# A couple of questions



## panettonea

Γεια σας.

My parents were both born in the U.S., but their parents (Greek immigrants) spoke Greek at home.  My mother didn't actually learn English until she went to kindergarten.  Anyway, the Greek they spoke was "country" Greek, I guess; unfortunately, Greece didn't offer much education to its citizens at that time (early 1900s).  In fact, my maternal grandmother, since she was a girl, never received any formal education at all, nor did any of her sisters.

Anyway, I have a couple of questions:

1) My mother sometimes pronounces γ with a "w" sound, such as in εγώ:  e-WO.  Is that pretty rare in Greece these days?  If you pronounced it that way in Greece, would people look at you in total amazement?  

2) The word my mother learned for "wind" was ανεμούρας.  Is that variant completely nonexistent nowadays?

Thanks for any info.


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## shawnee

The dropping of the 'γ' is or was fairly widespread in parts of Greece and may still be heard. Others here will have more to say on that. It would help considerably if you could tell us which part of Greece these speakers came from. The word ανεμούρας brought to mind ανεμούρι, which in Heptanesian dialect for one is the name of that wheel that weavers roll their twine on.
Oh, and welcome to the forum Panettonea.


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## Tassos

If we are talking about the Greek spoken in the Attika region what you refer to in both your examples is not in any kind of usage today. But I cannot speak for all the regions of the country.


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## panettonea

shawnee said:


> The dropping of the 'γ' is or was fairly widespread in parts of Greece and may still be heard. Others here will have more to say on that. It would help considerably if you could tell us which part of Greece these speakers came from.



Well, my grandfather came from a region named (I think) Κυριάκι, or something like that, and my grandmother came from a place named Λευκαδίτιον.  Incidentally, I believe that my grandfather grew up speaking Albanian.  Hope this helps.  My mother also uses the "sh" sound instead of "s" a lot.  For instance, she pronounces εσύ, e-SHEE.   



> The word ανεμούρας brought to mind ανεμούρι, which in Heptanesian dialect for one is the name of that wheel that weavers roll their twine on.



Now that's interesting--maybe there's some connection.



> Oh, and welcome to the forum Panettonea.



Ευχαριστώ, shawnee.


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## panettonea

Tassos said:


> If we are talking about the Greek spoken in the Attika region what you refer to in both your examples is not in any kind of usage today. But I cannot speak for all the regions of the country.



Thanks, Tassos.  The Attika region--that's around Athens, right?

Incidentally, many years ago I met a girl from Crete--or was it Cyprus?  Anyway, in one conversation, I told her that my great-aunt's name had been  Ευφροσύνη, and her response was as if that name came from the era of the dinosaurs.


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## shawnee

Most interesting. When I saw Λευκαδίτιον I thought I was right on the money (Λευκάδα), but I note with a little search your location is Λευκαδίτι, Φωκίδας. It is also interesting to note that Κυριακι Βιωτίας was until 1961 a predominantly Avarnitic speaking town.


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## Tassos

panettonea said:


> Thanks, Tassos.  The Attika region--that's around Athens, right?



Yes, but most of all it's the region where more than half of Greece's population lives.


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## panettonea

shawnee said:


> Most interesting. When I saw Λευκαδίτιον I thought I was right on the money (Λευκάδα), but I note with a little search your location is Λευκαδίτι, Φωκίδας.



Oh, is Λευκάδα another region?  Λευκαδίτιον sounds like a pretty small place.  They must have had a bit of unique culture, because when she was alive, my grandmother used to make a rice recipe (I make it now) during the holidays with giblets, onions, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves, etc.  I imagine she got it from her mother, and so on.  I've never come across anything like it--in Greek cookbooks or in any other kind.



> It is also interesting to note that Κυριακι Βιωτίας was until 1961 a predominantly Avarnitic speaking town.



I didn't know what that meant, but I see now it refers to a dialect of Albanian?  When I looked in an atlas, there were two towns called Κυριακι, one in NE Greece near Bulgaria and one more in the center of Greece.  Which one is Κυριακι Βιωτίας?  That has to be where my grandfather was from.

Oh, I see that you're from Melbourne.  Well, I hope you weren't among all those booing poor little Ms. Azarenka about a week ago.


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## panettonea

Tassos said:


> Yes, but most of all it's the region where more than half of Greece's population lives.



Oh, so that's where all the cool people live, huh?


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## shawnee

panettonea said:


> Oh, is Λευκάδα another region?  Λευκαδίτιον sounds like a pretty small place.


Λευκάδα is one of the Ionian islands, the region I had originally referred to as Heptanesian, as they are also called the Seven Islands (epta). I don't know so much about Λευκαδίτι and Κυριάκι.


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## panettonea

shawnee said:


> Λευκάδα is one of the Ionian islands, the region I had originally referred to as Heptanesian, as they are also called the Seven Islands (epta). I don't know so much about Λευκαδίτι and Κυριάκι.



OK, thanks.


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