We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Halil Karapasaoglu for his valuable guidance and expertise in the development of this Turkish Cypriot dialect guide.
Key Differences from Standard Turkish
Turkish Cypriot dialect differs significantly from Standard Turkish in both sound and grammar, influenced by Cypriot Greek.
Question Forms
We don't use the question tense or question suffixes like "mi". Instead, we use the present tense (aorist):
Standard Turkish: Okula gidecek misin?
Turkish Cypriot: Gidecen okula?
Sound Changes
- Ğ → Y or V: Soğan → Sovan
- T ↔ D, K ↔ G: Konusma → Gonusma, Taş → Daş
- B ↔ P, S ↔ Z: Patates → Badadez
- N ↔ Ñ: Bin → Biñ,
- Consonant Softening: Bakla → Pakla
Plural Forms
Standard: İsteriz
Cypriot: İsterik
Reflexive Pronouns
"Kendi" becomes "genni", "geni", or "gendi"
Listen carefully to native speakers to catch these subtle differences in pronunciation.
Example Sentences
Standard: Eve gitmiş
Cypriot: Eve gitdi
Standard: Annen evde midir?
Cypriot: Annen evdedir"?"