| Pontic Greek | |
|---|---|
| Pontic | |
| ποντιακά,ρωμαίικα | |
| Region | originally thePontus on theBlack Sea coast;Greece,Russia,Anadol, Ukraine,[1] However, linguists studying the language became victims of Stalin's repressions by 1937, and the research on the variety did not resume until the 1950s and 1960s.[1]Georgia, andTurkey |
| Ethnicity | Pontic Greeks |
Native speakers | 778,000 (2009–2015)[2] |
| Dialects | |
| Greek,Latin,Cyrillic | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pnt |
| Glottolog | pont1253 |
| ELP | Pontic |
| Linguasphere | 56-AAA-aj |
 Pontic Greek is classified as Definitely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010). | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
| Part ofa series on the |
| Pontic Greeks Ρωμαίοι |
|---|
 Notable Pontic Greeks |
| Pontic culture |
| Languages and dialects |
| History |
| Religion |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Persecution |
Pontic Greek (Pontic:Ρωμαίικα,romanized: Rhomaiika,[a]Greek:Ποντιακά,romanized: Pontiaka;[b]Turkish:Rumca orRomeika),[4][5] also referred to asPontic, is avariety of Modern Greek indigenous to thePontus region on the southern shores of theBlack Sea, northeasternAnatolia, and the Eastern Turkish andCaucasus region. An endangeredGreek language variety,[6] Pontic Greek is spoken by about 778,000 people worldwide, who are known asPontic or Pontian Greeks.[2]
Like nearly all of Greek varieties spoken today, the linguistic lineage of Pontic Greek stems from theHellenisticKoine, itself based onAttic–Ionic Greek, which later developed into theByzantine 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, likeCappadocian, from the 11th century onwards.[7] As a result, Pontic Greek is not completely mutually intelligible with the standardDemotic Greek spoken in mainland Greece today.[8][9][10][11] Pontic also contains influences fromRussian,Turkish,Kartvelian (namelyLaz andGeorgian) andArmenian.
Today, Pontians live predominantly inNorthern Greece, following the1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Out of their total population, around 200,000–300,000 are considered active Pontic speakers.[12] 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 thePontus region, mostly byPontic Greek Muslims in the eastern districts ofTrabzon Province. Pontic is primarily written in theGreek script; theLatin script is sporadically used in Turkey, while theCyrillic alphabet is rarely used in Russia and former Soviet countries.[6]
Pontic Greek is classified as anIndo-European,Greek language of theAttic-Ionic branch.[2]
Historically, the speakers of Pontic Greek referred to their language asRomeika, also spelled in Latin asRomeyka (Pontic:Ρωμαίικα); a historical and colloquial term also used for theModern Greek language as a whole. Originating inByzantine times, the term reflects the identification of the Greek–speakingByzantine subjects asRhomaioi (Ῥωμαῖοι) and theMedieval Greek language asRhomaikḗ (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 calledPontiaká (Greek:Ποντιακά).[13] Pontians also refer to their language asΠοντιακόν λαλίανPontiakón lalían ('Pontic speech') and at times asΛαζικάLaziká.[citation needed] The variety is also calledΠοντιακή διάλεκτοςPontiakḗ diálektos ('Pontic dialect') in standard modern Greek.
InTurkish, there is no special name for Pontic Greek; it is calledRumca ([ˈɾumd͡ʒa]), derived from the Turkish wordRum, denoting Byzantine Greeks.[14][15][16] Nowadays, Pontic speakers living in Turkey call their languageRomeyka,Urumce,Rumca orRumcika.[16]
Similar to most modern Greek dialects, Pontic Greek is mainly derived from Koine Greek, which was spoken in theHellenistic andRoman times between the 4th century BC and the 4th century AD. Following theSeljuk invasion of Asia Minor during the 11th century AD, Pontus became isolated from many of the regions of the Byzantine Empire.[17] The Pontians remained somewhat isolated from the mainland Greeks, causing Pontic Greek to develop separately and distinctly from the rest of the mainland Greek.[18] However, the language has also been influenced by the nearby Persian,Caucasian, and Turkish languages.
Greek linguistManolis 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 demonstratevowel harmony, a well-known feature of Turkish (Mirambel 1965).
Outside Turkey one can distinguish:
The inhabitants of theOf valley who had converted to Islam in the 17th centuryremained in Turkey and have partly retained the Pontic language until today.[19][20][21][22] Their dialect, which forms part of the Trapezountiac subgroup, is called "Ophitic" by linguists, but speakers generally call itRomeika. As few as 5,000 people are reported to speak it.[3][23] There are however estimates that show the real number of the speakers as considerably higher.[16] Speakers of Ophitic/Romeyka are concentrated in the eastern districts of Trabzon province:Çaykara (Katohor),Dernekpazarı (Kondu),Sürmene (Sourmena) andKöprübaşı (Göneşera). Although less widespread, it is still spoken in some remote villages of the Of district itself. It is also spoken in the westernİkizdere (Dipotamos) district of Rize province. Historically the dialect was spoken in a wider area, stretching further east to the port town ofPazar (Athina).
Ophitic has retained theinfinitive, which is present inAncient Greek but has been lost in other variants of Modern Greek (exceptItaliot Greek); it has therefore been characterized as "archaic" orconservative (even in relation to other Pontic dialects) and as the living language that is closest to Ancient Greek.[3][23] 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 ofChristians from the Of valley (especially fromKondu) now living in Greece in the village ofNea Trapezounta, Pieria,Central Macedonia, with about 400 speakers.[24][25][26]
Though Pontic was originally spoken on the southern shores of theBlack Sea, from the 18th and 19th century and on substantial numbers migrated into the northern and eastern shores, into theRussian Empire. Pontic is still spoken by large numbers of people inUkraine, mainly inMariupol, but also in other parts of Ukraine such as theOdesa andDonetsk region, inRussia (aroundStavropol) andGeorgia. 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 ofRussia'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.[27][28]
After themassacres of the 1910s, the majority of speakers remaining inAsia Minor were subject to theTreaty of Lausannepopulation exchange, and were resettled in Greece (mainly northern Greece). A second wave of migration occurred in the early 1990s, this time from countries of theformer Soviet Union.[29]
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 thede facto language of the Greek minority in theUSSR, although in theΠανσυνδεσμιακή Σύσκεψη (Pansyndesmiakí Sýskepsi, All-Union Conference) of 1926, organised by the Greek–Sovietintelligentsia, it was decided thatDemotic should be the official language of the community.[33]
Later revival of Greek identity in the Soviet Union and post-Communist Russia saw a renewed division on the issue ofRumaiic versus Demotic. A new attempt to preserve a sense of ethnic Rumaiic identity started in the mid-1980s. The Ukrainian scholarAndriy 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.[34]
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, includingpoetry collections (among the most renowned writers isKostas Diamantidis), novels, and translatedAsterixcomic albums.[35] 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.[2]
Pontic, in Greece, is written in theGreek alphabet, with diacritics:σ̌ ζ̌ ξ̌ ψ̌ for/ʃʒkʃpʃ/,α̈ ο̈ for[æø] (phonological/iaio/). Pontic, in Turkey, is written in theLatin alphabet following Turkish conventions. In Russia, it is written in theCyrillic alphabet[citation needed]. In early Soviet times, Pontic was written in the Greek alphabet phonetically, as shown below, using digraphs instead of diacritics;[æø] were written out asια,ιο. ThePontic 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 | [ä] | ρωμαίικα, romeyika, romejika, ромейика |
| Β β | V v | B b/V v/W w | В в | [v] | κατηβαίνω, kativeno, katibënô, кативено |
| Γ γ | Ğ ğ | G g | Г г | [ɣ][ʝ] | γανεύω,ğanevo,ganeyô,ганево |
| Δ δ | DH dh | D d | Д д | [ð] | δόντι,dhonti,dónti,донти |
| Ε ε | E e | E e | Е е | [e̞] | εγάπεσα,eğapesa,egápesa,егапеса |
| Ζ ζ | Z z | Z z | З з | [z] | ζαντός,zantos,zantóſ,зантос |
| Θ θ | TH th | Þ þ | С с, Ф ф, Т т | [θ] | θέκω,theko,þékô,теко |
| Ι ι | İ i | I i | И и | [i] | οσπιτόπον, ospitopon, ospitópon, оспитопон |
| Κ κ | K k | K k | К к | [k] | καλάτσ̌εμαν,kalaçeman,kalácheman,калачеман |
| Λ λ | L l | L l | Л л | [l] | λαλία,lalia,lalía,лалиа |
| Μ μ | M m | M m | М м | [m] | μάνα,mana,mána,мана |
| Ν ν | N n | N n | Н н | [n] | ολίγον, oliğоn, olígon, олигон |
| Ο ο | O o | O o | О о | [o̞] | τ'εμέτερον, themeteron, þeméteron, ҭеметерон |
| Π π | P p | Pp | П п | [p] | εγάπεσα, eğapesa, egápesa, егапеса |
| Ρ ρ | R r | R r | Р р | [ɾ] | ρωμαίικα,romeyika,romejika,ромейка |
| Σ ς | S s | S s | С с | [s] | ασπαλώ, aspalo, aspalō, аспaло |
| Χ̌ χ̌ | Ş ş | SH sh | Ш ш | [ʃ] | χ̌έριν,şerin,shérin,шерин |
| Τ τ | T t | T t | Т т | [t] | νόστιμεσσα, nostimesa, nóstimesa, ностимеса |
| ΤΖ̌ τζ̌ | C c | C c | Ц ц | [d͡ʒ] | κεμεντζ̌έ, kemence, kemencé, кemenце |
| ΤΣ τς | Ç ç | CH ch | Ч ч | [t͡ʃ] | μανίτσα, maniça, manícha, манича |
| Υ υ | U u | U u/Y y | У у | [u] | υίαν,uian,uían,уи́aн |
| Φ φ | F f | F f | Ф ф | [f] | έμορφα, emorfa, émopfa,.эморфа |
| Χ χ | H h, KH kh | H h/X x | Х х | [x] | χάσον,hason,háson,хасон |
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The following are features of Pontic Greek which have been retained from early forms of Greek, in contrast to the developments of Modern Greek.
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.[36] In Standard Modern Greek, finite subjunctive clauses are used instead (e.g. Standard Greekθέλω 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”).[36]
Unlike earlier stages of Greek, however, the infinitive in Romeyka is no longer freely distributed. Sitaridou’s research shows that it behaves as a negativepolarity item: it is licensed only in specific environments that entail the non-occurrence of the event, such as:[37]
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 asειπίν-α “(for) me to say,”ειπίν-ες “(for) you to say,”ειπίν-ε “(for) him/her to say,” etc.[36] This phenomenon has parallels in some Romance languages, notablyPortuguese andGalician, which also feature personal infinitives with overt subjects in temporal clauses (e.g. Portugueseantes de tu ires “before you go”).[38]
| Pontic | Ancient |
| ειπείνε | εἰπεῖν |
| παθείνε | παθεῖν |
| αποθανείνε | ἀποθανεῖν |
| πιείνε | πιεῖν |
| ειδείνε | εἰδεῖν |
| φυείνε | φυγεῖν |
| ευρείνε | εὑρεῖν |
| καμείνε | καμεῖν |
| φαείνε | φαγεῖν |
| μαθείνε | μαθεῖν |
| ερθέανε | ἐλθεῖν |
| μενείνε | μένειν |
| Pontic | Ancient |
| ανεβήναι | ἀναβῆναι |
| κατεβήναι | καταβῆναι |
| εμπήναι | ἐμβῆναι |
| εβγήναι | ἐκβῆναι |
| επιδεαβήναι | ἀποδιαβῆναι |
| κοιμεθήναι | κοιμηθῆναι |
| χτυπεθήναι | κτυπηθῆναι |
| ευρεθήναι | εὑρεθῆναι |
| βρασήναι | βραχῆναι |
| ραήναι | ῥαγῆναι |
| Pontic | Ancient |
| κράξειν | κράξαι |
| μεθύσειν | μεθύσαι |
| Pontic | Ancient |
| εδώκα | ἔδωκα |
| εντώκα | ἐνέδωκα |
| εποίκα | ἐποίηκα |
| εφήκα | ἀφῆκα |
| εθήκα | ἔθηκα |
| Pontic | Ancient |
| ερθέανε | ἐλθεῖν |
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