Tsakonian Digital VaultTsakonian uses several particles and clitics whose behavior varies between subdialects. The syntactic rules governing clitic placement are among the most theoretically interesting features of Tsakonian.
Particles are short, invariable words that carry grammatical meaning (e.g. the future particle μα in Propontis Tsakonian or θα in Modern Greek). Clitics are unstressed words that cannot stand alone phonologically and must attach to another word, typically a verb. For the positions clitics take in a sentence, see 5.8 Syntax. For how they differ between dialects, see 4.4 Dialect Comparison.
Clitic Pronouns
Clitic pronouns in Tsakonian serve as direct object (DO) and indirect object (IO) markers. Their placement relative to the verb differs between the Propontis and Peloponnesian subdialects (Liosis, 2017):
| Subdialect | Rule |
|---|---|
| Propontis | Enclitic after verb-initial position; proclitic otherwise (medieval Greek pattern) |
| Peloponnesian | Proclitic in almost all environments |
Examples
Propontis — verb-initial (enclitic):
| θωράκαϊ (zorákaï) | ν’ (n’) | τον (ton) | αγό (agó) |
|---|---|---|---|
| saw.3PL | DO3SG | the | rabbit |
‘They saw the rabbit’ — (Costakis 1957: 118)
Propontis — non-verb-initial (proclitic):
| μα (ma) | τ’ (t’) | παρακαλέσ’ (parakalés’) |
|---|---|---|
| FUT | DO2SG | ask.1SG.SUBJ |
‘I will ask you’ — (Costakis 1957: 96)
Peloponnesian — proclitic:
| νι (ni) | ενέντζε (enéndzze) |
|---|---|
| DO3SG | enéndzze |
‘S/he brought it’ — (Liosis 2007)
Clitic Clustering
When a clitic pronoun and the clitic auxiliary co-occur in the same verb phrase, the two clitics cluster together. Their relative order differs between subdialects (Liosis, 2017):
Propontis — verb auxiliary + DO clitic:
| πουλώ (pouló) | τα-σι (ta-si) | ένα (éna) | γρόσ’ (grós’) |
|---|---|---|---|
| selling.M.SG | CLA3.PST-DO3PL | one | piaster |
‘He was selling them for one piaster’ — (Costakis 1957: 102)
Peloponnesian — IO + auxiliary:
| μ-εκι (m-eki) | αούα (aoúa) | α (a) | μαμού (mamoú) | μοι (moi) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IO1SG-CLA3SG.PST | telling.F.SG | the | grandmother | mine |
‘My grandmother used to tell me’ — (Costakis 1986, 3: 394)
Verbal Auxiliary Clitics
The periphrastic verbal system uses the auxiliary ‘to be’ (ένι (éni)) as a clitic element. In the indicative, the auxiliary combines with the participle of the main verb (Liosis, 2017):
| Form | Structure | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| ένι ορού (éni oroú) | AUX + participle | ’I see’ |
| έμα ορού (éma oroú) | AUX.PST + participle | ’I was seeing’ |
The Future Particle
The Propontis subdialect uses the particle μα (ma) to form the future tense, while Peloponnesian Tsakonian uses θα (za) (as in SMG). The origin of μα (ma) cannot be derived from the grammaticalization of the auxiliary θέλω (thélo) (‘want’) as in most Greek dialects, and remains unresolved (Liosis, 2017).
| Subdialect | Future Particle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Propontis | μα (ma) | μα τ’ παρακαλέσ’ (ma t’ parakalés’) ‘I will ask you’ |
| Peloponnesian | θα (za) | θα ναμ’ αλεί (za nam’ alí) ‘S/he will tell us’ |
The Subjunctive Particle να
The subjunctive particle να (na) introduces subjunctive forms, as in Standard Modern Greek. However, Tsakonian uniquely preserves morphologically distinct subjunctive endings alongside this particle (Liosis, 2017):
- να ορίνου (na orínou) ‘that I see (imperfective)’
- να οράου (na oráou) ‘that I see (perfective)‘
Fossilized Dative Clitic μοι
Tsakonian preserves the ancient dative clitic μοι (moi) ‘to me’ in oblique forms of personal pronouns, a fossilized relic of the ancient dative case (Liosis, 2017).
References
- Liosis, N. (2017). Tsakonian Studies: The State-of-the-Art. Tsakonian Studies State of the Art.md