Intergenerational phonological change in the Famagusta dialect of Turkish Cypriots

Abstract

There have been countless speculations about the phenomenon of languages changing in time from generation to generation. As the age difference between generations increases, changes in the language passed down from the older generation to the younger become much more noticeable. Over time, Cypriot Turkish (i.e., the variety of Turkish used by the Turkish Cypriot community in Northern Cyprus) has been exposed to a variety of internal and external changes through contact with Standard Turkish. The main purpose of this article is to explore the intergenerational phonological shift over apparent time in the city of Famagusta in Northern Cyprus. The focus is on the competition between the traditional non-standard Turkish Cypriot voiced obstruent stop variants [g], [d], and [b] and the Standard Turkish voiceless variants [k], [t], and [p]. The results show sociolinguistic variation depending on age and gender, and point to the possibility of a long-term decline in Cypriot Turkish in favor of Standard Turkish.