Greeklish - Current Trends - Cypriot Variant

Cypriot Variant

Cypriot Greek has a distinct form of Greeklish, which reflects Cypriot phonology; for instance j can indicate the phone, which is written in Cypriot Greek as τζι-, and corresponds to palatalized /k/ in standard Greek. For instance, Standard Greek και /ke/ "and" = Greeklish kai/ke; versus Cypriot τζιαι ̠ = Cypriot Greeklish tziai or je. Cypriot Leet/Instant Messaging uses of Greeklish reflect this. For instance:

Cypriot Greeklish:

ego n 3ero re pe8kia.. skeftoume skeftoume omos tpt.. n mporo na me fantasto na asxoloume tin ipolipi m zoi me ena single prama.. kathe mera jini i idia i doulia. enna spaso. omos me tes epilogies p ekama .. tino pros iatrika j etsi.. (http://www.varkoume.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=558876&sid=07416b68bb274b6bb6954cba283449bb, 2006-03-25 )

Cypriot Greek:

Εγώ εν ξέρω ρε παιθκιά... σκέφτουμαι σκέφτουμαι όμως τίποτε... εν μπορώ να με φανταστώ να ασχολούμαι την υπόλοιπή μου ζωή με ένα single πράμα... κάθε μέρα τζιείνη η ίδια η δουλειά. Εννα σπάσω. Όμως με τες επιλογές που έκαμα... τείνω προς ιατρικά τζιαι έτσι...

IM-isms: n = en εν "not" (in Standard Greek: d = den δεν); tpt = tipote τίποτε "nothing" (tipota τίποτα in Standard Greek); j = je τζιαι "and"