Alternate Names: Tsakonia
Dialects: Northern Tsakonian (Kastanista-Sitena), Propontis Tsakonian (Vatka-Havoutsi), Southern Tsakonian (Leonidio-Prastos). Derived from the Doric dialect spoken in Lakonia by ancient Spartans. Northern and Southern are reportedly mutually intelligible, but Propontis was more distinct, and more similar to standard Greek ,. Not inherently intelligible with modern Greek (Voegelin and Voegelin 1977). Lexical similarity: 70% or less with standard Greek ,.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 200 (Salminen 2007).
Language Use: Monolinguals existed in 1927. Few use Northern dialect. Most use Southern Tsakonian. Propontis Tsakonian has had no remaining speakers since 1970. Mostly elderly (Salminen 2007). Also use Greek [ell].
Language Development: Dictionary. Grammar.
Nation of Origin: Greece
Other Comments: Christian.