Tsakonia

Tsakonia

Tsakonia or the Tsakonian region (Greek Τσακωνιά or Τσακωνικός χώρος) describes the area of the eastern Peloponnese where the Tsakonian language is presently or was formerly spoken. It is not a formally defined political entity of the modern Greek state, being more akin to such vague regional constructions as "Dixie" in the United States or "West Country" in England.

In his "Brief Grammar of the Tsakonian Dialect" published in 1951, Prof. Athanasios P. Costakis defines Tsakonia as the area from the town of Agios Andreas in Kynouria south to Leonidio and inland as far as [http://www.kastanitsa.gr Kastanitsa] and Sitaina, but asserts that in former times the Tsakonian-speaking area extended as far as Cape Malea in eastern Laconia. The principal town in Tsakonia at this time was Prastos, which benefitted from a special trading privilege granted by the authorities in Constantinople. Prastos was burned by Ibrahim Pasha in the Greek War of Independence and was abandoned, with many of its residents fleeing to the area around Leonidio or other spots on the Argolic Gulf.

Some early commentators seem to have confused the speech of Maniot dialect speakers with true Tsakonian, demonstrating the flexible nature of the term.

The actual Tsakonian speech community has shrunk greatly since "Brief Grammar's" publication, but the area delineated by Costakis is still considered "Tsakonia" due to the preservation of certain cultural traits such as the Tsakonian dance and unique folk costumes.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tsakonia Hotel — (Tirós,Греция) Категория отеля: 1 звездочный отель Адрес: 40, Tagmatarhou Alevra str …   Каталог отелей

  • Tsakonian language — language name=Tsakonian nativename=Τσακωνικά Tsakōniká familycolor=Indo European states=Greece region=Eastern Peloponnese around Mount Parnon speakers=300 2,000 fluent fam2=Greek fam3=Doric iso2=ine|iso3=tsdTsakonian, Tzakonian or Tsakonic (Greek …   Wikipedia

  • Leonidio — Infobox Greek Dimos name = Leonidio name local = Λεωνίδιο periph = Peloponnese prefec = Arcadia population = 3249 population as of = 2001 area = 102.7 elevation = 40 lat deg = 37 lat min = 10 lon deg = 22 lon min = 51 postal code = 223 00 area… …   Wikipedia

  • Tsakonikos — The Tsakonikos or Tsakonikos khoros ( Tsakonian dance ) is a dance performed in the Peloponnese in Greece. It comes from the region, chiefly in Arcadia, known asTsakonia. It is danced in many towns villages there with little variation to the… …   Wikipedia

  • Tsakonians — (Greek: Τσάκωνες Tsákones ) are an ethnic Greek population group, speakers of the Tsakonian dialect, or more broadly, inhabitants of Tsakonia in the eastern Peloponnese and followers of certain Tsakonian cultural traditions, such as the Tsakonian …   Wikipedia

  • Demographics of Greece — This article is about the demographic features of the population of Greece, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.… …   Wikipedia

  • Arcadia — Infobox Pref GR name = Arcadia name local = Νομός Αρκαδίας periph = Peloponnese capital = Tripoli population = 100,611 population as of = 2005 pop rank = 38th pop dens = 22.8 popdens rank = 52nd area = 4,419 area rank = 5th postal code = 22x xx… …   Wikipedia

  • Languages of Greece — Languages of country = Greece official = Greek sign = Greek Sign Language keyboard = Greek keyboard keyboard The official language of Greece is Greek. In addition, a number of non official, minority languages and some Greek dialects are spoken as …   Wikipedia

  • Romania — Mit Romania wurden in der Spätantike das Römische Reich und der römisch lateinische Kulturkreis bezeichnet (Orosius, 5. Jh.) Das Oströmische oder Byzantinische Reich bezeichnete sich in der Folge selbst als Romania (lat.; griech. Ρωμανία), die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Romanien — Mit Romania wurden in der Spätantike das Römische Reich und der römisch lateinische Kulturkreis bezeichnet (Orosius, 5. Jh.) Das Oströmische oder Byzantinische Reich bezeichnete sich in der Folge selbst als Romania (lat.) bzw. Rhomania (griech.) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”