Tsakonian | |
---|---|
τσακώνικα | |
Native to | Greece |
Region | Eastern Peloponnese, around Mount Parnon |
Ethnicity | Tsakonians |
Native speakers | 2,000–4,000 (2018)[1] |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | tsd |
Glottolog | tsak1248 |
ELP | Tsakonian |
Linguasphere | 56-AAA-b |
Tsakonian is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Tsakonian or Tsaconian (also Tzakonian or Tsakonic, Greek: τσακώνικα and Tsakonian: τσακώνικα, α τσακώνικα γρούσσα) is a highly divergent modern variety of Greek, spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece. Unlike all other extant varieties of Greek, Tsakonian derives from Doric Greek rather than from the Attic-Ionic branch.[2] Although it is conventionally treated as a dialect of Greek,[3][4][5] some compendia treat it as a separate language.[6] Tsakonian is critically endangered, with only a few hundred/thousand, mostly elderly, fluent speakers left.[6] Although Tsakonian and standard Modern Greek are related, they are not mutually intelligible.[7]
Tsakonian is a dialect of Greek and is related to, though not mutually intelligible with, modern Greek.