This iconic city-state may have fallen nearly 2,400 years ago, but today, 2,000 people still use the language of these ancient warriors.
As you enter the mountain village of Peramerana in the southern Peloponnese of Greece, you may hear the roar of motorcycles speeding along the narrow roads and the chirping of birds stealing ripe fruit from trees. But if you approach the village's central café, you'll hear a rather unusual sound. It's the buzz of elders talking to each other in a 3,000-year-old language called Tsakonika.
The speaker is a descendant of the ancient Spartan language, an iconic Greek city-state and part of a rich cultural heritage and population known as the Tsakonian.
The ancient Tsakonian and modern Greek signs of the village of Peramellana welcome visitors
Thomais Kounia, known as "Queen Tsakonika" for her proficiency in the language, told her friend the bread she had baked that morning, but my Greek translator could not understand her. Instead, Cunha translated the Greek for him, and then he told me, like the Chinese whispering game. I was in awe. These ladies were the last fluent speakers in one of the oldest surviving languages in the world.
It is the only lasting heritage of the ancient Spartans and one of the oldest languages in Europe
Today, of the 10,000 Tsakonians, only about 2,000 (mostly elders) still speak Tsakonika, a language limited to the 13 towns, villages and hamlets located around Pera Melana. Although Greek is the official language of the region, Tsakonika is often used at home and casually in public. However, its future remains uncertain.
"Without a real teacher, we are losing Tsakonika," Cunha said. "I've been trying to protect it for the last 40 years. It is my duty to do so. ”
Not only is Tsakonika important to the identity and culture of the Tsakonians, it is the only lasting heritage of the ancient Spartans. It is also the oldest surviving language in Greece – about 3,100 years before modern Greek – and one of the oldest in Europe.
When we went to Sparta it felt like home
"If we lose our language, we can't claim to be Tsakonians," explains Eleni Manou, a teacher and writer of Tsakonika who lives near the town of Leonidio, the de facto capital of Tsakonia.
Tsakonika is based on the Doric language spoken by the ancient Spartans, and it is the only remaining dialect in the western Doric branch of the Greek language. In contrast, Greek originated in the eastern branch of the Ionian and Atticic dialects. While each of them uses a similar alphabet, Tsakonika has more phonetic transcriptions and differs in structure and pronunciation. Not surprisingly, Tsakonika is closer to ancient Greek than modern Greek, but none of these languages are mutually intelligible.
This chart shows the difference between Ancient Greek, Doric, and Tsakonian from left to right
A famous Tsakonika-like phrase was coined by the Spartan king Leonidas I during the Battle of Thermoplae in 480 BC, when he led 300 soldiers and about 1,000 other Greeks against as many as 500,000 Persians. Given the mismatch in strength, the Persian commander demanded that Leonidas hand over all weapons or die. Leonidas replied in Laconia: "Come and get them!" ”
Laconia is a Doric dialect spoken in Sparta, Laconia, and by the Middle Ages it was known as Tsakonian or Tsakonika.
"Tsakonika is the main proof of our Spartan connection," Manou noted. "And in terms of hearts, we are direct descendants. For me and many other Tsakonians, when we went to Sparta it felt like home. ”
After the annexation of Sparta, Tsakonika survived only a few isolated mountain villages in the east
Although PellaMerana and other villages that still use Tsakonika are located about 55 to 100 kilometers northeast of ancient Sparta, their geographic distance from the capital that once ruled them actually helped preserve the language. After the Visigoths sacked Sparta in 396 AD, the city was eventually abandoned, and the remaining Spartans fled and settled in the mountains. For centuries, Tsakonika has been preserved in these isolated farming communities that quietly pass on the language from generation to generation. These communities remained relatively hidden until after the Greek War of Independence (1821-29), which sparked mass education and improved infrastructure.
"The construction of roads and ports has taken people out of the village," Cunha said. "Many residents never came back."
In the 1950s, the introduction of electricity from all Tsakonian villages and exposure from the national broadcast media further connected residents to the outside world. Many also move to other countries in search of better job opportunities. One of them is Panos Marneris, now a teacher, poet and songwriter at Tsakonika, who runs the language website Tsakonika.
"Until 1970, when I traveled to the United States, Tyros and the other villages in the area where I grew up were 100 percent Tsakonika," he said. "But every year when I come back to visit, more and more people don't talk, which bothers me." The road from the Astros to Leonidio was built in 1958. Twenty years later, people no longer speak Tsakonika. ”
The stunning coastal town of Leonidio is the de facto capital of the Tsakonia region
According to Manou, in the late 1950s, about 5,000 people still spoke Tsakonika. But as modern Greek became Chinese in 1976, foreign teachers came to Tsakonia to teach it, and that number fell by more than half in the decades that followed. In addition, Tsakonika is stigmatized as the "peasant language". As a result, the father of the native-speaking Manou refused to teach her Tsakonika because he thought it was unnecessary and shameful. In fact, his generation has largely suppressed their children – a decision that many now regret because Tsakonika is a "critically endangered" language by UNESCO.
Until the 1990s, Tsakonika was still taught alongside Greek in some local schools, but later it became entirely optional. Today, these aging villages hardly have any schools because there are very few children there.
"Today there are only 12 children in my village," Cunha said. "There is no younger generation teaching this language, which is a big problem."
While Tsakonika's long-term viability remains questionable, the stigma of her past is long gone.
"In the 1960s and 70s, attitudes toward Tsakonika changed, seeing it as something to treasure rather than hide," Manou says. "In fact, many young Tsakonians are angry at their parents and grandparents for not saying Tsakonika to them. I begged the father to tell my child about it, but he refused. Now it is popular among the younger generation. ”
Today, teachers, linguists, and politicians are eagerly trying to revive the language. At the very least, they gave Tsakonika the respect he deserved as the language of King Leonidas rather than a peasant.
In recent years, Tsakonians have struggled to keep their language alive
Bilingual signs in Leonidio, Tsakonika and Greek welcome visitors. One proudly said: "Our language is Tsakonika." Let people say to you. Tsakonika is also on display at the town's Tsakonian Museum. At the Tskakonian Archives, a heritage club founded in 1954 to preserve the written Tsakonika; every summer at the annual Melitzazz Music Festival. The latter features Tsakonian music, dance, carpet weaving, stone architecture and a sweet local eggplant variety.
The word "concise" comes from Laconia, where the inhabitants are known for their concise and pithy phrases.
"Today, if you don't say Tsakonika, it's embarrassing," said Haralambos Lysikatos, mayor of South Kynouria at Leonidio, who is very proud of his Tsakonian heritage. "It's my dream to get most Tsakonians to say it's my dream."
Historically, Tsakonika was a colloquial language. According to their austere way of life, the Dorians used language only out of necessity and did not write anything down. In fact, the word "concise" comes from Laconia, where the inhabitants are known for their concise and pithy phrases. As a result, the number of Tsakonian words is relatively small—an estimated 8,000 to 10,000, compared to as many as 5 million in modern Greek.
"Tsakonika is the main proof of our Spartan connection"
"That's why there is no Tsakonian literature," said Maxim Kisilier, chair of the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at St. Petersburg State University in Russia, who was hailed by Tsakonians as one of the best speakers. "But there are also expressions of love."
"In Tsakonika, quality trumps quantity," Cunha joked.
The bigger challenge is to preserve the written language
The lack of vocabulary was not a problem, as Tsakonika borrowed words from The Greek that it did not have, and even some words from the French. The bigger challenge is to preserve the written language.
"Tsakonika has a very specific voice that is difficult to write down in print," Kisilier says.
The best effort to date is a three-volume dictionary published by Kounia's uncle in 1986. There are now several speakers looking to update and re-release it online. The North and South Kynouria municipalities and the Tsakonian Archives morally supported the initiative, but lacked the funds to do so.
Residents wanted to keep Tsakonika alive by offering courses online and creating dictionaries
"What is not written disappears," notes Sotiris Steniotis, author of Tsakonika, who has begun writing words for a new Tsakonika dictionary. "In this era of Internet informatization, we should not lose a language. Every Tsakonian village should have a Tsakonika center for its residents, and Tsakonika courses should be offered in Sparta and Athens. ”
The mayor of Plastos, Petris Dimitris, intended to set up such a center in an abandoned tavern in his nearly deserted village. Currently, only the Tsakonian Archives and some other locations offer face-to-face Tsakonika courses.
This year, Covid-19 inspired Manou offered the Tsakonika course online for the first time, providing a great opportunity to expand teaching. She also hopes to launch a regional radio program to unite the regions that speak Tsakonika. The digital revolution has even hit the dusty Tsakonian Archives, which aims to digitally back up all of its Tsakonika publications.
"There has to be more people involved, especially young people — and I implore them to get involved — to protect the language," Marneris urged.
In the hearts of the Tsakonians, their language will survive, but it will be an uphill battle. Modern digital dictionaries may preserve the last words of the ancient Spartans, but only if, as Leonidas said, Tsakonians "come to them!"