Last Spartans: the survival of Laconic Greek

The story of a Greek town that I'm told still preserves the Spartan tongue. I explore why they don't speak like the rest of Greece and dig into their connection to ancient Sparta. Will their Tsakonian language survive?
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~ CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS ~
The man from Leonidio is a "headmaster", not "schoolmaster". His story and links to the recordings are in my sources doc below.
"hoplos researched" should read "hoplon researched" / "aspis researched" - my thanks to @Roelkonijn
~ SUMMARY ~
Ancient Greece was home to a variety of dialects. Athens and Sparta both put up a major fight. Long story short, the dialect of one of those cities won out. Guess which? Athens, of course. Attic Greek combined with a hefty dose of Ionic to form the Koiné (Common) Greek, the ancestor of basically all modern Greek dialects.
All but perhaps one. Travel to a small town in the south of Greece, where a headmaster leads his students up the hillsides to record the words of their elders. These aging villagers speak Tsakonian (Τσακώνικα), a special remnant that may soon crumble into another Greek artifact.
I look at pieces of the grammar and pronunciation of the language, and show you what sets it apart from Modern Greek. Search for any ancient holdouts it preserves. Consider its connection to the Doric dialect of Ancient Sparta. Finally, ponder its place in modern Greece and how much longer it will be with us.
~ CREDITS ~
Art, narration and animation by Josh from NativLang. A bit of the music, too.
Sources for claims and credits for sfx, images and music:
docs.google.com/document/d/1x...

[@johnlyssikatos3747]

My grandparents and parents spoke Tsakonika whenever they decided that the kids don't need to hear this. They would start with "Tses pion" and we knew the conversation had turned to secret code.

[@christiancristof491]

Cool.

[@hak525]

Kαι η δικη μου οικογενεια ειναι απο εκει. Βεβαια η γενια των γονιων μου δν τα εμαθε τα Τσακωνικα καλα

[@forwhomthebelltolls]

@@roccistuccijr.3545 Spartans do not love boy. They make war.

[@stcyblueberrystcystrawberr5671]

John I speak Tsakonian....are your grandparents alive...id love to meet them reach me [e-mail] it would be a treasure 💖

[@stcyblueberrystcystrawberr5671]

You have to know that there is Tsakonika and SaraTsakonika.....i know them both please let me meet your parents I'd love to save these words it truly is a rare gift.

[@fatkiller1000]

You are LITERALLY the only non Greek person I've heard pronouncing the words correctly. Good on you my man.

[@FutureSight01]

But they weren't pronounced correctly; the only one pronounced correctly was Leonidios, basically.

[@wilfredhather]

Where did he pronounce incorrectly?

[@BankruptGreek]

+FutureSight01 someone here said sometging that suprised me even though I am greek, Κοινή he said was ineed pronounced as κοϊνή (ko-i-ni) even though I am greek I feel like he is probably better at pronunciation than me

[@wilfredhather]

That's usually how we pronounce koine as English speakers. A more accurate ancient pronunciation would be pronouncing the eta as a long e sound, as he does with some words in the video. I thought his pronounciation was good because it was different each time, changing it to fit the period he was taking about.

[@papi9305]

isnt that the erasmic-or-spmething dialect? he said κοϊνή instead of κοινή because it wasnt supposed to sound like modern greek. that is my guess at least

[@SpiralBreeze]

My dad always said those people spoke ancient Greek, while us on the Island spoke "red neck" or mountain Greek. We speak differently from the main land or proper Athenian Greek. My mom tried to explain to him that those were different dialects but he insisted it was ancient Greek. Granted people on the island didn't get much education.

[@stcyblueberrystcystrawberr5671]

Spiral Breeze I am of Tsakonika I'd love to speak with your father please reach me [e-mail] Thank you 💖 Its Always good to meet a family💖💖💖💖💖

[@pepin8277]

I feel so bad that only a incredible small amount of the Greek population speaks the old ways! I loved hearing my granny talk ancient greek, bad luck she passed away a few years ago :(

[@user-jg5du6wl1k]

@@pepin8277 discord.gg/AZgVG4K

[@MajWinters100]

I find it interesting that in portuguese we have glossário (from glossa), where we have a list of the words in a text and what they mean

[@alfredorotondo]

@@MajWinters100 in italian too

[@LysandrosBafaloukos]

As a native speaker, I have to say that I fell in love with your pronunciation!

[@dukejoseph3997]

Hey Lysandros is there any concerted effort to standardized the language?

[@lingoteen]

Μιλάς τα Τσακόνικα η μόνο τα ελληνικά;

[@jzaar7483]

RIP digamma... Press ϝ to pay respects.

[@ZodiakAsHell]

ϝ

[@szilveszterforgo8776]

ϝ

[@tasse0599]

ϝ

[@computo2000]

Φ

[@szilveszterforgo8776]

@@computo2000 Φ was pronounced as /pʰiː/ back then. So it is not 'F' technically.

[@argyrispouggouras3378]

OK your greek accent is just perfect!

[@elkhananeli]

Really, I think its a bit 'imitative'. Imitative is OK, but hardly 'perfect'...

[@katrinal353]

+elkhananeli Well, he understands the phonemes perfectly, he only needs experience speaking the language. He's 90+% there.

[@LucreziaB2912]

@@aik777 τα είπε έτσι γιατί έτσι λέγονται στην διάλεκτο που αναφέρεται ολόκληρο το βίντεο !!!Έλεος! Έτσι ακριβώς τα λένε και στα τσακώνικα αυτό είναι το νόημα η διαφορά από τα ελληνικά που ξέρεις.

[@mariaparaskevopoulou9615]

Maybe he is from Greece

[@user-jg5du6wl1k]

@@aik777 discord.gg/AZgVG4K

[@Arcsinner]

I am always fascinated how many different languages you cover. Nothing but respect for you

[@USBearForce]

So now the official name for Sparta is spelled in the Athenian dialect. I guess this is payback for that whole 'Peloponnesian War' thing...

[@varana]

The ancient town of Sparta had disappeared over the centuries; in the Middle Ages, the city was at Mystras, a few kilometres away. In the 19th century, Mystras was destroyed, and the modern town of Sparta established. At that time, people already spoke a version of modern Greek derived from koiné.

[@janeza382]

Doric came from ancient Macedonia , Macedonians and Athenian Yonans spoke different languages and still do.

[@janeza382]

Haris Manou Hahaha too much politicant bullshit.

[@janeza382]

I hate when someone spread lies ...Macedonian is Macedonian language from united Macedonian tribes under Aminta the Macedon. Slavic and Hellenic sheared common development in both Republic of Macedonia( you are using politicant forced reference by Greece/Athens negating whole nation) and region Macedonia in northern Greece since 1913 ,while in 1921 are settled Ottoman Christians instead native Macedonians. In Republic of Macedonia are 20 % Muslims(Greece has slaughter Muslims and indoctrinate Macedonians and others in neo-Greeks). Vulgarians was nor slavs nor christians when they met Macedonians.Macedonians simply understand south-Serbian and western-Bulgarian as they lived together trough Ottoman and Roman period whit out today borders....whole Ottoman Macedonia spoke one language Macedonian! Political idea from Greek Megaliidea is Katravursa language of scholars to take shape in Demotiki ( Arvanites,Vlach,Jew,Armenians,Egytians...) and use ancient Koine(ancient Macedonian as first language of Macedonian empire) as mask.

[@janeza382]

Haris Manou hahahha idiot in deny spreading lies in shape of political propaganda.

[@TheHortoman]

So tldw: Russians get triggered when buying figs in sparta

[@Nestoras_Zogopoulos]

wellmits more like sika souka were in tsakonian

[@zoubairbaroud8263]

TheHortoman exactly what I thought

[@timomastosalo]

@@Nestoras_Zogopoulos And in Finnish sika means pig - another confusion. Well, the Greek says it more like siika (long i, English spelling 'seecah'). Now it's one type of fish. Well, still you'll get something to eat. The Russian isn't as happy.

[@andyjay729]

@@Qrani Is there a Greek word that sounds like 'blyat'? PS: German tourists in Spain probably laugh at the city of Badajoz ("Badehosen" means "swimming trunks").

[@pyrrhocorax]

@@andyjay729 In Greek it's rare for words to end with consonants other than ς(named final sigma, s) or ν(n).So the possibility of finding a word that sounds like that is small. One is μπλε(pronounced ble) that comes from French and means blue. The actual words for blue in Greek are γαλανό (galano) and κυανό (kiano). Another one is μπλιαχ(bliah in cyrillic it would be probably written like this I think"блях") which is an expression of disgust, usually used when a piece of food has a horrible taste.

[@cadr003]

I always was interested in Tsakonian Greek. I always found it pretty.

[@ATee-vx6dm]

It's a shame when things become completely standardised. Keep Greek dialects alive!

[@mareksagrak9527]

@@ATee-vx6dm Sadly (and quite ironically) on the whole world there is a tendency to ridicule strange-sounding dialects, while in fact they often contain much more archaistic features than the standarised/official form itself. They are also a unique evidence of specific local history, which shouldn't be erased.

[@AlkisGD]

I was talking to a Brit today and after telling him I live in Leonidio, he sent me this video. Thank you for making this! I may be a native, but you sure taught me a lot today :O

[@altralinguamusica]

Oh, hey, Alkis!

[@AlkisGD]

@@altralinguamusica - Hey, Michael! Fancy meeting you here 🤣

[@maapauu4282]

Aww a nice reunion in the replies

[@atouloupas]

NativLang, you amaze me once again! I'm Greek and, honestly, I didn't expect a video about Greek and, surely, not Tsakonian. Your modern Greek pronunciation is *excellent* (now approved by a Greek 😀) and your ancient Greek one also very good. I hope I could say more than a "thank you", because not many people (and even Greeks) know about Tsakonian, which is severely endangered nowadays and I feel that this video will help a little bit to raise awareness about this awesome language deriving from Doric Greek. Once again, thank you so much! Keep creating amazing content for people! We need to learn more about languages!

[@atouloupas]

***** ¿?

[@atouloupas]

***** Σωστά το είπε κι αυτό. Τα ελληνικά προφέρονταν αλλιώς εκείνη την εποχή.

[@irislore69]

Απόστολος Τουλούπας οντως εχει καλη προφορα

[@joshualapura]

Modern greeks are not related to ancient greeks!!

[@atouloupas]

Mom's Spaghetti 7 Do you happen to have any evidence for your extraordinary claims or do you just spew bullshit that you saw in a not-so-trustworthy website?

[@NativLang]

In the works since April 2016! NativLang was much smaller then. It's perhaps the last story I will tell purely because I wanted to, with no one requesting it.

[@jaredblood5384]

likes to dislikes so far is 85 - 0! you're on fire!

[@dragonrykr]

215-0 !

[@samapesh795]

please do Circassian language

[@zalsader]

Stories this interesting don't usually pop up in the comments, I'd suggest you throw in some stories very few people have heard of every now and then..

[@osiete]

375-0!

[@andyjay729]

Philip of Macedon: If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground! Spartans' reply: "If". Thus did "laconic" become a synonym for "concise" or "abrupt".

[@Dmdm_dm]

I'm a Greek linguist and this is very accurate. Excellent job! How do you manage to find so many pieces of accurate information from all kinds of languages and still manage to pronounce it correctly?

[@joshualapura]

Modern greeks are not related to ancient greeks!!

[@evang7252]

dienekes.awardspace.com/articles/hellenes/ false

[@nbksrbija1039]

D84 There's a cool thing called the IPA, when you learn it you can pronounce everything right

[@Dionysios_Skoularikis]

@@joshualapura Have you study Ancient Greek language? Where are you from?

[@toanhien494]

@@nbksrbija1039 haha, exactly what I'm gonna say.

[@thanassiss1371]

I am Greek and a linguistics graduate and I must say the way you pronounce Greek words is spot on. Tsakonian is indeed an amazing language. I hope it survives. I know that some years ago it started being taught at schools in Leonidio but dunno if it still goes on.

[@PC_Simo]

I hope so, too 🇬🇷🍀👍🏻.

[@ki4345]

You should do Cypriot Greek, it's interesting plus it's still heavily used in Cyprus, it would be easy to find material for it!

[@georgechristoforou991]

yes a distinctly different dialect. To me it sounds more archaic than Athenian Greek

[@georgechristoforou991]

@Kukurukuku Rhodian

[@theodoruspantelidis8738]

@Cat People documentarys we speak lesbian dialect which is not regnorised

[@theodoruspantelidis8738]

@Cat People documentarys discord.gg/gnC7bvS

[@savvasavraam8670]

The one that struck me the most is the vanne=sheep. In Cypriot Greek its arnni.

[@AndreasBabouris]

Fantastic video, as always! Western Greek, including the Doric, Northwestern and Achaean dialects, was once spoken in approximately half of today's Greece. Aside from the survival of Tsakonian, Modern Greek maintains a small Doric substratum, so, certain words that ended in _-η_ in Attic are used in their _-α_ form. _Βελόνα_ (as opposed το _βελόνη_) is a universal example, but there are also cases like _ζέστα_ (instead of _ζέστη_) that are only used locally. Dialectal diversity is not celebrated nearly as much as it should in Greece, and that holds especially true for Tsakonian. Incidentally, I feel that many impressive features of the language are hidden by the fact that it's transcribed using Modern Greek spelling rules in most sources, which doesn't suit all of its phonological features. The retention of the (etymological) digamma is especially fascinating to me. Love your videos, keep it up! By the way, your modern Greek pronunciation is excellent!

[@Nevio857]

Andreas Bampouris I love your knowledge! Teach us master

[@AndreasBabouris]

Χαίρομαι που δεν είμαι ο μόνος με την τρέλα για τη γλωσσολογία! :D

[@kotzos100]

Kai sthn Kypro exoume th lexh velona

[@radawald]

Μπόλικη τρέλα. Ευτυχώς αναπτύχθηκε όσο έχουμε ακόμα έστω και λίγο κόσμο να τα μιλάει γιατί σε λίγα χρόνια θα ομογενοποιηθεί πλήρως η γλώσσα.

[@NickStrife]

@@radawald 100% φυσιολογικό.. Οι εποχές άλλαξαν, και ο κοσμος είναι πιο "συνδεδεμένος" από ποτέ.. Όλοι θέλουν να μπορούν να συνεννοηθούν κάπως μεταξύ τους.. Δεν θα μου φαινόταν καθόλου περίεργο άμα σε μερικά 100αδες χρόνια όλος ο κόσμος απ' όλες τις χώρες μιλούσαν μόνο μια γλώσσα...

[@sirspookyface1532]

"A common dialect 'SPEARHEADED' by Athens." I see what you did there.

[@namingisdifficult408]

Sirspookyface15 exactly

[@rixille]

Those helmets are very phallic.

[@aids5430]

3:22 Cyka?? RUSH B!!!

[@michieb1231]

yes bylat

[@christosnb8444]

blyat not bylat

[@pqbdwmnu]

Christos NB bylat Is more accurate

[@falkkiwiben]

@@christosnb8444 блять!

[@telmjen4662]

NovanoDelta да, I don’t know Russian

[@yiannisroubos8846]

Wow as a native speaker your modern Greek pronunciation is so amazing! I'm so impressed! Μπράβο! Καλή συνέχεια !

[@elkhananeli]

He is an actor, presenter with a good ear for imitation. Not impressive merely imitative. Which is OK for the video.

[@mikem9001]

He also switches between modern Greek pronunciation and reconstructed pronunciation for ancient words - v good

[@ignisoriens4462]

* κόινε * * σούκα *

[@minsklit5811]

elkhananeli What a dick. He's the guy who does reasearch for the channel, and he studied linguistics at university. Also, he has an excellent pronunciation of many languages, he can pronounce Italian, spanish and French almost flawlessly. There's no need to dimish his worth when he's really that good

[@sd0088]

I am from a different Greek city and the ancient dialect of my city is Doric too. The funny thing is that even the origin of the dialects eclipes, a lot of words and expressions still exist. We do not talk like that nowdays but if we see a text we can read it and understand most of it. It's like a magic to understand words, something that you never use in real life. Well in that specific form at least !!!

[@MatsumotoKael13]

Your well-researched and insightful videos continue to delight and amaze. Thank you for all the effort you put into this channel!

[@CjLingle1]

Your videos never cease to fascinate me! I always enjoy these kinds of videos that explain changes in languages over time! Keep it up!

[@1234kalmar]

Spartan language survived to any extent??? YEEEEESSS! YES!

[@ZoeGeorge84]

I'm greek and I really loved and appreciated this video, thank you!

[@evansmith4330]

You have one of the most fascinating channels I have ever seen. Wonderful.

[@imokin86]

Wow, that's great. This is a real hidden gem. Thank you for sharing this with us!

[@angelosid7]

NativLang Amazingly interesting video, a Greek myself and a languages enthusiast I can only say I was impressed in the very idea that Tsakonica may derive from Laconica, more so on remnants of the Doric dialect. Another thing, I would really enjoy a video on the erasmian pronunciation of ancient Greek and Latin. thanks for sharing, keep up the great job!

[@gekylafas]

Yeap, the Erasmian pronunciation of Ancient Greek would be most interesting, especially for us Greeks. Not many of us know the ancient Greek were pronounced differently than modern.

[@atouloupas]

Angelos Sideris Well, maybe not the Erasmian pronounciation, but the *reconstructed* one. Erasmian is not considered accurate anymore, as it is suited to the pronunciation of other European languages to make learning anc. Greek easier. For example, in anc. Greek φ was pronounced /pʰ/ but in Erasmian it is simplified to just /f/, because it is an easier sound to produce. I'm also surprised that I find Greeks on the internet that don't laugh at the anc. Greek pronunciation. Most people, unfortunately, have never researched on this topic and think that Pericles was speaking with modern pronunciation...

[@gekylafas]

Απόστολος Τουλούπας Yeap, the reconstructed one, you're right.

[@angelosid7]

Απόστολος Τουλούπας Yes, the reconstructed one, thank you! I'm not sure about that, not being considered accurate anymore, since it is widely used in all academia, and I'm talking for both ancient Greek and Latin. Not that this is the only criteria needed, just saying. Tbh I'm quite confused since I get both sides. I mean, on the one hand the erasmian reconstruction is based on "logical grammatical assumptions", and on the other, I can see a continuation of the Koine Greek through Medieval that can be seen eventually in modern Greek. I guess that there's not a safe way to tell for sure, and as always the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

[@atouloupas]

Angelos Sideris​ The Erasmian is not perfect, but one could say it's fairly close to the ancient pronunc. and at the same time made easy for learners. It is not considered accurate by linguists, because linguists study languages in depth, therefore they need a pronunc. to work with which is as close as possible to the original. Indeed, at 300 AD Greek sounded almost like today, with a few differences like the pronunciation of υ and οι as /y/ (like the German ü). But here we're talking about Greek of the 5th cent. BC and more specifically the Attic dialect. You can see for yourself how the pronunc. was reconstructed. There's a book called Vox Graeca that explains it all. Or you could just read ancient signs that were written before the reform of 403 BC, when the Greek alphabet took its final form. For example, in Nestor's Cup (8th cent. BC) it says ποτέριον and αφροδίτες instead of ποτήριον and αφροδίτης (η was introduced as long e in 403 BC from the Ionic alphabet), τόδε and καλλιστεφάνο for τοῦδε and καλλιστεφάνου (ου was long o in Archaic Greek, then changed to u in Attic), ηίμερος and ηαιρέσει instead ἵμερος and αἱρέσει (η was the symbol of daseia before its new pronunc. was introduced in 403), and many more. Sorry for the long comment!

[@Astronomy487]

I love how everyone I'm subbed to just uploaded at once.

[@nerydavidramirez4729]

I absolutely adore this channel! Keep it up and thank you!

[@johnweseli6454]

Thank you for uploading this now. I'm trying to learn a bit of modern greek so this gave me some good pronuncation practice.

[@eomguel9017]

Loved it. I absolutely did! I sooo need to learn Greek now!

[@atouloupas]

Fun fact: in Civilisation 6, Gorgo (leader of Sparta) speaks in the Doric dialect! For example, she says "tas nikas" instead of "tes nikes" (meaning "of the victories"). Talk about attention to detail!

[@GlenSify]

I have no training in linguistics and absolutely no idea what you're talking about most of the time but I really love your videos. Keep it up!

[@ColHoganGer90]

Amazing video, thank you very much for your great and informative work!

[@rzeka]

Wow, I honestly had no idea about this. I'd love to see more videos on similar topics - other dialects that preserve features that most varieties lost.

[@fotisventouris3537]

I am impressed with you pronunciation it’s really impressive, good job

[@modernknightone]

WOW! So cool! Thanks for this. My son who is a linguistics expert and I were discussing whether or not some of the old Doric might have survived in off the beaten path places just a few months ago and this video verifies that it has! Awesome!

[@cabinetdoorknob1311]

I am currently learning my third language and am obsessed with language. Love this channel so much.

[@taloga]

This is fascinating, and I wonder how Tsakonian compares with Griko, another endangered Greek dialect with ancient roots, still spoken in southern Italy.

[@user-mn7hk5qf5p]

Griko is a direct descendant of the doric dialect which was spread in magna graecia by spartan colonists. For example Tarantines.

[@zhaw4821]

When I hear Griko I hrar clearly Cretan words and accent

[@julianfejzo4829]

Griko derives from Koine and Medieval Greek, not Doric, it may have been influenced by it but doesn't come from that, reason being that not all of the colonies in Magna Graecia were Doric and in the Middle Ages, Greek speakers came in Italy in different periods, thus replacing the previous Hellenes who lived there.

[@archer1949]

This channel is awesome.

[@dafap2598]

Thanks for making such a great video. You're literally the only one who actually pronounces greek properly.

[@camiloo.zapata2339]

I really but really LOVE your videos , they are so interesting and they encourage me to become language historic

[@petravaporis3144]

this was a great video. My family and I are all from Greece and half of my Greek descendents are Spartans. It is nice to hear a non Greek person speaking Greek pretty well.

[@joshualapura]

You sure are you spartans descendants? like king leonidas?

[@nikostheater]

What a fantastic video! Μπράβο , υπέροχη δουλειά!

[@eliaskar5084]

I am Greek and I never knew all these details about Tsakonika! Thank you so much for this video, it was simple, well said and pronounced and veeery interesting! Great job, man!

[@athanasiablanou4954]

I'm a linguistics student and I can't but admire you!Great job!

[@emilyungles5364]

Can you do a video on the Irish language? Love your videos! Thank you for spending so much time on them, they are greatly appreciated :) Also please keep telling the stories that you want to tell us, we will find them fascinating, request or no request.

[@thunder230mph6]

So, the language of the Spartans has survived and is still spoken today? Wow, that's unbelievable! BTW, do you have any videos about the Coptic language of Egypt? I heard that's another tongue that's also in danger of dying off, in fact, it's the living descendant of the Ancient Egyptian language, albeit with some changes over the centuries.

[@dieselface1]

It's not a living language. It's last native speakers were in the 1800's. Today it's mainly used as a liturgical language by Oriental Orthodox churches in Egypt and the Horn of Africa.

[@condor237]

@@dieselface1 I know it’s not technically a living language, but it is entirely possible for two Orthodox Church officials knowledgeable of Coptic scripture and written language to talk with one another only in Coptic. It can be used as a Lingua franca for some Christians, in the same way an Italian rabbi and a polish rabbi could communicate using rough Hebrew as a common tongue hundreds of years before it’s official resurgence as a living language

[@RaspK]

Pretty good video. I love your pronunciation skills! Keep up the good work!

[@widmawod]

I have to thank this channel because: 1) It's my favorite channel. 2) I'm fifteen and now I think I know which my job will be. 3) I'm Italian (probably you already know for the mistakes I made) and know I'm way more confident in English. 4) I think all videos are great and interesting. 5) In Italy no one is interested in linguistics and I know what I know thanks to this channel. Thanks NativLang.

[@sophrapsune]

Brilliant, thank you! I had no idea the Laconic tongue was still living.

[@MuffintopWarrior]

Super interesting stuff. I'd love to see a video about how Greek influenced Latin and the other languages around them.

[@Dionysios_Skoularikis]

They are studies of a lifetime.

[@DimiChris]

I am Greek and I must say that you have done an excellent job with this video! Even your Greek pronunciation is extraordinarily accurate!

[@oOKakarotOo]

just subscribed! your videos are so interesting and informing. i may watch them all in one night!

[@Priyo866]

Laconia region has a fascinating history. Not only they have the last remnants of old Greek in their language, but they were also the last region of Greece that held out from changing their old Olympian religion and embracing newer Chalcedonian Christianty, centuries after it had been made official in Roma and Constantinopolis.

[@MrPoutsesMple]

This is amazingly accurate and well presented ! I wasn't aware that Τσακώνικα were that close to Doric Greek. Thanks ! Keep it up !!! ps: I'd love to see a similar video for Cretan Greek, which as far as I know are of Doric origin as well, and and is spoken even today in some villages of Crete, with many words much closer to ancient Greek than their modern Greek equivalent.

[@theyellowzombierules527]

ΣΚΡΟΥΤΖ ΜΑΚ ΝΤΑΚ Εισαι Κρητικος? Αν ναι απο που? εγω απο Αγγουσελιανα

[@luketassopoulos5418]

My family is from Laconia! Thank you for this great video on how my Great-great-grandparents might have spoken!

[@RoaringEgg]

Omg what a beautiful video. Acidentally stumbled into this but boy am I great full for doing so

[@jorgeromero4680]

even though I am Greek I had no idea about this difference. excellent video and thank you!

[@yolotad7546]

I like language. Since I'm from Sweden, could you maybe do the Sami language. I'd enjoy it.

[@namingisdifficult408]

yolotad that would be interesting

[@TheThOdOr1s]

I am Greek. BUMP for Sami language!

[@hentehoo27]

A video about the other Uralic language would be nice as well! Hungarian has already been made...

[@osiete]

I second this!

[@berndts27]

Ja! Det skulle va skit kul

[@jrogers9052]

phenomenal! very well done!

[@byro888]

I only just started watching NativLang but have binged through it. You can really sell this to classrooms or something. Maybe you should do an episode on the advent of spacing and puncuation. Or other endangered languages like Manchu. Or how all language families originate from areas with high language diversity (i.e Siberia, Taiwan, Yunnan and Tibet). Either way, I'm excited for your next video

[@DaRhyno]

Am I the only one who picked up on the Age of Empires reference in there?

[@siodhe]

You mean the little Spartan research track achievements? If so, those were great, and relate to a lot of other games as well.

[@Itspietertime]

1:23 "...Sparta's long Alphas..." I like that pun xD

[@eleni73]

Very interesting video and very nicely done! Congrats on your accent, I'm impressed!

[@JMM33RanMA]

Fantastic!!! Keep up the good work!!!

[@AvenMcM]

This is great! I knew nothing about it...will be passing this on to my Hellenist colleague to see if he did.

[@rzeka]

σούκα μπλιατ

[@SomeBritishGal1]

*μπλίατ

[@katrinal353]

*Σούκα μπλιάτ, ίντι ναχούι. Ρούσ μπι. Ρεπόρτ σούκα, νούμπ τίμ. Νο τζιτζι.

[@GeorgeDiamond]

χαχαχαχαχα :P

[@yiagouz2466]

Σουκα μπλιαχ 😂😂

[@danaldtrampf6717]

Rush 🅱

[@mylesgarcia4625]

What an illuminating video. Thank you.

[@_j_0_n_6_16]

Hey NativLang! Huge fan! I'm from Wales and was wondering if you could do a video explaining the language, ty! I also love languages so watching your video's is a huge enjoyment for me :D

[@savvassimitsis9090]

Very nice video! Athens has always been expansive,even and now.. It's such a pity that the pronounciation is lost,we now pronounce "αί,οί,εί,ύ,ί,ή" the same way,as well as the "o" "ω" and ''ῶ",even though they mean different things. It's a great thing to know,in one way,that your culture is preserved,especially nowdays that our Ministry of Education keeps changing the school books(for example,they want to abolish the lesson of Ancient Greek from the highschool).

[@Joe-ju4cj]

How about a video on the Sicilian dialect? Lots of borrowed/left over Greek words for sure.

[@supermichaelssecondchannel4342]

Thank you for this video.

[@cnacma]

This is such an amazing interesting channel

[@Praxix]

This is madness~

[@user-qf9po1xv6o]

This is really cool! I didn't know that there was still a living language derived from Doric!

[@FRAGIORGIO1]

Thanks for this Rare Glimpse at ancient Greek survivals from Doric.

[@DifficultGreek]

Πολύ ωραίο βίντεο Τζόσουα, σ' ευχαριστώ!

[@emiliosgregoriou8943]

Perhaps a video on the Cypriot dialect ? In a way, the Cypriot dialect is closer to older versions of Greek than actual Greek spoken in Greece. For example, many of our words still end in "n", where in Greece they disappeared. Also not to mention the "sh" "ch" and "dj" sounds that you won't hear any time soon in Athens. And the interesting mix of Turkish hidden inside our vocabulary. I reckon it would make an interesting video

[@slukky]

And you have -opoulos (Peloponnesean) & -ides (Ponti) endings on your names. How'd that happen?

[@dieselface1]

The closest Greek tongue to ancient Greek is Pontic Greek, specifically from the Of Valley, but the Pontic Greek language in general and in general their culture is more close to that of ancient Greece than anything else

[@slukky]

That's because we ARE Greeks.... Y. Mee

[@thanassiss1371]

sh dj and ch are common sounds in many Greek dialects, also spoken near Athens. They exist in my native dialect too

[@mrpellagra2730]

These sounss all exist in Turkiah.Speaking of Turkish,there many fascinating dialects of it.I am sad that they are going away.

[@balsakovacevic8423]

THIS IS NATIVLANNNNG!

[@MrHusseinMoussa]

"hunting for a perfect dialect" I love this channel! :D

[@MrDJRadeEEYo]

You've turned me into a complete Language nerd. It's gotten to the point where I'm studying language more than my own major of business!

[@mlliarm]

They have τσιτακισμό in Crete too (eg. το πανεπιστήμιο τση Κρήτης - the university of Crete). Cretans are well known descendants of the Doric tribe too. I'd love to see a video made for Cretan Greek, and compare it with old Doric Greek, to see differences and similarities. Amazing video, ευχαριστώ πολύ :).

[@scarecrow2097]

"Ancient Sparta had it's own way of speaking Greek!" like you mean almost every single Greek state and some villages even today? xD

[@L.K.S.R.]

You missed the point of it. 😑😑

[@kokutennsh8899]

@@L.K.S.R. but its true tho😂

[@L.K.S.R.]

@@kokutennsh8899 and so did you apparently

[@guskalo1981]

Fascinating. Thank you.

[@nni9310]

Thank you for your videos. They are interesting and well presented. How well do you speak each of the languages covered in detail, such as Nahuatl, Japanese, Castillian?

[@user-ws6ik1ch5c]

you' ve just made τσακώνικα a lot more renowned

[@NynyshAulia]

I'm sorry for link this on game, but I kinda imagine how Kratos from God of War game franchise talk. He would sounds scarier in Tsakonian Greek 🤧

[@angelostsirimokos8104]

A wonderful piece on a little-known and possibly moribund relic. Ευχαριστώ!

[@CaesarT973]

Vanakam 🦚🌦 Thank you for sharing

[@PC_Simo]

Tsakonian is definitely worth preserving, and I really hope the government is taking the issue seriously 🇬🇷.

[@saerdna100able]

as a university student og latin and ancient Greek I love these😂

[@ChristianJiang]

1:34 Them moving like that when he said “Mix the dialects” is the cutest thing ever !!

[@krzlcve]

incredible job at pronunciation man! 🇬🇷

[@bhnnad]

Can you talk about the Cretan Greek dialect?? I am a descendant of the Cretan diaspora and on my visits to Crete, I noticed that Cretan Greek is dying and for the most part, only the elderly speak it (contrary to what Wikipedia says). I know Crete has a different history from the rest of Greece and nearly wasn't included in the modern Greek state, but I have no idea why the dialect is so odd. I don't speak Greek, but the little I know allows me to see obvious differences between Athenian Greek and Cretan Greek: the -ch instead of -k sound being the most obvious (kochino instead of kokino), but also word differences like "pamene" instead of "pame" (although according to relatives, only in some villages).

[@thrakiamaria]

That ch was because of Venetian occupation of the island

[@xlatelyb1998]

we also do a different “L” sound, and we have plenty of cretan-specific words! :))

[@anionchloriou3483]

Νο you are wrong, the cretan dialect is a typicall southern one, and it has influenced more than any other than the peloponnesian the formetion of the modern greek...maybe you have noticed in Crete that Cretans like to grumpling a lot. Plus, Crete was in the plans for incorporations from the very beginning of the Greek Revolution.

[@anionchloriou3483]

@@thrakiamaria You like to phantasized that you...are Venetians. I guess that you will be disappointed to know that tsitakism is very common in southern dialects and exists even in some areas of the northern ones, like Desphina etc.

[@thrakiamaria]

@@anionchloriou3483 tsitakism is also known in southern Italy to the grigo population. It happened by venetian occupation of the island.

[@Tabuleiro.]

Could you make a video about another Greek dialects?

[@Swordsman3D]

Love your videos. I am from Latvija and it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on Lithuanian vs Latvian and maybe Latgalian too! Keep up the good work

[@delcogreek]

Good job on your linguistics and accent. I'm impressed 👍