Tsakonian Digital VaultTsakonian employs a variety of prepositions to express spatial, temporal, and logical relationships. Many of these are cognates with Standard Modern Greek (SMG) but often exhibit distinct phonetic forms and syntactic behaviors.
One of the most functionally important roles of prepositions in Tsakonian is replacing the genitive case: as the morphological genitive has been progressively lost (see 5.1 Nouns), prepositional phrases have taken over its role of expressing possession and other relationships. This is described further in 5.8 Syntax and (Kisilier & Mertyris, 2018).
Prepositions
The following table lists the primary prepositions found in Tsakonian:
| Tsakonian | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| σε (se) | to, in, at | Often used in genitive replacement; coalesces with articles. |
| από (apó) | from, by | Used for genitive replacement, especially in the plural. |
| μέ (mé) | with | |
| γιά (giá) | for | |
| κατά (or κά’) (katá or ká’) | towards, according to | Often shortened to κά’ before certain adverbs or articles. |
| αντί (andí) | instead of | From SMG αντί. |
| πάραξε (párexe) | except, but | Corresponding to SMG πάρεξ or παρά. |
| δίχως / χωρίς (díchos / chorís) | without | |
| μπρού (mbroú) | before | |
| μετά (metá) | after | Sometimes replaced by the participle περάσοντα. |
| αποκάτου (apokátou) | under | |
| αλλάργα (allárga) | far from | From Italian alla larga. |
| ανάγκια (anángia) | opposite | Corresponding to SMG αγνάντια. |
Morphosyntactic Features
Periphrastic Genitive
One of the most characteristic features of Tsakonian syntax is the replacement of the morphological genitive case with a prepositional phrase consisting of σε or από followed by the accusative (Kisilier & Mertyris, 2018).
- Example: Use of σε (se) is the most common model for genitive replacement, a feature that distinguishes Tsakonian from most other Modern Greek dialects.
- Plurality: In the plural, the preposition από (apó) is used more frequently than σε to indicate possession or origin.
Article Coalescence
When the preposition σε precedes a definite article starting with /t/, coalescence occurs, typically resulting in an aspirated or modified sound:
- σε + το → τ̒ο (tho)
- σε + τα → τ̒α (tha) This process is a hallmark of Tsakonian phonology and is frequently documented in early grammars (Kisilier & Mertyris, 2018).
Euphonic “σ’”
When prepositions such as από, γιά, or με are followed by a personal pronoun beginning with a vowel, a euphonic σ’ (s’) (a remnant of the preposition σε) is often inserted between them (Kostakis, 1951).
- Example: Από σ᾽ ενίου (Apó s’ eníou) (“from me”), γιά σ᾽ ετίου (giá s’ etíou) (“for you”).
Postpositions and Adverbial Use
While Tsakonian primarily uses prepositions, some adverbs and spatial markers can follow the noun or function in a way that resembles postpositional structures.
- Spatial Adverbs: Terms like αποκάτου (apokátou) (under) or από τάσου (apó tásou) (from inside) are often used periphrastically to specify location.
- Clitic Position: In the Propontis dialect, the position of clitic pronouns is determined by the verb’s position in the clause, sometimes appearing after the verb (enclitic) in verb-initial sentences (Kisilier, 2024).