The language and dialect of Crete
The Cretan Greek is a normally considered to be merely a dialect of the
Greek language that is spoken by the people living in Crete and the many
thousands who make up the diaspora. Many suggest that in Crete, just like
many other islands in Greece, there are only pronunciation differences and
different words or expressions compared to standard Greek and that these can
vary within the island of Crete itself.
A few examples is the use of "inta" instead of "ti" for "what"; "kai" sounds
more like "che" (and) ; "edA " instead of "twra" (now) and "epA" or "epae"
instead of "edo" (here). It is generally thought that Cretan Greek, like
most other Greek dialects evolved from Koine, the universal dialect of Greek
that was spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity (300 BC to 300AD) but
its structure and vocabulary displays differences from standard Greek due to
the distance of Crete from main Greek cities of influence. It is also
considered that the conquest of Crete by various groups over the centuries
have left their influence particularly on vocabulary.
However, in 2005, and after 25 years of petitioning by a dedicated group of
Cretan linguists, the EU has formally recognised that Cretan Greek is not a
dialect but a living language and believed to be Europe"s oldest living
language with roots that stretch back further than Ancient Greek. One of the
main leaders of this group of Cretan linguists argues that the Cretan
villager of today would have no trouble conversing with an ancestor at the
time of Knossos.