Social, cultural and linguistic differences between Greece and Cyprus

8/7/2019 Social, cultural and linguistic differences between Greece and Cyprus

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NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN

UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS

SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY

FACULTY OF ENGLISH STUDIES

Language and Culture (8th Semester)

Professor Sophia Papaefthymiou-Lytra

Social, Cultural and Linguistic differences

Between Greece and Cyprus

ALEXANDER-MICHAEL HADJILYRA (99362)


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Social, Cultural and Linguistic Differences between Greece and Cyprus

Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra (ID: 99362) May 2006 2


I come from Nicosia, Cyprus, but I am studying in Athens, Greece. Although the twocountries share some elements, they are not as similar as many declare them to be.

Linguistic differences in the use of Greek

When I came to Greece for my studies (autumn 2002), I realised that - for about 6 to 7months a year - I would have to use standard Greek instead of Cypriot Greek. Summarisedbelow are some of the differences I have found between the two varieties. SAG stands forStandard Athenian Greek and NCG stands forNicosian Cypriot Greek. In order to be ableto communicate in a better way, I was prompted to note the various differences and Iadjusted my speech accordingly.

Phonetics/Phonology:SAG fails to/does not produce geminate consonants in words that are speltwith a double consonant, such as /, /,

/, /, /, /. Asa result, in some cases SAG has changed historical orthography, in order toaccommodate the absence of these double consonants (except for somegeographical names) a practice which is not always employed in Cyprus (alsonote , , , , etc).NCG adds a /n/ sound at the end of a number of words, which is absent inSAG: e.g. n, nn, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, n, nn, n.NCG produces aspirated plosives, fricatives or palato-alveolars where noorthographic indication is present: e.g. and are pronounced

with a /kh/ sound, and have a /ph/ sound, and are produced with a /th/ sound; , ,, , and are pronounced with a // sound, and have with a // sound; and are pronounced with a /k/ sound, and havea /p/ sound, , and are produced with a // sound, while, and are produced with a // sound. (also geminateconsonantal sounds in words like ,, ).Voiced stops used in SAG are often replaced by voiceless stops in NCG: SAG, , , , , Vs NCG ,, , , , .

SAG often produces a /j/ sound and/or shifts the accent on the next syllable,in words like , (), , and, . Although NCG preserves this /j/ sound for the second pair (morelike /gj/ and /kj/ sounds, respectively), it does not employ it for the first set ofwords [, (), , ].NCG drops certain initial vowels in the Present tense of verbs like [],[], [], [] and [].

Semantics/Lexical choice:There is a number of lexical discrepancies between SAG and NCG, especiallywhen it comes to everyday things. Different words are used to denote the same

thing [NCG (instead of) for motorbike; /(instead of SAG /) for applicant; NCG (instead of) for to retire, (instead of SAG ) for


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Thailand, NCG (instead of) for a greengrocery, (instead of SAG ) for flusher, NCG (instead of)for traffic lights, (instead of SAG ) for crazy, NCG (instead of) for peg, (instead of SAG ) for towel,NCG (instead of) for water tap, (instead of SAG) for apricot, NCG (instead of) for stuffed vine

leaves, (instead of SAG ) for toast and NCG (insteadof) for sugar candies].Miscommunication arises when the same lexical items are used to denotedifferent things: in SAG means eraser, but in NCG it means glue; means glue or paper in SAG, but in NCG it is used to refer either to paper or tolaundry starch; while / mean nephew/niece in SAG, in NCG theyrefer to the male/female cousin, respectively; means a pelican bird inSAG, but it can also mean a carpenter in NCG; means promotion inNCG, but development in SAG; while means boring in SAG, it alsomeans heavy in NCG; SAG means paper clip, but in NCG it means astapler and, while means exclusively to apologise in NCG, in SAGit can also mean to respond.There are some words for which there is no single correspondence betweenthe two varieties: e.g. NCG (uncultivated government land), (limited company), (to set a process in progress) and (hired helper/servant) cannot be expressed in SAG in a single word, in the sameway that SAG (credit limit), (shambles, a mess), and (baked macaroni with bchamel) have no single-word NCG counterpart.There are words that express the same concept yet they are not identical inform, e.g. NCG , , , ,, , , , Vs SAG ,

, , , , , , , [water supply, alternative, to put in a frame, stewed fruit, freezing(of a procedure), to do/to make, to send, to browse, to speak seriously].Although both varieties share a great number of lexical items, there aresome words that, for one reason or the other, are neglected by one variety, orthey are preferred by the other variety. SAG usually prefers , ,,, , and, while NCG prefers ,1, , , 2, and (to hide, to say,mezzanine, ruler, bag, antenna, to see).In both varieties, there are some lexical items that come from otherEuropean languages, due to the history of the two countries. From the sharedwords, there is a tendency of SAG to avoid using the Hellenified foreign verbs,while NCG exhibits the reverse tendency: NCG prefers instead of (to control), instead of(to command) and instead of (to check).Although both varieties share the noun (employer), thecorresponding verb (to employ) exists only in NCG. Conversely,although both varieties share the verb (to scrub), only SAG usesthe corresponding noun (scrubbing brush).SAG makes extensive use of diminutives for just about everything, regardlessof size, mainly to exhibit familiarity, e.g. (the grandfather),

/ (the grandmother), (the calculator), 1. It must be noted that speakers from Limassol city prefer the standard Greektype over the vernacular type.2. NCG distinguishes between a regular and a large bag (, ), as it does for a small and a large coat (, ).


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(the motorcycle), (the signature), (the price), (the beer), (the wine), (the expensive)and, the newest ones, (the euros) and (the attitude) -uses that would sound deviant to Cypriots. On the other hand, NCG has a muchmore limited use of diminutives; diminutives in NCG are primarily used toamplify politeness (3 - we booked the table) or to

emphasise the minuteness of something, e.g. (the kitten), (the little book) and (the bank passbook), but only in a limitedscope and in ways that might sound odd to Greek speakers.

Spelling:There are some words that are spelt differently between the two varieties,e.g. SAG uses ,and , but NCG uses ,and . I have also noticed the spellings (SAG) and (NCG), as well as old books that refer to (SAG) and (NCG). - surnames can also be spelt with a " in NCG(", ", "etc).

Grammar (Morphology and Syntax):In NCG, there is a tendency to place the verb in the beginning of the sentence,which is not always the case for SAG. This becomes obvious when a verb isaccompanied by pronouns. SAG would always use ()and(), while NCG would always use and . Thispattern is used both in the affirmative and in the interrogative types.SAG uses interchangeably contracted and uncontracted forms of verbsending in - (with a propensity to drop synaeresis), while NCG always uses thecontracted forms of these verbs: SAG , ,, , Vs NCG , , , , . The implicit presence of synaeresis

underlies NCG, leading to forms that hastily appear incorrect to Greek speakers,such as , , (cf. SAG , , )and , , (cf. SAG , , ).- verbs are conjugated differently between the two varieties: NCG , , Vs SAG , , . Another difference exists in the Past tense of- verbs (SAG, , Vs NCG , ,).When possible, NCG uses adjectives instead of active participles: (instead of SAG ), (instead of SAG ).The two varieties conjugate some lexical items differently, such as ,and. The plural NCG forms are , and , unacceptable forms for SAG (, ,). I have alsonoticed that SAG exhibits a tendency not to inflect the adjective ;instances such as would sound odd in NCG.SAG makes extensive use of the Present Perfect tense, while NCG prefers touse the Aorist (Past Simple): SAG usages , and are most likely to be turned into /, / and /in NCG. The Past Perfect tense is very rarely used in NCG, while there isvirtually no Future Perfect tense.

NCG plural possessive function may be expressed either using the genitive

case (), or using the accusative case (

3. Greek speakers would not be comfortable with this usage, precisely because is probably not small in size!


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). While NCG equally accepts both cases (when used with amasculine noun/adjective), SAG only uses the genitive case.NCG uses the - prefix in a number of verbs, as a sign of temporalaugmentation, even if it bears no accent (, , ,); SAG uses the - augmentation only if it bears an accent (,, but , , , ).

SAG uses the particle to introduce both Future tenses and hypotheticalconstructions. Spoken NCG uses - in free variation - both the particle and thevernacular forms, which distinguish between the Future tenses (/) and the hypothetical constructions (). In spokenNCG, there is also free variation between the /[() ()] and the/particles (/).

Personal and Geographical names:The majority of personal names4 are common between the two countries,both because of the language and because of the religious convergence. Thereare, however, some names that are almost never used in NCG (,

, , 5, 6, 7, , ,5 and ) and some names that are not as common inSAG as they are in NCG (, 8, , , ,, 8, , and ).Pet name forms may be different between NCG and SAG. NCG forms ,, /, , and will sound odd to Greekspeakers, who prefer, , , , and . Similarly, SAG forms /, , ,/and are not really used by Cypriot speakers, whoprefer, , , and .In NCG, there is a tendency9 to give a first name which is cognate to thesurname (, , , ,), which is not really the case for Greece.In SAG, there is a tendency to write/say the Surname first and the givenName second (, ); the reverse tendency isobserved in NCG (, ).In SAG, when a geographical location has two names, these names arealmost always two distinct toponyms, which may or may not share the samegender/number [/ (n/N), / (n/f), / (f/f), / (f/f), / (F/n)]. In NCG, there is thisfeature as well [/ (f/n), / (m/f),

/ (n/n)], but there is also another surprising possibility: the verysame toponym can change gender/number, with a minormorphological change[() (f/m), () (f/m), () (N/m), / (n/N),()/ (n/N)] orno morphological change at all! [(n/m), (f/n), (f/n), (f/n), (N/f), (N/f)].Although overseas and Greek rivers are masculine in both varieties, this isnot always the case with Cyprus rivers: 9% are neuter and 22% are feminine.

4. Although the majority of personal names is common, the two countries have some very different surnames.5. he names and were originally Vlach names.6

. The name was often given to girls from Minor Asia and Constantinople.7. The name was often given to girls from Pontus.8. The names and (along with ) have a strong connection with the town of Paphos, because of historicalreasons. The name was also common in the city of Famagusta.9. This tendency permeating NCG is also present in some extreme situations, like and .


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Linguistic differences in the use of other languages or foreign words

The linguistic differences between Greece and Cyprus extend beyond the use of the Greeklanguage, and they include the use of foreign words and the use of English.

English is less frequently used in Greece, compared to Cyprus. There arefewer English speakers in Greece, compared to the number of English speakers in

Cyprus. I believe that this derives from the fact that Greeks consider theirlanguage to be very important and they have the idea that, if they use anotherlanguage in Greece, this might diminish the importance of Greek. This isperhaps one of the reasons why most PCs in Greece are equipped with a GreekOperating System, while in Cyprus most PCs are equipped with an EnglishOperating System.When a foreigner comes to work in Cyprus, they learn English first (if they donot already know) and - perhaps in the future - they will also learn Greek; whena foreigner arrives in Greece to work, they must learn Greek (and they may neverlearn English at all). From my experience with foreigners who work in Cyprus,

the ones who speak some Greek are - in all probability - the ones who havepreviously worked in Greece.Almost all road signs and street labels in Cyprus are both in English and inGreek. In Greece, especially in the country, most road signs are written in Greekonly, thus preventing foreigners from reading them.Greek speakers seldom mix English words with Greek, unless they are wordsthat are international and technological, like Internet, computer, mouse,scanner, sports (basket, volley, bowling, tennis, handball, golf) and woofer,which they use interchangeably with their Greek counterparts (,,, , etc).On the other hand, Cypriots use a great deal of English words: theyfrequently use the aforementioned ones, but they also use other words. Forexample, it is more likely to listen to a Cypriot talk about their (mobile),the (printer) and (keyboard) of their computer, the (switch)of their car/room and about the fact that they received a call from a () (private number) while driving on the (highway), than it is tohear them speak of their, the , and of theircomputer, the /of their car/room and the fact that someonecalled them with an () while driving on the -. In the same vein, Cypriots always use (gear box) to refer tothe , (trafficator) to refer to the ,

and (adaptor) to refer to a ; they never use (French levier) to refer to the nor do they use (French tl control) to refer to the ()/.Cypriots usually say (thank you) instead of10, (please) instead of10, (bye bye) instead of, and theyoftentimes answer the phone with a (Hello) instead of or.Greeks often prefer Greek and French words over English ones, while Cypriotsprefer the English words [SAG / instead of (file),/instead of NCG (grass), SAG instead of(windshield), instead of NCG (jelly), SAG

10. The two words have a slightly different meaning in NCG: thank youis more likely to be used for small, everyday things (like whenpurchasing something), while is usually employed for more important cases (like expressing gratitude for a favour). Thesame goes for the pair please and .


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instead of(ham), instead of NCG (caravan), and() instead of NCG (pen)]. Note that some of the French words areentirely absent from Cypriot Greek vocabulary [e.g. (hair drier), (counter), (flyer/brochure) and (holdall)] and that anumber of English words are also absent from standard Greek vocabulary, e.g.(clutch), (shutter), (quarter of an hour) and (exhaust).

Social and Cultural differences between the two countries

Greece and Cyprus do not only differ in terms of language use; they also differ in terms ofsome social and cultural practices, and in terms of tolerating the other.

Due to a number of sociohistorical reasons, the Cypriot society has alwaysbeen multi-cultural and multi-religious . As it derives from the Constitution, thereare two ethnic groups (of Greek and Turkish descend, respectively); other thanthe autocephalous Orthodox Church of Cyprus and the Sunni Muslim TurkishCypriots, three (3) more religious groups are recognised: the Maronites11, the

Armenians

12

and the Latins

13

. Our ethnic composition was never mono-cultural:according to the 1960 census14, 77,09% were Greek Cypriots, 18,19% wereTurkish Cypriots, 0,79% were Latins (0,49% of Mediterranean extract and0,30% of British origin), 0,63% were Armenians, 0,47% were Maronites, while2,83% were British, Protestants, Gypsies or foreigners. Let it be noted that themajority of Greek Cypriots speak English and Greek (the older generations canalso speak Turkish), while most elderly Turkish Cypriots can also speak Greek.In Greece, non-Greek and/or non-Orthodox residents have always beenconsidered to be different from the dominant Greek Orthodox majority. In fact,the only minority recognised by the Treaty of Lausanne is the religious minorityof Thrace. This fabricated homogenisation is part of the reason why

ethnic/linguisticminorities [Gypsies (3,3%)15, Arvanites (2%)16, Slavophones(2%)17 Aromanians (2%)18, Turks (0,5%) and Pomaks (0,3%)19] are oftenisolated and ghettoised from the rest of the population. Religious-wise, althoughmore integrated than Greek Muslims, Greek Catholics, Greek Protestants andGreek Jewish are - in some ways - considered to be different.Ever since I came to Greece, I lived through a number of embarrassing anddiscriminating situations that in Cyprus, they would be considered eitherridiculous and improper or simply inflated and blown out of proportion:

The long-drawn-out and intense debate about the construction of amosque in Athens, or the bold desire to re-operate the Monastiraki

mosque, seems to me to be an entirely trivial matter. Every personshould be able to exercise the religion they have chosen, without being

11. Originating from Lebanon, the Maronites are considered to be an Eastern Catholic Church. Although they acknowledge the Primacyof the Pope, they retain their own organisation (a Patriarch in Lebanon) and some ceremonial differences with the Catholic Church.12. Most Armenian Cypriots are Armenian Orthodox and their surnames usually end in -ian(Kalaidjian, Kirimidjian, Kouyoumdjian etc).13. The term is used to describe the Cypriot followers of the Roman Catholic doctrine. Unlike some Armenians and some Maronites whouse Western Armenian and a local Aramaic dialect, respectively, Cypriot Latins only speak Cypriot Greek.14. Because of the unsettled situation during the 1964-1974, the 1960 census is the most reliable population census before 1974.15. Gypsies originate from the subcontinent of India; they call themselves Roma, they use their own language (Romani/Romany) andthey live in non-permanent shacks. Gypsies are perceivably different because of the dark colour of their skin and their clothes.16. Arvanites originate from Albanian settlers. They consider themselves Greeks, they speak both Greek and Arvanitic (a predominantlyspoken language with elements from Greek and Tosk Albanian), and they have had a major contribution during the Greek Revolution.17

. These Orthodox Slavophones mainly reside in the District of Macedonia; they call their language either Bulgarian or Macedonian.18. Also known as Vlachs, the Aromanians are considered to be Romanised Dacians and Thracians. They are not regarded as an ethnic

minority, rather as a linguisticminority, since they speak Aromanian (Vlach), an Eastern Romance language related to Romanian.19. Pomaks are considered to be either Slavified Thracians or Islamised Bulgarians. They are predominantly Turkish-speaking, but they

differ from Turkish Greeks in that they are not ethnically Turks, but they are Moslems; they are a minority withina minority.


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hindered or presented with any obstacles. In Nicosia, the city where Ilive, there are numerous mosques, some of which operate regularly onFridays and other days.

The controversy that recently broke out because of Gl Karahasanscandidacy for the Drama-Cavalla-Xanthe Superprefecture appears tobe a very subtle matter. She is a Pomak member of the Moslem

minority in Xanthe, but she is a Greek citizen, she has received Greekeducation and she considers herself Greek. I believe that she is asGreek as her opponent: their only difference is their religion andmother tongue. Thankfully, I recently read an article which arguedthat, just because her surname is Karahasan and not Karamanli,Karatzapheri or Karaphoti, it does not make her any less Greek.

Albanians and homecoming Greek Albanians are being discriminatedagainst. There is an overwhelming prejudice towards them (is currently considered an insult in SAG), and the most well-knownexample of this superfluous arrogance is the case of Odysseas Tsenaifrom Nea Mikhaniona, Thessalonica. A few years ago, there was anintense debate about whether he was eligible to hold the Greek flagduring the student parade. He was cowardly attacked because he wasan Albanian Muslim, and some even posed the fictitious question:Which country would he choose if there was a war, Albania orGreece? Fortunately, a more politically correct opinion was expressedby the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, namely that: It isthe flag that honours the one who carries it, not the other way round.Any foreigner who wishes to hold the Greek flag is entitled to do so.

Greeks drive on the right-hand side, while Cypriots drive on the left-handside. This opposite direction of driving was confusing for me at the beginning,especially when it came to crossing the road, waiting for the bus and sitting in acar, even the pavement side I would walk on and the escalator/stair side I woulduse to ascend. I became accustomed to this difference, and I also studied theinteresting reasons why the rule of the road is different: Cyprus got the traditionfrom Great Britain, while Greece took it from France.Originally, driving began on the left-hand side of the road, because if youwere a right-handed gentleman, you would be best protected by thieves andvagabonds if you walked on the left side of the road; when the first cartsappeared in England, they drove on the left, and the same happened with thefirst automobiles in all British colonies; in France, however, the carts and the

knights drove on the right, to avoid any ditches on the road. Napoleon and thePope, attempting to minimise the influence of the British Empire, imposed theirown driving manners to other continents, while the Nazi Germans enforced this inCentral Europe. Today, 74 countries/territories (1.944 billion people) drive onthe left, while 166 countries/territories (3.825 billion people) drive on the right.Another practice that derives from France (for Greece) and Great Britain (forCyprus) relates to the socket/plug type used in the two countries: although bothcountries use the same voltage range (220-240 V/50 Hz)20, Greek plugs/socketsusually have two holes (Types C, E, F - rarely D), while in Cyprus there arealways three pins, one of which is the earthing pin (Type G).

20. This voltage range and frequency is common throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania, with the exception of Japan, Korea,Libya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan, some Pacific States and some parts of Indonesia, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Monaco,

Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan; it is also used in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Equatorial Guinea, French Guinea and Greenland.


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As a rule, Greeks live in smaller houses compared to Cypriots. This has to dowith the standards of living and the available building plots, but it does lead tosome misconceptions regarding the other: many Greeks who visit Cyprus thinkthat Cypriots are wealthy, while many Cypriots that visit Greece think thatGreeks are poor, while it is simply a matter of different standards.There is an organised system of public transportation in Athens [thermal/natural gas buses (), electrical trolley buses (), the tram (),the metro (), the electrical railway (), the suburban railway(), the various intercity and regional buses () and thevarious railway lines (). In Cyprus, there are only petrol buses for someremote villages and a very rudimentary urban and intercity system oftransportation, entirely based on buses. This difference has led to the formationof an entirely disparate lifestyle between the two countries, since Greeks considerthe bus (or any other means of mass transportation for that matter) to be a partof their everyday life and, therefore, they may choose not to invest in purchasingan automobile; on the other hand, Cypriots need to balance this lack oforganised transportation, hence they buy one or two (or even more) cars. Thiscreates a stereotype similar to the one mentioned above, namely that Greeksthink of Cypriots as being wealthy and Cypriots think Greeks as being poor.The Greek youth are much plainer in manners and modest, compared to theirCypriot counterparts, who are arguably more arrogant, pretentious andexhibitionistic, often acting as if they own the place! I believe that this behaviourin Cyprus may reflect the fact that Cypriots consider Cyprus to be the centre ofthe world, thus influencing the opinion their offspring have of society, becausethey presume that mum and dad will mediate and assist them in getting abetter place in the army, at work, in society in general.

Stores and public services in Greek open relatively late in the morning and

they close relatively late in the afternoon. In Cyprus, they open earlier in themorning and they close early in the afternoon. This practice is also extended innewspaper publishing: most daily newspapers in Greece circulate after 9 - 10am, while in Cyprus they can be found at the newsstands as early as 6 am.I believe that this derives from the fact that Greeks usually sleep at laterhours than Cypriots (and the wake up at later hours as well) - a vicious circle. Asa result of this, Greeks usually have lunch at around 2-4 pm, while Cypriotsprefer to eat lunch around 1-2 pm. Similarly, while (SAG )and (SAG ) range from 12-4 pm and 5-9 pm in Greece,in Cyprus they correspond to 11 am - 3 pm and 4-7 pm, which is why you canhear a in Greece as early as 11:30-12:00, while in Cyprus youwould not hear this earlier than 19:00-19:30.I have found Greeks to be more God-fearing and religious than Cypriots,especially when it comes to the younger generations. When I am on the bus,passing in front of a Church, many of them make the sign of the cross, somethingwhich is not really the case in Cyprus. This, in turn, has given a solid ground tosome quaint personalities, like Helene Louka ( - churchy woman devotedto God), some para-religious groups and sects - some of which we recently sawdemonstrating at Syntagma square against the The Da Vinci code film-, andthe hysterical outcries that the religious creed should remain on identity cards.

When I arrived in Athens, I noticed that Greek police officers are armed, the

repercussions of which I could only imagine. Cypriot police officers are notarmed, except if they belong to the Special Forces. It is not an accident thatthere is more police brutality and more anti-police sentiment in Greece than


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there is in Cyprus. I find the behaviour of the majority of Greek police officersprovocative, both because they carry a gun and because they move in packs, inspecial buses that have an irritating horn. Being armed with a weapon givesyou the impression of power, and many consider the gun to be an extension oftheir penis!People in Greece seem to have a very different lifestyle compared to thepeople in Cyprus: Greeks go to the numerous cafs from early in the morning;they sit there for hours, while the various beggars are all over the street and(most annoyingly) they come to sell you their goods and services while you eat!I believe that both countries are more or less equally fanaticised regardingsports, but in Cyprus we do not have all these sports newspapers that thriveamongst youngsters in Greece. However, although Cyprus is more polarised21 interms of political parties, there are more ideological fanatics in Greece, both inthe far-right (e.g. ) and the far-left (e.g. ). This is thereason why there are so many rallies in the streets of Athens, often blockingaccess to the vehicles, and this is also the reason why frequent vandalisms takeplace in Athens. There is also an essential difference between the two countries:far-right and far-left organisations, as well as far-right parties (, etc) and far-left parties (, etc) thatproliferate in Greece, would have never gained solid ground in Cyprus, becausemost Cypriots are in favour of diversity. This obsession with politics is alsoreflected in Greek newspapers, since most of their pages are about politics.Cyprus is a presidential republic (i.e. the President of the Republic is both theHead of State and the Head of Government), while Greece has a presidentialparliamentary republic (i.e. the Head of State is the President, and has a ratherceremonial role, while the Head of Government is the Prime Minister, and plays

the central political role). This disparity has led to two entirely differentadministrative/political models: in the Cypriot model, the three branches of theGovernment (executive, legislative, judicial) are entirely distinct, while the Greekmodel calls for some co-operation between the first two.Greeks usually write 15 (and 200$ or 35), while Cypriots always write15, $200 and 35. Because until 31 December 2001 Greeks used the ().abbreviation to the right to the amount, they thought they could do the samewith the euro sign; however, this is not the case, since standard practice has itthat alphabetic abbreviations (Pts, ) are to be placed after the amount, butsymbols/signs (, ,$) are to be placed before the amount.

When I first came to Greece, I was ignorant of most of these differences but, mainly, I wasignorant of the reasons why they were like that. During the first few months of my stay herein Greece, I was overwhelmed with an anti-Greek sentiment, for no apparent reason! Oneday, however, I sat down and considered that I must live in this country for about half ayear for four (4) years and that I should benefit from the experience. So, I took the effort totry to understand the Greek mentality and appreciate the differentness, even when it cameto things that were simply annoying (like the lack of organisation in a number of fields). Istarted reading newspapers daily and I also watched the TV news. I also travelled aroundAthens and I asked a lot of questions, so I could fill in the cultural gaps I had. I believethat I have managed to culturally and linguistically cope with the Greek reality, based on

the lists above. In the end, we are all humans; we just do or say things in a different way!

21. The party person situation was substantially changed after the April 2004 referendum on the Annan plan.

Social, cultural and linguistic differences between Greece and Cyprus

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