Pontic language
Encyclopedia
Pontic Greek is a form of the Greek language
originally spoken in the Pontus
area on the southern shores of the Black Sea
, northeastern Anatolia, Eastern Turkish/Caucasus province of Kars
, southern Georgia, and today mainly in northern Greece
. Its speakers are referred to as Pontic Greeks
or Pontian Greeks, although many Greeks mistakenly refer to some Pontic Greek speakers from Georgia as Russo-Ponti.
The linguistic lineage of Pontic Greek stems from Ionic Greek
via Koine
and Byzantine Greek and contains influences from Georgian, Russian, Turkish
and to a lesser extent, Persian
(via Ottoman Turkish) and various Caucasian languages. Pontic is most closely related to Cappadocian Greek
, and the Greek spoken in Mariupol
is (and formerly in Crimea
, Ukraine
) (see Mariupolitan Greek).
The language is called Rumca in Turkish
, derived form the Turkish word Rum denoting ethnic Greeks living in Turkey in general; however, this term comprises other Greek speakers in Turkey such as those from Istambul or Smyrna
who speak a language close to Standard Modern Greek.
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).
and have partly retained the Pontic language until today. Their dialect is called "Ophitic" by linguists, but speakers generally call it Romeyka, (Romeika) which in a more general sense is an historical and colloquial term for the modern Greek language as a whole. As few as 5,000 people speak this dialect.
Romeyka has retained the infinitive
, which is present in Ancient Greek
but has been lost in other variants of Modern Greek; it has therefore been characterized as "archaic" and as the living language that is closest to Ancient Greek.
In his 1996 book entitled Pontos Kültürü
, Ömer Asan
gives further details about the current Pontic-speaking community of the Of valley.
A very similar dialect is spoken by descendants of Christians from the Of valley now living in Greece in the village of Nea Trapezounta (part of Kalamaria
, Central Macedonia
), with about 400 speakers.
'), and Georgia, and the language enjoyed some use as a literary medium in the 1930s, including a school grammar (Topkhara 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 the former Soviet Union.
In Greece, Pontic is now used mainly emblematically rather than as a medium of communication.
. Historically, it was the de facto language of the Greek minority in the USSR, despite the fact that in the Πανσυνδεσμιακή Σύσκεψη (All-Union Conference) of 1926, organized by the Greek-Russian intelligentsia
, it was decided that demotic
should be the official language of the community.
comic albums.
----
ράψεινε, κράξεινε, μεθύσεινε, καλέσεινε, λαλήσεινε, κτυπήσεινε, καθίσεινε
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
originally spoken in the Pontus
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...
area on the southern shores of the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, northeastern Anatolia, Eastern Turkish/Caucasus province of Kars
Kars
Kars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. The population of the city is 73,826 as of 2010.-Etymology:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia...
, southern Georgia, and today mainly in northern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. Its speakers are referred to as Pontic Greeks
Pontic Greeks
The Pontians are an ethnic group traditionally living in the Pontus region, the shores of Turkey's Black Sea...
or Pontian Greeks, although many Greeks mistakenly refer to some Pontic Greek speakers from Georgia as Russo-Ponti.
The linguistic lineage of Pontic Greek stems from Ionic Greek
Ionic Greek
Ionic Greek was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek .-History:Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century...
via Koine
Koine Greek
Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....
and Byzantine Greek and contains influences from Georgian, Russian, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
and to a lesser extent, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
(via Ottoman Turkish) and various Caucasian languages. Pontic is most closely related to Cappadocian Greek
Cappadocian Greek language
Cappadocian , also known as Cappadocian Greek or Asia Minor Greek, is a mixed language formerly spoken in Cappadocia . In the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in the 1920s, Cappadocian speakers were forced to emigrate to Greece, where they were resettled in various locations,...
, and the Greek spoken in Mariupol
Mariupol
Mariupol , formerly known as Zhdanov , is a port city in southeastern Ukraine. It is located on the coast of the Azov Sea, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Mariupol is the largest city in Priazovye - a geographical region around Azov Sea, divided by Russia and Ukraine - and is also a popular sea...
is (and formerly in Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) (see Mariupolitan Greek).
The language is called Rumca in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, derived form the Turkish word Rum denoting ethnic Greeks living in Turkey in general; however, this term comprises other Greek speakers in Turkey such as those from Istambul or Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
who speak a language close to Standard Modern Greek.
Dialects
Greek linguist Manolis Triantafyllides has divided Pontic into two groups:- Western group (Oinountiac/Niotika) around Oenoe/ÜnyeÜnyeÜnye is a large town and district of Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 76 km west of the city of Ordu. In 2009 it had 74,806 inhabitants.-Geography:Ünye has a little port, in a bay on one of the flatter areas of the Black Sea coast...
. - Eastern group
- Coastal subgroup (Trapezountiac) around Trebizond/TrapezusTrabzonTrabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
, - Inland subgroup (Chaldiot) in ChaldiaChaldiaChaldia was a historical region located in the Black Sea coast of Asia Minor . Its name was derived from a people called the Chaldoi that inhabited the region in Antiquity. Chaldia was used throughout the Byzantine period and was established as a formal theme, known as the Theme of Chaldia , in...
(around Argyroupolis/GümüşhaneGümüshane-Features:Gümüşhane has a rich historical background so there are many historical places, mosques, churches, castles. Ancient city of Satala in the modern village of Sadak was the most important military camp of the ancient Roman Empire in the east. This place was ruled by the Hittites, Assyrians,...
— Kanin in Pontic), in its vicinity (KelkitKelkitKelkit is a town and district of Gümüşhane Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. According to the 2010 census, population of the district is 39,547 of which 13,784 live in the town of Kelkit. The district covers an area of , and the town lies at an elevation of .Kelkit is one of the cities of...
, Baibourt/BayburtBayburtBayburt is a city in northeast Turkey lying on the Çoruh River, and is the provincial capital of Turkey's Bayburt Province.Bayburt was once an important center on the ancient Silk Road and it was visited by Marco Polo and Turkish excursionist Evliya Celebi. Remains of its Byzantine castle still...
, etc.), and around Kotyora/OrduOrduOrdu 'army') is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, and the capital of Ordu Province. Estimated population c. 2010: 141,341.-Etymology:...
.
- Coastal subgroup (Trapezountiac) around Trebizond/Trapezus
Speakers of Chaldiot were the most numerous. In phonology, some varieties of Pontic are reported to demonstrate vowel harmony
Vowel harmony
Vowel harmony is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels that occurs in some languages. In languages with vowel harmony, there are constraints on which vowels may be found near each other....
, a well-known feature of Turkish (Mirambel 1965).
Romeyka
The inhabitants of the Of valley, who had converted to Islam in the 17th century, remained in TurkeyGreek Muslims
Greek Muslims, also known as Greek-speaking Muslims, are Muslims of Greek ethnic origin, nowadays found mainly in Turkey, although migrations to Lebanon and Syria have been reported. Historically, Greek Orthodoxy has been associated with being Romios, i.e...
and have partly retained the Pontic language until today. Their dialect is called "Ophitic" by linguists, but speakers generally call it Romeyka, (Romeika) which in a more general sense is an historical and colloquial term for the modern Greek language as a whole. As few as 5,000 people speak this dialect.
Romeyka has retained the infinitive
Infinitive
In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
, which is present in Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
but has been lost in other variants of Modern Greek; it has therefore been characterized as "archaic" and as the living language that is closest to Ancient Greek.
In his 1996 book entitled Pontos Kültürü
Pontos Kültürü
Pontos Kültürü Pontos Culture is a 1996 book by Turkish author Ömer Asan about the Greek Muslims of Trabzon Province.Pontos Kültürü documents Asan's ethnographic fieldwork in his native village Çoruk in Of district...
, Ömer Asan
Ömer Asan
Ömer Şükrü Asan , is a Turkish folklorist, photographer and writer.In 2002, he was charged with allegations that he violated Article 8 of Turkey's Anti-Terror Law by "propagandating separatism" for his book Pontos Kültürü...
gives further details about the current Pontic-speaking community of the Of valley.
A very similar dialect is spoken by descendants of Christians from the Of valley now living in Greece in the village of Nea Trapezounta (part of Kalamaria
Kalamaria
Kalamariá is a municipality of the Thessaloniki Urban Area, located about 7 km southeast of downtown Thessaloniki. It is the second largest municipality of the Thessaloniki Urban Area as well as one of the largest in Greece, with a population increase of 8% since the 1991...
, Central Macedonia
Central Macedonia
Central Macedonia is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the region of Macedonia. With a population of over 1.8 million, it is the second most populous in Greece after Attica.- Administration :...
), with about 400 speakers.
Geographic distribution
Though Pontic was originally spoken on the southern shores of the Black Sea, substantial numbers migrated into the northern and eastern shores (into the Russian Empire of the 18th and 19th century); Pontic is still spoken by large numbers of people in Ukraine, Russia (around StavropolStavropol
-International relations:-Twin towns/sister cities:Stavropol is twinned with: Des Moines, United States Béziers, France Pazardzhik, Bulgaria-External links:* **...
'), and Georgia, and the language enjoyed some use as a literary medium in the 1930s, including a school grammar (Topkhara 1998 [1932]). After the massacres of the 1910s, the majority of speakers remaining in Asia Minor were subject to the Treaty of Lausanne
Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Lausanne was ratified by the Greek government on 11 February 1924, by the Turkish government on 31...
population exchange, and were resettled in Greece (mainly northern Greece). A second wave of migration occurred in the early 1990s, this time from the former Soviet Union.
In Greece, Pontic is now used mainly emblematically rather than as a medium of communication.
- GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
: 200,000 speakers (2001)
- mostly in MacedoniaMacedonia (Greece)Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
(EastEast Macedonia and ThraceEast Macedonia and Thrace is one of the thirteen regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the country, comprising the eastern part of the region of Macedonia along with the region of Thrace, and the islands of Thasos and Samothrace....
, CentralCentral MacedoniaCentral Macedonia is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the region of Macedonia. With a population of over 1.8 million, it is the second most populous in Greece after Attica.- Administration :...
and WestWest MacedoniaWest Macedonia is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Greek Macedonia. It is divided into the regional units of Florina, Grevena, Kastoria, and Kozani.-Geography:...
)- TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
: ~4000 speakers- ÇaykaraÇaykaraÇaykara is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The mayor is Namık Kemal Gedikoğlu .-External links:* *...
: Multiple villages - DernekpazarıDernekpazariDernekpazarı is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The mayor is Cevdet Cemal Cansız .-Villages:*Akköse*Çalışanlar*Çayırbaşı*Gülen*Günebakan*Ormancık*Taşçılar*Tüfekçi *Yenice*Zincirlitaş...
: (13 villages) - KarsKarsKars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. The population of the city is 73,826 as of 2010.-Etymology:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia...
: Multiple villages and provincial capital. - Of: multiple villages
- MaçkaMaçkaMaçka is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The mayor is Ertuğrul Genç .-External links:* *...
: No information - Rize İkizdereIkizdereİkizdere is a town and district of Rize Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey.-Etymology:Formerly known as Kuray-ı Sab, İkizdere means "two streams" and indeed the Çamlık and Cimil Rivers meet here to form the İkizdere....
: (21 villages) - SürmeneSürmeneSürmene is a town and a district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. In ancient times it was also known as Hyssus or Hyssos and Issiporto. The mayor is Fikri Usta ....
: (6 villages) - TonyaTonyaTonya is a town and district of Trabzon Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The mayor is Ahmet Kurt .-External links:* *...
: (17 villages) - Torul-ardasa, Yağlıdere-kromni, SantaDumanliDumanlı is a mid-size town in the border of Trabzon and Gümüşhane in Pontos.It consist of seven villages:* Piştofandon: 400 houses, St. Kyriake, St. Panteleimon, St. Christophoros churches, a primary school and fountain of Christoforos. Etymology pishtof "gun" + anton toponomical suffix in Greek*...
, ImeraImeraI Imera is a newspaper that is based in Patras in the Achaea prefecture in Greece. Its editor in-chief is Theodoros Kamperos.-References:...
: (no village)
- Çaykara
- Turkey
Official status
Pontic has no official status. During the late 1910s, it was destined to become the official language of the proposed Republic of PontusRepublic of Pontus
The Republic of Pontus was a proposed Pontian Greek state in the north-eastern part of modern Turkey from 1917 to 1922. The Republic of Pontus was never officially proclaimed, but a central government of an embryonic state existed, though not occupying all the claimed areas...
. Historically, it was the de facto language of the Greek minority in the USSR, despite the fact that in the Πανσυνδεσμιακή Σύσκεψη (All-Union Conference) of 1926, organized by the Greek-Russian intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
, it was decided that demotic
Dimotiki
Demotic Greek or dimotiki is the modern vernacular form of the Greek language. The term has been in use since 1818. Demotic refers particularly to the form of the language that evolved naturally from ancient Greek, in opposition to the artificially archaic Katharevousa, which was the official...
should be the official language of the community.
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 AsterixAsterix
Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...
comic albums.
Pontic alphabets
Pontic in Greece is written in historical Greek orthography, with diacritics: for /ʃ ʒ kʃ pʃ/, for [æ ø] (phonological /ia io/). Pontic in Turkey is written in Latin script following Turkish conventions, and Pontic in Russia is written in Cyrillic. In early Soviet times, Pontic was written in the Greek script phonetically, as shown below, using digraphs instead of diacritics; [æ ø] were written out as , . The Pontic Wikipedia uses a Greek script: it has adopted , for these vowels, to avoid clashes with Modern Greek , , and uses digraphs from the Soviet system instead of diacritics, but otherwise follows historical orthography.| Greek alphabet | Turkish alphabet | Russian alphabet | IPA | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Α α | A a | А а | ä | ρομεικα, romeyika, ромейика |
| Β β | V v | В в | v | κατιβενο, kativeno, кативено |
| Γ γ | Ğ ğ | Г г | ɣ ʝ | γανεβο, ğanevo, ганево |
| Δ δ | DH dh | Д д | ð | δοντι, dhonti, донти |
| Ε ε | E e | Е е | e̞ | εγαπεςα, eğapesa, егапеса |
| Ζ ζ | Z z | З з | z | ζαντος, zantos, зантос |
| ΖΖ ζζ | J j | Ж ж | ʒ | πυρζζυας, burjuvas, буржуас |
| Θ θ | TH th | С с, Ф ф, Т т | θ | θεκο, theko, теко |
| Ι ι | İ i | И и | i | τοςπιτοπον, tospitopon, тоспитопон |
| Κ κ | K k | К к | k | καλατζεμαν, kalaceman, калачеман |
| Λ λ | L l | Л л | l | λαλια, lalia, лалиа |
| Μ μ | M m | М м | m | μανα, mana, мана |
| Ν ν | N n | Н н | n | ολιγον, oliğоn, олигон |
| Ο ο | O o | О о | o̞ | τεμετερον, temeteron, теметерон |
| Π π | P p | П п | p | εγαπεςα, eğapesa, егапеса |
| Ρ ρ | R r | Р р | ɾ | ρομεικα, romeyika, ромейка |
| Σ ς | S s | С с | s | καλατζεπςον, kalacepson, калачепсон |
| ΣΣ ςς | Ş ş | Ш ш | ʃ | ςςερι, şeri, шери |
| Τ τ | T t | Т т | t | νοςτιμεςα, nostimesa, ностимеса |
| ΤΖ τζ | C c | Ч ч | d͡ʒ | καλατζεμαν, kalaceman, калачеман |
| ΤΣ τς | Ç ç | Ц ц | t͡ʃ | μανιτςα, maniça, маница |
| Υ υ | U u | У у | u | νυς, nus, нус |
| Φ φ | F f | Ф ф | f | εμορφα, emorfa, эморфа |
| Χ χ | H, KH (sert H) | Х х | x | χαςον, hason, хасон |
Archaisms
- Preservation of the ancient pronunciation of 'η' as 'ε' (κέπιν = κήπιον, κλέφτες = κλέπτης, συνέλικος = συνήλικος, νύφε = νύ(μ)φη, έγκα = ἤνεγκον, έτον = ἦτον, έκουσα = ἤκουσα etc).
- Preservation of the ancient pronunciation 'ω' as 'o' where Koine Greek received it as 'ου' (ζωμίν = ζουμί, καρβώνι, ρωθώνι etc).
- Preservation of the ancient nominative suffix of neuter diminutive nouns in 'ιον' (παιδίον, χωρίον).
- Preservation of the IonicIonic GreekIonic Greek was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek .-History:Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century...
consonant pair 'σπ' instead of Koine 'σφ' (σποντύλιν, σπἰγγω, σπιντόνα). - Preservation of the termination of feminine compound adjectives in -ος (ή άλαλος, ή άνοστος, ή έμορφος).
- The declension of male nouns from singular, nominative termination '-on' to genitive '-ος' (ο νέον -> τη νέονος, ο πάππον -> τη πάππονος, ο λύκον -> τη λύκονος, ο Τούρκον -> τη Τούρκονος etc).
- The aoristAoristAorist is a philological term originally from Indo-European studies, referring to verb forms of various languages that are not necessarily related or similar in meaning...
ordering form in -ον (ανάμνον, μείνον, κόψον, πίσον, ράψον, σβήσον). - The middle voice verb termination in -ούμαι (ανακατούμαι, σκοτούμαι, στεφανούμαι).
- The passive voicePassive voicePassive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
aorist termination in -θα (anc. -θην): εγαπέθα, εκοιμέθα, εστάθα etc. - The imperativeImperative moodThe imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
form of passive aorist in -θετε (anc -θητι): εγαπέθετε, εκοιμέθετε, εστάθετε. - The sporadic use of infinitiveInfinitiveIn grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. In the usual description of English, the infinitive of a verb is its basic form with or without the particle to: therefore, do and to do, be and to be, and so on are infinitives...
s (εποθανείναι, μαθείναι, κόψ'ναι, ράψ'ναι, χαρίσ'ναι, αγαπέθειν, κοιμεθείν). - The ancient accenting of nouns in vocative form: άδελφε, Νίκολα, Μάρια.
- The sporadic use of 'ας' in the place of 'να': δός με ας φάγω.
Comparison with Ancient Greek
- Example 1: Pontic en (is), Ancient Greek esti, Koine idiomatic form enesti, Biblical form eni, Modern Greek ine
- Example 2: Pontic temeteron (ours), Ancient Greek to(n) hemeteron, Modern Greek to(n) * mas
- Example 3: Pontic pedhin (child), Ancient Greek paidion, Standard Greek pedhi
- Example 4 (combining 2 and 3): Pontic temeteron to pedin (our child), Ancient Greek/Koine to hemeteron paidion, Modern Greek to pedi mas
----
- 1. Attachment of the /e/ sound to the ancient infinitive suffix –ειν (in Trapezountiac Pontic)
| PONTIC | ANCIENT |
| ipíne | εἰπεῖν |
| pathíne | παθεῖν |
| apothaníne | ἀποθανεῖν |
| piíne | πιεῖν |
| iδíne | εἰδεῖν |
| fiíne | φυγεῖν |
| evríne | εὑρεῖν |
| kamíne | καμεῖν |
| faíne | φαγεῖν |
| mathíne | μαθεῖν |
| erthéane | ἐλθεῖν |
| meníne | μένειν |
- 2. Similar infinitive suffix -ηναι
| PONTIC | ANCIENT |
| anevίne | ἀναβῆναι |
| katevine | καταβῆναι |
| embine | ἐμβῆναι |
| evjine | ἐκβῆναι |
| epiδeavine | ἀποδιαβῆναι |
| kimethine | κοιμηθῆναι |
| xtipethine | κτυπηθῆναι |
| evrethine | εὑρεθῆναι |
| vrasine | βραχῆναι |
| raine | ῥαγῆναι |
- 3. Ancient first aorist infinitive suffix -αι has been replaced by second aorist suffix -ῆναι
| PONTIC | ANCIENT |
| κράξειν | κράξαι |
| μεθύσειν | μεθύσαι |
- 4. Attachment of the /e/ sound to the ancient aorist infinitive suffix –σειν
ράψεινε, κράξεινε, μεθύσεινε, καλέσεινε, λαλήσεινε, κτυπήσεινε, καθίσεινε
- 5. Same aorist suffix –ka (–ka was also the regular perfect suffix)
| PONTIC | ANCIENT |
| eδoka | ἔδωκα |
| enδoka | ἐνέδωκα |
| epika | ἐποίηκα |
| efika | ἀφῆκα |
| ethika | ἔθηκα |
- 6. Ancient Greek –ein (-εῖν) infinitive > Pontic Greek –eane (-έανε) infinitive
| PONTIC | ANCIENT |
| erthéane | ἐλθεῖν |
External links
- Mark Janse, "Aspects of Pontic grammar", a Review Article of Drettas (1997). The paper summarizes the high points of the book.
- Ethnologue report for Pontic
- Committee for Pontian Studies (Επιτροπή Ποντιακών Μελετών)
- Trebizond Greek: A language without a tongue
- Info about Pontians
- Pontic Greek: A cost of a language
- The Pontic Dialect
- Argonautai Komninoi Association
- Pontic Greek - English Dictionary
- Development of the Pontic Greek Dialect
- Archaic Greek in a modern world video from Cambridge University, on You Tube