Tsakonian Digital VaultPropontis is the ancient name for the Sea of Marmara (modern-day Turkey). Propontis Tsakonian was spoken in a small Tsakonian colony there — an enclave of speakers who maintained their dialect far from the Peloponnese for several centuries. This dialect is now extinct: its speakers were scattered throughout Greece after the 1922 population exchange between Greece and Turkey (known in Greece as the Asia Minor Catastrophe), and subsequently shifted to Standard Modern Greek (Liosis, 2017).
For a comparison with the living varieties, see 4.4 Dialect Comparison. For the Propontis-specific orthographic characters, see 3. Orthography.
Towns and Villages
Vatika / Mousatsa (Βάτικα / Μουσάτσα, Vátika / Mousátsa)
The main Tsakonian settlement in Propontis, located opposite Artaki on the southern coast of the Sea of Marmara, near the Aisēpos (Αἴσηπος, Aísipos) River. The village had over 150 Greek families in the early 20th century. Its economy was based on cereal crops and horticulture. The village name “Vatika” is believed to derive from Vatika (Βάτικα, Vátika), the homeland region in southeastern Lakonia — a key piece of evidence for the settlers’ Lakonian origins (Kostakis, 1951).
Havutsi (Χαβουτσί, Chavoutsí)
A smaller settlement located roughly half an hour from Vatika (Kostakis, 1951).
The 1922 Exodus and Refugee Settlement
The Propontis Tsakonians were displaced during the catastrophe of 1922. On 26 August 1922, the inhabitants of Vatika and Havutsi departed by steamship, arriving first at Pasalimani, then at Alexandroupoli, and finally at Aigio (23 October 1922). They were permanently settled in Servia (Σέρβια, Sérvia) near Kozani in 1924. The inhabitants of Havutsi were settled separately, in Chionata (Χιονάτα, Chionáta) and Gkerleni (Γκερλένι, Gkerléni) (Kostakis, 1951).
Dating the Colony
The date of the Propontis Tsakonian colony’s founding is debated:
- Koukoules (1924): proposed a 13th-century date, linking the colony to military settlers during the Nicaean Empire / Latin occupation period.
- Amantos: argued the colony could be much later, possibly even 18th century.
- Pachymeres provides testimony that Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos resettled Lakones/Tsakones “συν γυναιξί και τέκνοις” (syn gynaixí kai téknois) in Constantinople, supporting the possibility of Byzantine-era resettlement (Kostakis, 1951).
- Kostakis sided with a later dating (post-1668), reasoning that: (a) the dialect’s excellent preservation is incompatible with a 13th-century migration, (b) Evliya Çelebi (1668) showed that Tsakonia still extended deep into Lakonia at that time with ανθηρά χωριά (anthirá choriá, “flourishing villages”), and (c) the village name “Vatika” points to Vatika in Lakonia as the settlers’ origin, a region that contracted only after the Albanian raids and the Orlov events of the 18th century (Kostakis, 1951).
Characteristics
- Reported to be more conservative than the Peloponnesian varieties (García Chaparro, 2026).
- Underwent significant influence from the Thracian Greek used by neighboring populations, bringing it closer to Standard Modern Greek (García Chaparro, 2026).
Phonology: The “Open A” (α̈)
A unique feature of Propontis Tsakonian is the treatment of the unstressed vowel sequence -ια (/-ia/). This sequence frequently merges into a single “very open a” sound, represented in Kostakis’ orthography by α̈ (accented α̈́) (García Chaparro, 2024). This shift reflects a characteristic phonological reduction in the subdialect (Kostakis, 1951).
| Original (SMG/Ancient) | Propontis Form | Translit. | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| φτειάνα (fteiána) | φτα̈́να | ftá’na | to make / prepare |
| κρυάδα (kryáda) | κρα̈́δα | krá’da | coldness |
| μυαλό (myaló) | μα̈λέ | má’le | brain / mind |
Clitic Placement (Medieval Greek Pattern)
Clitics are unstressed grammatical words (here, pronouns) that attach phonologically to another word rather than standing alone. In Propontis Tsakonian, clitics preserve the medieval Greek pattern: if the verb is in initial position, clitics follow it (enclitic — attached after); otherwise they precede it (proclitic — placed before). This pattern also applies in other eastern dialects of Modern Greek. See 5.9 Particles and Clitics and 5.8 Syntax for a full description. (Liosis, 2017):
| Context | Clitic Position | Example | Translit. | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verb-initial | Enclitic | θωράκαϊ ν’ τον αγό | zorákaï n’ ton agó | ’They saw the rabbit’ |
| Non-verb-initial | Proclitic | μα τ’ παρακαλέσ’ | ma t’ parakalés' | 'I will ask you’ |
This contrasts with Peloponnesian Tsakonian, where clitics are proclitic in almost all environments.
Future Particle μα
The Propontis subdialect forms the future with the particle μα (ma) (as in μα τ’ παρακαλέσ’ (ma t’ parakalés’) ‘I will ask you’), unlike Standard Modern Greek which uses θα (tha) (derived from the auxiliary θέλω (thélo) ‘want’). The particle μα (ma) cannot be derived from θέλω (thélo) and its origin remains an unresolved issue in Tsakonian linguistics (Liosis, 2017).
Periphrastic Subjunctive and Imperative
Propontis Tsakonian features periphrastic structures for the subjunctive and imperative, which are crosslinguistically rare for these moods (cf. Dahl 1985, Bybee et al. 1994: 104–124) and cannot easily be interpreted as the result of language decay (Liosis, 2017).
Documentation
- Kostakis provided significant documentation of this dialect by interviewing exiled speakers. His Σύντοµη Γραµµατική της Τσακωνικής Διαλέκτου (Sýntomi Grammatikí tis Tsakónikis Dialéktou) (1951) examines the northern subdialect and, for the first time, the Propontis subdialect (Liosis, 2017).
- His principal informants for the Propontis material were: papa Thanasis Papadopoulos (Athens), N. Valsamoglou (Kokkinia/Piraeus), R. Marinaki and D. Drivanoglou (Nea Artaki, Euboea) (Kostakis, 1951).
- The dialect is covered in his three-volume Dictionary of the Tsakonian Dialect (1986–87) (García Chaparro, 2026).
- Several unresolved issues remain due to the historical conditions that did not allow the collection of more and better quality material (Liosis, 2017).
References
- Liosis, N. (2017). Tsakonian Studies: The State-of-the-Art. Tsakonian Studies State of the Art.md
- García Chaparro, J. (2026). What is the Tsakonian language?. What is the Tsakonian language Tsakonian Digital.md
- Nicholas, N. (2019). A critical lexicostatistical examination of Ancient and Modern Greek and Tsakonian. Journal of Greek Linguistics, 19(1), 1-30.
- Kostakis, A. P. (1951). Σύντομη Γραμματική της Τσακώνικης Διαλέκτου (Sýntomi Grammatikí tis Tsakónikis Dialéktou). Institut Français d’Athènes. Kostakis Short Grammar of Tsakonian 1951.md