Cretan Greek
| Cretan Greek | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Greece |
| Region | Crete |
| Greek alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | cret1244 |
| Linguasphere | 56-AAA-ag |
Cretan Greek, or the Cretan dialect (Greek: κρητική διάλεκτος), is a variety of Modern Greek spoken in Crete and by the Cretan diaspora.
The Cretan dialect is spoken by the majority of the Cretan Greeks in the island of Crete, as well as by several thousands of Cretans who have settled in major Greek cities, notably in Athens. In the major centers of the Greek diaspora, the dialect continues to be used by the Cretans, mainly in the United States, Australia, and Germany. In addition, the descendants of many Cretan Muslims who left the island during the 19th and early 20th century continue to use it. In Turkey, they are called Cretan Turks. They constitute the majority of the overall population in Ayvalık and Cunda Island due to the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. There is another grouping of Cretan Muslims in the coastal town of al-Hamidiyah, Syria, and the neighboring territories of Lebanon.
Palatalisation. Standard Greek has an allophonic alternation between velar consonants ([k], [ɡ], [x], [ɣ]) and palatalised counterparts ([c], [ɟ], [ç], [ʝ]) before front vowels (/i/, /e/). In southern dialects, the palatalisation goes further towards affricates (e.g. [tɕe] vs. standard [ce] 'and'). Subtypes can be distinguished that have either palato-alveolar ([tʃ], [dʒ], [ʃ], [ʒ]) or alveolo-palatal sounds ([tɕ], [dʑ], [ɕ], [ʑ]). The former are reported for Cyprus, the latter for Crete, among others.
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