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The Euromosaic study

Other languages in Cyprus

  1. Armenian
  2. Cypriot Arabic
  3. Romani

 

1. Armenian

Armenian [Hayeren] is a language of the Indo-European family, though its relationship to other Indo-European varieties is still debated. The Armenian alphabet was created for religious and cultural purposes, since Christianity had become the state religion of the Armenians as early as in the 4th century. Armenian has more than 60 varieties. Eastern Armenian is the state language of the Republic of Armenia [Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun], where literary Armenian is used in education. The western dialects predominate in the diaspora communities, including the one in Cyprus.

Currently there are some 2,600 Armenians in Cyprus, including many that are not Cypriot citizens. Armenians first settled in Cyprus in the late 6th century, retaining their ties with Syria — especially with its intellectual centre at Edessa — until the arrival of the Arabs in the region during the 7th century. The main migration wave to Cyprus followed the Armenian Genocide of 1915-23 in Turkey. Armenians have traditionally inhabited the towns of Larnaca, Limassol and Nicosia; those living in Famagusta left after the Turkish invasion in 1974. Armenians have apparently lost some properties in the northern part, including the Makaravank and Kantsvor monasteries. In constitutional terms, Armenians form a religious group in the Republic of Cyprus who opted for adherence to the Greek Community; they have the right to elect a representative to the Cypriot Parliament. Beside the non-discrimination clause (Art. 6 of the Constitution), they are guaranteed the right to use their own language in private and in public, and to receive instruction in it. All Armenians are bilingual in Greek and Armenian.

Currently there are three Armenian churches and primary schools in Cyprus (Larnaca, Limassol and Nicosia) and a secondary school in Nicosia. The Melkonian Educational Institute is the most renowned co-educational institution of Cypriot Armenians. Founded in 1926, the Melkonian Institute is open to students of all nationalities and offers a comprehensive secondary school curriculum. All subjects, except for the Armenian language, are taught in English. Foreign languages offered include Greek, French, Arabic, Russian and Bulgarian. The Board of the Institute, however, has announced the decision to close down in 2005. A daily radio programme by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation in Armenian includes extensive interviews, news coverage, cultural reports and music. The two main Armenian monthly newspapers, Artsankank (founded 1995) and Paros (founded 1997), provide national and international news, primarily in Armenian — although certain columns and cultural reviews are printed in Greek and in English. The Armenian Church in Cyprus publishes its own monthly bulletin Keghart in Armenian. The Armenian community of Cyprus receives State funding for concerts, dance performances, art and photographic exhibitions, and literary events. Organisations include the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Armenian National Committee. The Cypriot-Armenian Friendship Society (est. in 1998) organises concerts, lectures and exhibitions, so as to establish closer ties between the two Republics. The Armenian churches have allocated space within their premises to encourage cultural events such as the annual Autumn Book Exhibition. The Middle/Near East Armenian Research Centre (established in 1996 by Vartan Malian) houses a reference library and archival material on its Nicosia premises.

When the Republic of Armenia gained independence in 1991 new relations with the Republic of Cyprus were established. Since 1994, parliamentary delegations to and from Armenia have resulted in the signing of bi-lateral agreements and in the creation of a forum for further discussions and co-operation between the two governments. In 1995, the Armenian ambassador to Greece also became ambassador to Cyprus. Armenian was explicitly declared to be a non-territorial language in terms of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages (ECRML).

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2. Cypriot Arabic

Cypriot Arabic, or Kormakiti Arabic [Kormakiti Arabiyya] as it is named after the place where it is still spoken, belongs to the Semitic language family. It is the language traditionally used by the Maronite community, though the local faithful speak Greek and the Liturgy is read in Greek. Like most of the Arabic vernaculars, Cypriot Arabic is not written, and — given the isolated development of the language — it is virtually unintelligible to speakers of standard Arabic. There are connections with the Syrian and Mesopotamian dialects of Arabic, and possibly even with the medieval dialects of Baghdad. A survey conducted among Maronites in the late 60s revealed that none of the interviewees was able to read or write standard Arabic.

At the end of 1996 the Maronites numbered approx. 4,500. Maronite colonies of Syrian and Lebanese origin have settled in Cyprus since the 8th century. Originally belonging to the Syrian Orthodox Church, Maronites are Christians of a Uniate Church, i.e. in formal communion with Rome but retaining a separate language and liturgy. This relationship was reinforced with the Crusades, especially after 1182, when they sought union with the Patriarch of Antioch in Lebanon. Many Maronites arrived in Cyprus when the Latin states of the Levant fell to Islam; this emigration continued under the Venetians up to the Ottoman conquest of the island (1570-71). Maronites survived as a distinct community despite the ban on Catholicism. At the end of the 15th century there were approx. 1,500 Maronites distributed among 19 villages; in 1881 their number had dwindled to 830 people, scattered in the villages of Kormakiti/Koruçam, Agia Marina/Gürpinar, Asomatos/Özhan and Karpasha/Karpaşa in the northwest of the island, where several monasteries and churches are also located. Although the number of Maronites has increased to over 4,000 since then, after 1974 their distribution pattern was disrupted: most Maronites resettled in the territory controlled by the Republic of Cyprus, but were scattered in Nicosia and in the surrounding villages. Only a few of them (165 according to UN estimates in 2001) have remained in traditional villages within the area occupied by Turkey. There are still contacts between the Maronites of Lebanon and Cyprus, although less frequently than before.

Cypriot Arabic is now spoken almost exclusively by less that 1,000 members of the Maronite community, all coming from the village of Kormakiti. The rest (and therefore the majority) of the community is exclusively Greek-speaking, and the use of Arabic is confined to family and religious purposes. The Maronite liturgy is generally conducted in Greek rather than Syraic or Cypriot Arabic, though the mass includes ancient hymns sung in Syraic. At the time of the Turkish invasion the Maronites of Kormakiti were bilingual in Arabic and Greek. There is no formal or educational setting for the language. The extremely reduced number of (ageing) inhabitants in the traditional villages, the dispersal of the resettled Maronites and a (consequent) lower degree of endogamy have been contributing to a process of linguistic assimilation.

The Maronites of Cyprus have their own bishop but are subject to the Patriarch of Antioch, who is appointed by the Pope; they opted for adherence to the Greek Community under the terms of the 1960 Constitution. The non-discrimination clause (Art. 6) of the Republic of Cyprus applies to Cypriot Arabic as well as to Armenian and Turkish. In the Republic of Cyprus, the leaders of the Maronite community have long requested their own schools and housing areas or villages. The building of an elementary school was planned for 2002.

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3. Romani

Romani [Romanes], or Romany, is an Indic (or Indo-Aryan) language — like Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali — that belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. The dispersal and differentiation of the Roma since their arrival in Europe (12th century) brought about a fragmentation of the language in distinct groups, which include approximately 60 dialects and varieties. There are no official records on the arrival of Roma in Cyprus, but they probably came from the Crusader colonies on the eastern Mediterranean coast (now Lebanon and Israel) in the 14th century. Their membership in Cyprus is between 500 and 1,000, and they are classified outside the religious groups. Most of them live in the occupied area. There are no data available on language use.

 

Last update: 27-10-2006