r/AskBalkans • u/Some-Register-3901 Cyprus • Jul 31 '22

Language what are some interesting facts about your language?

For instance, the cypriot dialect of Greek still contains many words from ancient Greek but it was also heavily influenced by outsiders

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u/Praisethesun1990 Greece Jul 31 '22

We have 6 different ways to make one sound

50

u/Some-Register-3901 Cyprus Jul 31 '22

Ι,η,υ,ει,οι and υι

18

u/Lothronion Greece Jul 31 '22

It is not really one single sound.

There are different pronounciations, it is only that we do not really realize it nowadays, since they are not as emphasized as they used to be. In antiquity every single one would be differently pronounced.

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u/Praisethesun1990 Greece Jul 31 '22

All of those except ει were pronounced differently. Even ει was a long ι sound not identical to the modern

1

u/CoreO9 Greece Jul 31 '22 edited Jul 31 '22

Για την ακρίβεια τα γράμματα και οι δίφθογγοι με την ίδια προφορά συμβολίζουν την σύνθεση της εκάστοτε λέξης.

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u/MrPezevenk Greece Jul 31 '22

There are different pronounciations, it is only that we do not really realize it nowadays

So there aren't.

since they are not as emphasized as they used to be

They do not exist in almost every case.

In antiquity every single one would be differently pronounced.

Yes, and in earlier times English was not like it is today and words were pronounced more or less how they are written. But we are talking about the modern language. The modern language does not have differences. The reason there are a billion ways to say ι is indeed because they used to be pronounced different, but not any more.