Constantinople Greeks: The Cosmopolitans of the Byzantine Empire’s Capital

Arnavutköy was 1 of the largest Greek sea-side villages successful the Bosporus. Credit: Özgür Okkalı, CC BY-SA 2.5/Wikipedia

Most radical are alert of the opus “Istanbul was Constantinople” and possibly nary amended than the Greeks of Istanbul. Although astatine the crook of the 20th period they numbered hundreds of thousands, determination are lone a fewer 1000 near successful Istanbul today.

By Matthew John Hadodo, PhD

Despite the geopolitical conflicts that person impacted the section population, Istanbul Greeks are precise arrogant to support their circumstantial marque of Greekness that embodies their acquisition successful the historical Byzantine capital: cosmopolitanism.

The Istanbul Greek dialect, with power from Greek varieties crossed the Mediterranean and different languages spoken successful the City, is 1 important mode Istanbul Greeks clasp onto their cosmopolitan taste heritage.

Constantinople Greeks lone astir 2,000

The Istanbul Greeks are an indigenous number that successful the aboriginal 20th period numbered astir 300,000 individuals, past astir 35% of Istanbul’s population. With presently astir 2,000 members, Istanbul Greeks present marque up astir 0.01% of Istanbul’s colonisation of astir 20,000,000.

Closeup of accepted woody Istanbul Greek benignant homes with cumbalar/τζούμπες, enclosed rectangular balconies. Credit: Matthew John Hadodo

Since the metropolis was founded successful 657 BC (about 2,500 years ago) by Doric Greeks from Megara, Byzantium /Constantinople /Istanbul has been location to a immense diverseness of communities. Throughout the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, Greeks from each implicit (especially Epirus, Thrace, Chios, and Cappadocia) migrated and helped signifier the assemblage into a unsocial New York City-style melting pot.

The borders that existed past were permeable and changing. Greeks came unneurotic and precise antithetic dialects mixed arsenic a result.

Furthermore, different groups of radical with chiseled languages besides formed the larger Istanbul community. Venetians, Genoese, Franco-Levantines, Armenians, Judeo-Spanyol speaking Sephardic Jews, and of people Turks, among different groups, each brought their languages with them.

Greek dialect

As a result, the Constantinople Greek dialect has galore features recovered successful peripheral varieties of Greek, attraction of definite archaisms mislaid successful astir dialects, galore borrowings from the different languages, and commonalities with modular Greek, too.

If you inquire immoderate Istanbul Greek astir dialectal differences, the archetypal happening they volition archer you are circumstantial lexical differences. Some vocabulary words travel straight from Turkish and different languages.

On the near is 1 of 2 buildings belonging to the Greek Consulate, the Sismanoglio Megaro connected Istiklal Caddesi, the main pedestrian walkway connecting Pera/Beyoglu with Tünel. Inside the Megaro are archives wherever they big antithetic taste events. The contiguous buildings are shorefronts that maintained the Neoclassical/Baroque style. Credit: Matthew John Hadodo

For example, μπαντέμι from Turkish badem (almond) exists alongside αμύγδαλο. Some
French and Italian words went to Turkish archetypal earlier becoming portion of Istanbul Greek specified arsenic Italian passaporto > Tk pasaport > πασαπόρτι.

Other words were straight borrowed from different languages without ever being incorporated into Turkish, specified arsenic French portmonnaie > πορτμονέ (coin purse).

The sanction Istanbul itself is symbolic of connection borrowings. Although determination are a fewer people etymologies trying to explicate wherever the word comes from, Istanbul is astir apt derived
from Stin Poli (to oregon successful the City) and adjacent successful the precocious Ottoman era, Stamboul is however British and others called past Constantinople, particularly erstwhile referring to the Old City. Of people present the sanction of the metropolis successful Turkish is Istanbul though they utilized to telephone it Konstaniye.

Common vocabulary of Greek root successful Istanbul Greek see presumption specified arsenic όρνιθα for chicken, γιατρικά for medicine, χουλιάρι for spoon, απίδι for pear, κόχη for thoroughfare corner, and many, galore others.

Some of these are archaisms, specified arsenic χουλιάρι which comes from Byzantine κοχλιάριον and on with απίδι are recovered successful Pontic and Cappadocian Greek varieties, among different Greek dialects. Other verbs specified arsenic μνείσκω (to unrecorded successful a peculiar place) and the pronunciation of κάνω arsenic κάμ(ν)ω are besides older forms recovered successful dialects specified arsenic Cypriot and Cretan Greek.

Pronunciation of Constantinople’s Greeks

As a result, Istanbul Greek is not easy definable arsenic belonging neatly to 1 dialect radical implicit another. In presumption of pronunciation, 1 of the astir noteworthy features of Istanbul Greek is the “dark l” earlier the vowels a, o, and u. Often called βαρύ oregon χοντρό (thick), these are erstwhile the ‘l’ is produced much astatine the backmost of the pharynx alternatively than astatine the beforehand arsenic successful modular Greek.

A photograph of the author’s large great uncle Pavlos Makridis and his household successful Istanbul sometime successful the 1930s. Credit: Matthew John Hadodo

This dialectal pronunciation and the usage of accusative entity lawsuit “me/se” alternatively than modular “mou/sou” for indirect objects shows immoderate similarities with Northern Greek dialects.

Other pronunciation, oregon phonetic differences see pronouncing “τς” and “τζ” arsenic “ch” and “j.” Also, immoderate words of French oregon different root that person entered into Standard Greek, specified arsenic ζακέτα, support the French “zh” dependable (think ‘measure’) successful Istanbul Greek.

Why is the dialect different? Although determination are plentifulness of linguistic explanations, societal factors play a ample relation successful however connection changes implicit time. Sociohistorical and geopolitical reasons tin explicate a batch astir however definite aspects of Istanbul Greek evolved the mode they did.

Constantinople Greeks successful commercial, cultural, and governmental roles

Having historically constituted a large portion of the city’s cosmopolitan quality from anterior to the Byzantine and passim the Ottoman eras, Constantinople Greeks served successful noteworthy commercial, cultural, and governmental roles.

These included a Phanariot elite serving arsenic Princes to Wallachia and Moldovia, galore architects trained successful Western European operation styles, and galore middle-class store owners successful the Pera neighborhood. Especially salient were French-style patisseries wherever galore Istanbul Greeks had trained successful France.

When coupled with each the taste groups, determination was overmuch commingling (there were precise fewer enclaves wherever determination was solely 1 community) and integration. The ample Franco-Levantine, Judeo-Spanyol, Armenian, and different populations were often co-workers, schoolmates, and neighbors. This results successful overmuch of some the European and Asian sides of the metropolis having a unsocial European flair to the buildings and types of shops and store fronts.

This European cosmopolitanis is echoed successful the connection of the Istanbul Greek community.

Linguists often sermon the relation separation plays successful connection and dialect divergence. This is
particularly existent successful the lawsuit of Greek varieties spoken crossed the Mediterranean. The antithetic Greek communities of Asia Minor established from the Byzantine epoch and earlier were separated crossed agelong distances with mountains, valleys, and seas successful between.

As Turkish speaking Ottomans dispersed crossed the region, their power culturally and linguistically was wide (and, for this reason, we spot galore similarities with regions of Greece nether extended intimate Ottoman rule, specified arsenic bluish Greece, Crete, Rhodes, etc.). Separation and isolation played a relation successful the improvement of these and different connection varieties.

Despina Makridou connected the near (born successful 1918) astatine astir 10 years aged oregon truthful successful her schoolhouse uniform. Credit: Matthew John Hadodo

Migration and language

However, migration besides plays a important relation successful connection variation. Many Greeks and non-Greeks worldwide are alert of the forced colonisation speech of 1923. After the Greco-Turkish warfare and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, astir 1.5 cardinal Greeks from Asia Minor were sent to Greece despit “Turkish” ungraded having been their homeland. In turn, astir fractional a cardinal Turks were sent to Turkey.

What is absorbing is that these exchanges were based connected religion alternatively than language, truthful galore of the Asia Minor Greeks were wholly Turcophonic oregon spoke a precise chiseled dialect of Greek (including Pontics, Cappadocians, and others) and galore of the Turks spoke exclusively Greek. Spared from the speech were the Greeks of Istanbul (as good arsenic the islands of Imvros and Tenedos) and the Turkish Muslims of Western Thrace.

Although galore Istanbul Greeks near their homeland of what is present Turkey for assorted reasons, the separation from mainland Greece passim the 19th and 20th centuries meant that Istanbul Greeks did not acquisition the aforesaid connection policies that the bulk of the Greek-speaking satellite did.

This is portion of the crushed wherefore galore Katharevousa words and phrases are inactive utilized successful mundane speech successful Istanbul, without needfully having the aforesaid connotations arsenic they would in, say, Athens.

The author’s grandmother, Despina Makridou Kirmizelma, with his mother, Margaret, successful the precocious 1950s connected 1 of the Prince Islands. Credit: Matthew John Hadodo

Even non-Katharevousa words that are nary longer utilized successful mainland Greece are inactive utilized successful Istanbul. For example, παστρικός and its derivatives are inactive utilized for “clean” successful Istanbul whereas this and related presumption person go euphemisms for “prostitutes” successful Greece.

The crushed for this is due to the fact that of the Asia Minor Greek refugees who were disparaged for washing themselves much regularly than their Athenian counterparts and frankincense were deemed arsenic being “clean” successful bid to prostitute (which was not needfully the case, of course). However, this semantic displacement ne'er took gait successful Istanbul, truthful the connection is inactive used.

Nevertheless, galore Istanbul Greeks, particularly the youth, those with Greek outer television, and those with beardown household ties successful Greece, person progressively adopted Standard Greek features successful their speech.

Visiting modern Istanbul is precise antithetic erstwhile you don’t needfully cognize the section past successful depth. Many Istanbul Greeks, oregon Polites, notation to themselves and similar the word Romioi. Ellines gets reserved for those from mainland Greece, different referred to arsenic Elladites.

Matthew John Hadodo completed his PhD successful sociolinguistics astatine the University of Pittsburgh focusing connected connection and individuality and started a postdoctoral presumption astatine the University of Bern’s Center for the Study of Language and Society. His enactment mostly focuses connected the endangered Istanbul Greek dialect.