A podcast by the Directorate General for Translation of the European Commission
Of the 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004, Cyprus was the only one that did not bring a new language to DG Translation, since Greek was already an official language of the EU. Yet the Cypriot Greek dialect possesses its own very distinct taste and flavour, even in unexpected fields like legal terminology.
In this episode, Spyros Armostis and Georgios Floros from the University of Cyprus delve into the island’s linguistic landscape, shedding light on the phenomenon of diglossia and describing the growing prestige of the Cypriot Greek dialect. They also share a story about translating Cyprus’s post-independence legal system.
Initially scheduled to take 5 years, the task ultimately took over 3 decades. With traditional music performed by Monsieur Doumani.
Link: DGT Radio — Radio Lingvistika (podomatic.com)
[55 mins. Also available on any podcast app]