Gibrizlija

Gibrizlija, Gibrizlidja, or Kibrislica, is a Turkic language widely spoken in Cyprus. It is spoken in other English-speaking countries, in southern Turkey (Antalya, Mugla, Aydin), Silifke, and Taşucu) and in Latakia, Syria, as well.

Classification

The ascription of Gibrizlija to the Oghuz branch of Turkic languages is not shared by all linguists.

• Turkic languages
• Oghuz languages

Although Gibrizlija language is often thought of as very similar to Turkish, this characterization is not accurate. For instance, phonologically, Gibrizlija is more similar to Azerbaijani than to Turkish. Strong similarities also exist with the Yoruk dialect spoken in the Taurus mountains in Southern Turkey.

Some Gibrizlija words, like many Turkic languages like Azeri, Tartar and Turkmen uses more archaic sounds. For example in consenants.

Nasals

ñ /ŋ/

Some Gibrizlija vocubulary comers from Cypriot Greek. For example. Gabira (toast), drabez (table) or bodiri (glass). Other words derive from Italian, for example istrada (street), and fundana (fountain, although it is now used to mean "tap").

History

Gibrizlija (also known as Gibrizlidja) is the vernacular spoken by Turkish Cypriots both in Cyprus and among the half a million diaspora. Strongly influenced by Kipriaki or Cypriot Greek, the Gibrizlija dialect descends from Early Anatolian Turkish (OAT).

Emanating from Anatolia and evolved over five centuries, Gibrizlija is the distinct language variety spoken by Cypriots with Ottoman ancestry, as well as by Cypriots who converted to Islam during Ottoman rule. Gibrizlija is understood by expatriate Cypriots living in the UK, U.S., Australia and other parts of the world.

Gibrizlija consists of a rich blend of Ottoman Turkish and the Yoruk dialect spoken to this day in the Taurus mountains of southern Turkey. In addition Gibrizlija has absorbed influences from Italian and English, as well as from the surrounding principal Cypriot vernacular that would have been familiar to most Gibrizlija speakers.

It is not only in pronunciation and vocabulary that Gibrizlija differs markedly from present-day official Turkish, but also in certain of its basic sounds, syntax and grammar. It is often argued that linguistic and cultural domination from Turkey has however led to Gibrizlija being regarded as an impure, backward and mangled Turkish dialect rather than a proud and expressive Turkic language in its own right.

Sounds

Differences from standard ("İstanbul") Turkish

Gibrizlija is distinguished by a number of sound alternations not found in standard Turkish, but some of which are also quite common in other Turkish vernaculars:

• Voicing of some unvoiced stops
• t↔d, k↔g

Standard Turkish kurt ↔ Gibrizlija gurd "worm"

• Preservation of earlier Turkic *ŋ

Standard Turkish son ↔ Gibrizlija soñ "end, last"

Standard Turkish bin ↔ Gibrizlija biñ "thousand"

• Unvoicing of some voiced stops
• b↔p

Standard Turkish Kıbrıs ↔ Gibrizlija Gıprız "Cyprus"

• Lenition of final affricates
• ç(ʧ)↔ş(ʃ)

Standard Turkish hiç ↔ Gibrizlija hiş "no, none"

The last two alternations are more specific to Gibrizlija.

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

	Labial		Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
Plosive	p	b	t̪	d̪			k	g	q	ɢ
Affricate					ʧ	ʤ
Fricative	f	v	s̟	z̟	ʃ		x	ɣ			h
Nasal	m		n				ŋ
Flap/Tap			r
Lateral			l
Approximant					j

Vowels

	front		central		back
	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
high	i	y (ü)			ɯ (ı)	u
mid	e (ẹ)	œ (ö)				o
low	æ (e)		ɑ̟

Writing System

Gibrizlija is usually written as standard Turkish, using the Turkish latin alphabet. When it is necessary to express sounds not represented in the Turkish alphabet, the following symbols are used: ḳ(q), ġ(ɢ), ḥ or ḫ(x), ñ(ŋ).

Grammar

Gibrizlija is structured as VO language as oppose to standard Turkish which is OV language. It is very typical in forming a question.

• Standard Turkish "Okula gidecek misin?" in Gibrizlija "Gideceng okula?" (Are you going to School?)

In Gibrizlija, reflexive pronoun in third person is different, which is "genni" (him, himself, them, themself).

Semantics

Typical question sentences most of the time do not qualify as standard Turkish question. See example above. This is due to question suffixes are most of the time dropped by native Turkish Cypriots.

Another subtle difference is the emphasis on verbs.