Tsakonika: Defying the Odds, a Spartan Dialect Endures

Statue of Leonidas successful Greece. Tsakonika, the Spartan dialect, is inactive live today. Credit: Dmpexr/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0

Greece, the location of 1 the oldest civilizations connected the globe, is blessed with thousands of priceless monuments. But possibly nary carnal operation anyplace is arsenic important arsenic the surviving monument of a spoken language, Tsakonika, that originates straight from the past satellite of Greece.

One specified connection inactive survives today, contempt the ravages of clip and the galore reversals of luck that Greece has known, successful Leonidio–Tsakonika, the connection of past Sparta, the warrior state which became the byword for an extraordinarily strict and regimented society.

Despite being banished to the hills and mountains 55-100 km (34-62 miles) acold distant from the city-state aft it was attacked and conquered by the Visigoths astir 2,400 years ago, the radical who spoke the connection someway kept it live adjacent aft their archetypal metropolis laic abandoned for centuries afterward.

Two 1000 radical inactive talk Tsakonika

Two 1000 radical successful and astir Leonidio inactive talk Tsakonika, which is recognized arsenic the oldest surviving connection successful a state that is itself 1 of the oldest continuous civilizations connected the look of the earth.

Tsakonika, which connection experts accidental is based connected the occidental Doric dialect of the Hellenic languages, adjacent predates Greek by 3,100 years.

Greek is from Ionic and Attic, eastbound branches of the aforesaid connection family. Differing successful pronunciation, and adjacent with immoderate antithetic letters and phonetic symbols, Tsakonika really resembles Ancient Greek much than the modern Greek spoken today, according to philologists.

The mountainous colony of Pera Melana successful Greece’s southern Peloponnesian peninsula is predominantly wherever the affluent taste practice of Tsakonian inactive flourishes today.

The Doric dialect called “Laconian” is what the connection was called successful past days, earlier it began to beryllium called “Tsakonian” successful the Middle Ages.

The connection spoken by the descendants of the arrogant Spartans marks their individuality arsenic a chiseled colonisation subgroup and has endowed them with the cognition that they are portion of what has been referred to arsenic the oldest continuous bequest of the past Spartans.

Unfortunately, chiefly due to the fact that the connection was looked down connected for immoderate clip arsenic being a agrarian dialect spoken lone successful the hinterlands, lone astir 2,000 of the 10,000 radical who beryllium to the Tsakonian colonisation subgroup inactive talk Tsakonika astatine all.

Speakers combat to sphere the past language

Amazingly, however, the BBC precocious reported that the connection is inactive spoken successful thirteen towns, villages and tiny hamlets astir Pera Melana. Tsakonika is often the lingua spoken astatine location and it is inactive heard successful nationalist determination arsenic well. Yet it is chiefly elders who talk it fluently — and that concern indispensable beryllium reversed if this priceless transportation to the past is to proceed into the future.

Thomais Kounia, who is referred to arsenic “The Empress of Tsalonika” for her cleanable mastery of the language, told interviewers from the BBC “We are losing Tsakonika without authentic teachers. I person been trying to sphere it for the past 40 years. It is my work to bash so.”

Eleni Manou, a Tsakonika teacher and writer from the adjacent municipality of Leonidio, the halfway of Tsakonian culture, agrees. “If we suffer our language, we cannot assertion to beryllium Tsakonian,” she declares.

Laconian was, of course, the dialect spoken by the past Spartans, who person gone down successful past arsenic the brave warriors who faced each force with equanimity, ne'er giving up adjacent erstwhile vastly outnumbered.

The punctuation “Molon Labe,” oregon “Come and get them!” uttered by King Leonidas successful the Battle of Thermopylae aft his warriors had been challenged by Persian King Xerxes to surrender and springiness up their weapons, has gone down successful past arsenic possibly the astir pithy punctuation connected a battlefield.

Indeed, it has been utilized successful akin situations successful the people of galore different battles passim history, adjacent including the American Revolution, astatine Fort Morris successful Georgia.

It was uttered again during the Texas Revolution, erstwhile it became the motto connected the emblem utilized by the Texas separatists, who won their state from Mexico, declaring themselves a abstracted republic earlier being absorbed into the United States.

Tsakonika is surviving impervious of Spartan connection

“Tsakonika is the main impervious of our Spartan connection,” Manou explains. “And successful presumption of the heart, we are nonstop descendants. For maine and galore different Tsakonians, erstwhile we spell to Sparta, it feels similar home.”

It was the precise information that the Visigoths sacked and destroyed overmuch of past Sparta successful the twelvemonth 396 AD, scattering the colonisation to the hills and mountains, which allowed the connection to enactment live — dissimilar different languages and dialects which person undoubtedly vanished disconnected the look of the world aft their speakers mislaid battles and wars and their numbers were decimated.

The upland communities wherever the connection was inactive spoken remained for the astir portion chopped disconnected from the satellite astir them until aft the Greek War of Independence, which was won successful 1829, erstwhile the populace began to beryllium formally educated and caller roads and schools were built astir the country.

Kounia explains successful the BBC study “The gathering of roads and ports gave radical a mode retired of villages. Many residents ne'er returned.”

As clip went on, arsenic was existent astir the world, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the moving of populations to larger towns and cities, those who spoke the section dialect became less and fewer.

The advent of energy came to the country successful the 1950s, and vigor broadcasts began to beryllium heard, introducing modern spoken Greek into their tiny world.

UNESCO lists Tsakonika arsenic a “critically endangered language”

At the aforesaid time, galore radical crossed the state near for greener pastures abroad, including Panos Maneris, who upped stakes and near for the Untied States.

He is present a teacher of Tsakonika arsenic good arsenic a writer and songwriter who uses his archetypal location connection successful bid to support it live for different generation. He besides hosts a language website, called Tsakonika.

“Up to 1970, erstwhile I near for the United States, Tyros and different villages successful the country wherever I grew up spoke 100% Tsakonika,” helium explains. “But each twelvemonth I returned to visit, much and much radical weren’t speaking it and that bothered me. The roadworthy from Astros to Leonidio was built successful 1958. Twenty years later, radical stopped speaking Tsakonika.”

Now listed arsenic a “critically endangered” connection by UNESCO, Maneris and his chap teachers are portion of a modern army, overmuch similar the past Spartans, who garbage to instrumentality nary for an reply and importune that their past connection volition proceed to beryllium spoken into the future.

The presumption that the connection was lone spoken by unsmooth state radical is thankfully present a happening of the past, erstwhile galore radical astir the satellite person cultivated a newfound appreciation for past and the endangered cultures from their past.

“In the 1960s-70s, determination was an cognition alteration astir Tsakonika arsenic thing to treasure alternatively than hide,” Manou says. “In fact, a batch of young Tsakonians were aggravated with their parents and grandparents for not speaking Tsakonika to them. I was begging my begetter to talk it to my children, but helium refused. Now it’s fashionable with the younger generation.”

Even thoroughfare signs are present successful some Tsakonian and Greek, and the connection is featured successful museums and archives, including the Tsakonian Archives, which was established successful 1954 arsenic a mode to sphere written Tsakonian.

There is adjacent a festival successful the country successful the summers, called Melitzazz, which helps support the connection contented alive.

A dictionary successful 3 volumes was even published by Kounia’s uncle backmost successful 1986 and determination are efforts to marque it disposable online. Tsakonika lessons are besides disposable online now, taught by Manou.

And a caller dictionary, penned by Tsakanika writer Sotiris Steniotis, is besides successful the works.

“What is not written fades away. In this epoch of accusation with the internet, we should not suffer a language. Every Tsakonian colony should person a Tsakonika centre for its residents and Tsakonika classes should beryllium offered successful Sparta and Athens.”