (; "ours") from Ancient Greek in contrast to Modern Greek Comparison with Ancient Greek ; 1. Attachment of the /e/ sound to the ancient infinitive suffix (in Trapezountiac Pontic) : ; 2. Preservation of the Ancient infinitive suffix : ; 3. Ancient first aorist infinitive suffix -αι has been replaced by second aorist suffix -ειν : ; 4. Attachment of the /e/ sound to the ancient aorist infinitive suffix : ; 5. Same aorist suffix was also the regular perfect suffix) : ; 6. Ancient Greek infinitive > Pontic Greek infinitive : == See also ==