The Main Differences Between Cypriot And Standard Modern Greek
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Standard Modern Greek and Cypriot Greek share the same roots, but they sound like two completely different languages to the untrained ear.
If you learn Greek in Athens, you’ll likely struggle to understand native speakers in Cyprus.
Cypriot Greek is a distinct dialect with its own unique pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar rules.
Most Cypriots are fully bilingual and can easily switch to Standard Modern Greek when speaking to tourists or mainland Greeks.
However, among themselves, they always use their local dialect.
Here’s a clear breakdown of the main differences between the two.
Table of Contents:
Pronunciation and sounds
Standard Modern Greek has a very flat, even rhythm.
Cypriot Greek has a distinct, melodic sing-song intonation.
The most obvious phonetic difference is the use of double consonants.
In Standard Greek, double consonants are written but rarely pronounced out loud.
In Cypriot Greek, you clearly hear the lingering sound of a double consonant when a word is spoken.
Cypriot also includes phonetic sounds that simply don’t exist in Standard Greek.
For example, Cypriot has “sh” and “ch” sounds, similar to the English words “shoe” and “cheese”.
Standard Greek lacks these soft palatal sounds entirely.
Here’s an example of a word with the “sh” sound in Cyprus:
Σκύλλος
Mainland Greeks would pronounce this exact same animal as skilos, with a hard “k” sound.
Vocabulary and everyday words
Many everyday words in Cyprus are completely different from those used in mainland Greece.
Some Cypriot words come from Ancient Greek and were preserved perfectly over centuries.
Other words are entirely unique to the island.
This means you’ll frequently encounter basic nouns and verbs in Cyprus that a mainland Greek might not even recognize.
Here’s a table comparing some common words in both varieties:
| English | Standard Greek | Cypriot Greek |
|---|---|---|
| Here | Εδώ (Edo) | Δαμέ (Dame) |
| What | Τι (Ti) | Ίντα (Inta) |
| I look | Κοιτάζω (Kitazo) | Θωρώ (Thoro) |
| Money | Λεφτά (Lefta) | Ριάλια (Rialia) |
| Now | Τώρα (Tora) | Τωρά (Tora - accent on the last syllable) |
| I do/make | Κάνω (Kano) | Κάμνω (Kamno) |
Grammar and sentence structure
Sentence structure in Cypriot Greek often follows different rules.
The most noticeable grammatical difference is where object pronouns are placed in a sentence.
In Standard Greek, object pronouns almost always go right before the verb.
In Cypriot Greek, object pronouns often go immediately after the verb.
Here’s how you say “he told me” in Standard Greek:
Μου είπε.
And here’s how you say the exact same phrase in Cypriot Greek:
Είπεν μου.
Notice the extra “n” at the end of the verb in the Cypriot example.
Cypriot Greek frequently keeps the final “n” (the letter ni) on the ends of nouns and verbs.
Standard Greek dropped this final “n” in most conversational cases a very long time ago.
Foreign language influences
Cyprus has a rich history of being ruled or influenced by various empires due to its location in the Mediterranean.
This history has left a massive mark on the Cypriot Greek vocabulary.
You’ll hear many borrowed words from Turkish, Arabic, Venetian, and French.
British English also had a huge impact because Cyprus was a British colony until 1960.
Because of this, Cypriots use many English words in their daily speech.
While mainland Greeks might use native words for things like car parts or household items, Cypriots often use modified English or Turkish words instead.
