3.1 Orthography

Orthography is the set of conventions for writing a language — which letters or symbols to use, and how to represent sounds on the page. The Tsakonian language lacks a single, widely accepted orthographic consensus. Because Tsakonian contains phonemes not present in Standard Modern Greek (SMG) — such as aspirated consonants, postalveolar fricatives, and specific affricates (see 2. Phonology for a full description of these sounds) — scholars and speakers have developed various systems to represent these sounds using the Greek alphabet, often supplemented by diacritics (accents or marks added to letters) or digraphs (two-letter combinations representing a single sound). (García Chaparro, 2026)

This page gives an overview of the main systems used. For the phonemes themselves, see 2. Phonology. For dialect-specific characters (especially the Propontis vowel α̈), see 4.3 Propontis Tsakonian.

1. The Tsakonian Alphabet

Tsakonian uses the standard Greek alphabet with additional rules and readings for certain clusters. (García Chaparro, 2026)

Letters and Common Readings

Capital	Lowercase	Name	IPA	Transliteration	Example (Tsakonian)	English
Α	α	Alpha	[a]	a	Άγιε	Church
Β	β	Beta	[v]	v	Βου	Cry
Γ	γ	Gamma	[ɣ]	g	Γα	Milk
Δ	δ	Delta	[ð]	d	Δίου	To give
Ε	ε	Epsilon	[e]	e	Ελλάδα	Greece
Ζ	ζ	Zeta	[z]	zz	Ζβαΐχου	To read
Η	η	Eta	[i]	i	Μην	Don’t
Θ	θ	Theta	[θ]	z	Θέου	To want
Ι	ι	Iota	[i]	i	Ιδέα	Idea
Κ	κ	Kappa	[k]	k	Κρίε	Meat
Λ	λ	Lambda	[l]	l	Λεκό	White
Μ	μ	Mi	[m]	m	Μάνα	Mother
Ν	ν	Ni	[n]	n	Ναι	Yes
Ξ	ξ	Xi	[ks]	x	Ξέρου	To know
Ο	ο	Omicron	[o]	o	Όα	All
Π	π	Pi	[p]	p	Παππού	Grandfather
Ρ	ρ	Rho	[r]	r	Ρωτού	To ask
Σ	σ/ς	Sigma	[s]	s	Σάμερε	Today
Τ	τ	Tau	[t]	t	Τερέ	Tyros
Υ	υ	Ipsilon	[i]	y	Ύο	Water
Φ	φ	Phi	[f]	f	Φύου	To walk away
Χ	χ	Chi	[x]	ch	Χειμονικό	Winter
Ψ	ψ	Psi	[ps]	ps	Ψιλέ	Eye
Ω	ω	Omega	[o]	o	Ωραία	Great

Note on Sigma: Like in Modern Greek, σ is used at the beginning and in the middle of words, while ς is used at the end. (García Chaparro, 2026)

Tsakonian-Specific Letters

To represent sounds not present in Standard Modern Greek, the Greek alphabet is extended using diacritics (marks added to letters). While there is no single official standard, the Kostakis system is the most widely recognized in literature and academia. (Liosis, 2017)

The most common specific characters found in Tsakonian texts are:

Character	IPA	Description	Transliteration	Example (Tsakonian)	English
κ̔, τ̔, π̔	[kʰ, tʰ, pʰ]	Aspirated consonants (pronounced with a puff of air).	kh, th, ph	κ̔άρα	fire
σ̌, ζ̌	[ʃ, ʒ]	Postalveolar fricatives (like English sh and s in measure).	sh, zh	σ̌ίνα	mountain
τσ̂, τζ̑	[t͡s̻, t̻͡ɕ]	Unique affricates (laminal dental and palatalized).	tss, tsz	τσ̂αι	and
ν̇, λ̣	[n, l]	Non-palatalized sounds (used where Greek usually palatalizes).	n’, l’	έν̇ι	he is
ν̂	[ɲ]	Palatalized nasal resulting from contraction.	ni’	ν̂’επέκα	I told
α̈	[ä]	Propontis vowel, a very open ‘a’.	a’	δα̈δά	now

These characters are essential for distinguishing words that would otherwise look identical (e.g., ένι [eɲi] “I am” vs. έν̇ι [eni] “he is”). (García Chaparro, 2026)

Digraphs and Clusters

Digraph	IPA	Transliteration	Example	English
αι	[e]	a	Ναι	Yes
ει	[i]	i	Κεινού	To be hungry
οι	[i]	i	Πάσοι	A lot
ου	[u]	ou	Αού	To say
μπ	[b]	b (initial) / mb (mid)	Μπατάτα	Potato
ντ	[d]	d (initial) / nd (mid)	Ντι	Yours
γγ	[ŋ]	ng	Έγγου	To go
γκ	[g]	gk	Αφέγκη	Father
αυ/ευ	[af/ef]	av/ev (v/f)	Ευχαριστού	To thank

If vowels are pronounced separately, a diaeresis (¨) is used (e.g., αϊ [ai]). (García Chaparro, 2026)

Accentuation

Accent marks indicate the stressed syllable and must be marked in all words except monosyllables (e.g., εζού ‘I’, but ναι ‘yes’). (García Chaparro, 2026)

2. Historical and Academic Systems

Over the centuries, several scholars attempted to transcribe Tsakonian before a standard was established.

Early Records (17th - 18th Century)

• Evliyâ Çelebi (1668): Ottoman Turkish script. (Liosis, 2017)
• Villoison (1788): Brief recordings. (Liosis, 2017)

19th Century Systematic Grammars

• Oikonomou (1846, 1870): Used κχ, τθ, πφ for aspirates. (García Chaparro, 2025c)
• Michael Deffner (1881, 1923): Introduced diacritics for aspirates, postalveolars, and palatals. (García Chaparro, 2025c)

20th Century: The Kostakis Standard

Thanasis Kostakis (1951, 1986): Refined Deffner’s system using diacritics (small marks added above or below letters to change their phonetic value). It is used in the Dictionary of the Tsakonian Dialect and remains the academic standard today. (Liosis, 2017)

For Kostakis’s linguistic work and his documentation of the dialect, see 1.2 History and Status.

Letter	Sound	Transliteration	Tsakonian	English
κ̔	[kʰ]	kh	κ̔αρα	fire
τ̔	[tʰ]	th	τ̔αίνου	lift
π̔	[pʰ]	ph	επ̔έρι	yesterday
σ̌	[ʃ]	sh	σ̌ίνα	mountain
ζ̌	[ʒ]	zh	κάζ̌υ	walnut
τσ̂	[t͡s̻]	tss	τσ̂αι	and
τζ̑	[t̻͡ɕ]	tsz	τζ̑αμοζ̌άζου	put something in a precarious position
ν̇	[n]	n’	έν̇ι	he is
λ̣	[l]	l’	λ̣ίμνα	lake
ν̂	[ɲ]	ni’	ν̂’επέκα	I told him/her/it
α̈	[ä]	a’	δα̈δά	now (Propontis)

Special Characters for Propontis Tsakonian: In his 1951 grammar, Kostakis introduced additional diacritics to represent unique phonetic developments in the Propontis dialect (Kostakis, 1951):

Palatalization Rules in Kostakis:

Palatalization is the process by which a consonant acquires a ‘y’-like quality before front vowels such as [i]. In Kostakis’s system:

• ν and λ are palatalized ([ɲ], [ʎ]) before [i] sounds (ι, υ, ει, οι…).
• ν̇ and λ̣ indicate non-palatalized sounds in environments where they would normally be palatalized. (García Chaparro, 2024)
• ν̂ represents a palatalized [ɲ] resulting from contraction, often appearing as ν̂’ before a vowel. (García Chaparro, 2024)

4. Modern and Digital Orthographies

In the 21st century, practical needs — especially typing on standard computer keyboards — have prompted new proposals that replace hard-to-type diacritics with character combinations.

Marneris’ Orthography (2024)

Developed by Panos Marneris to simplify typing by using digraphs and the letter h. (García Chaparro, 2026)

Sound	Representation	Notes
[kʰ], [tʰ], [pʰ]	κχ, τθ, πφ	Uses historical digraphs.
[ʃ], [ʒ]	σh, ζh	Uses h to indicate postalveolar.
[ɲi]	ννι	Represents palatalization with double consonant.
[ni]	νι	Does not distinguish from non-palatalized [ni].
[li] / [ʎi]	λι	Does not distinguish between λι vs λ̣ι.

Simple Kostakis (2025)

Proposed by Jaime García Chaparro as a bridge using digraphs and trigraphs while maintaining a one-to-one correspondence with Kostakis’ system for digital accessibility. Digraphs are two-letter combinations representing a single sound (e.g. κχ for [kʰ]); trigraphs are three-letter combinations. Simple Kostakis synthesizes elements from academic precision and practical digraph-based models, making Tsakonian accessible on any standard Greek keyboard (García Chaparro, 2024).

Core Mapping:

Sound	Kostakis	Simple Kostakis	Transliteration
/kʰ/	κ̔	κχ	kh
/tʰ/	τ̔	τθ	th
/pʰ/	π̔	πφ	ph
/ʃ/	σ̌	ξξ	sh
/ʒ/	ζ̌	ζζ	zh
[t͡s̻]	τσ̂	τσσ	tss
[t̻͡ɕ]	τζ̑	τσζ	tsz
/ni/	ν̇ι	ν’ι	n’i
/ɲi/	νι	νι	ni
/ɲ/	ν̂	νι’	ni’
/li/	λ̣ι	λ’ι	l’i
/ʎi/	λι	λι	li
/ä/	α̈	α’	a’

Affricate Distinction: Simple Kostakis maintains the contrast between the standard affricate τσ [ts] and the laminal dental affricate τσσ [t͡s̻] (Kostakis’ τσ̂). This distinction is often merged in other modern proposals but preserved here for linguistic consistency (García Chaparro, 2024).

4. Comparison of Representations

Phoneme Representation

Sound	Kostakis	Marneris	Simple Kostakis	Transliteration
[kʰ]	κ̔	κχ	κχ	kh
[tʰ]	τ̔	τθ	τθ	th
[pʰ]	π̔	πφ	πφ	ph
[ʃ]	σ̌	σh	ξξ	sh
[ʒ]	ζ̌	ζh	ζζ	zh
[ɲi]	νι	ννι	νι	ni
[ni]	ν̇ι	νι	ν’ι	n’i
[ɲ]	ν̂	νι	νι’	ni’
[ʎi]	λι	λι	λι	li
[li]	λ̣ι	λι	λ’ι	l’i
[t͡s̻]	τσ̂	τσσ	τσσ	tss
[t̻͡ɕ]	τζ̑	τσζ	τσζ	tsz

Examples Comparison

English	Kostakis	Marneris	Simple K.	Transliteration	SMG
fire	κ̔άρα	κχάρα	κχάρα	khára	φωτιά
to lift	τ̔αίνου	τθαίνου	τθαίνου	thaínou	σηκώνω
mountain	σ̌ίνα	σhήνα	ξξίνα	shína	βουνό
walnut	κάζ̌υ	κάζhυ	κάζζυ	kázhi	καρύδι
I am	ένι	έννι	ένι	éni	είμαι
he is	έν̇ι	ένι	έν’ι	én’i	είναι
and	τσ̂αι	τσαι	τσσαι	tssé	και

References

• García Chaparro, J. (2024). Simple Kostakis: A Tsakonian orthography proposal for the early digital era. Simple Kostakis Orthography Proposal.md
• García Chaparro, J. (2025a). Tsakonian Digital: Tsakonian’s journey towards Artificial Intelligence. Tsakonian Digital Tsakonian’s journey towards Artificial Intelligence.md
• García Chaparro, J. (2026). Learn Tsakonian: Alphabet and orthographies. Learn Tsakonian Orthography.md
• Kamvysis, I. (2020). Για να κ̔οντούμε τα γρούσσα ναμου. Leonidio: Αρχείο Τσακωνιάς.
• Kostakis, T. (1986). Λεξικό της Τσακωνικής Διαλέκτου. Athens: Academy of Athens.
• Liosis, N. (2024). Tsakonian Studies: The State-of-the-Art. Tsakonian Studies State of the Art.md
• Marneris, P. (2024). Το βιβλίε νάμου. Α Τσακωνοπαρέα.
• Nowakowski, M. (2024). Orthography proposal for the Tsakonian language. Leonidio.