Languages of Cyprus
National or official languages: Greek, Turkish. 7710200
(1998 UN). Republic of Cyprus, Kypriaki Dimokratia, Kibris Cumhuriyeti. Literacy
rate 95% to 99%. Also includes North Levantine Spoken Arabic, Assyrian
Neo-Aramaic. Information mainly from A. Borg 1985. Christian, Muslim, secular.
Deaf population 49,259. Deaf institutions: 2. Data accuracy estimate: B. The
number of languages listed for Cyprus is 4. Of those, all are living languages.
Diversity index 0.37.
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Spoken living languages
ARABIC, CYPRIOT SPOKEN
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[ACY] 1,300 speakers out of 6,000 in the Cypriot
Maronite ethnic group, 140 Maronites in Kormatiki, 80 to 100 in Limassol,
the rest in the Maronite community in Nicosia. Kormakiti, one of 4
Maronite villages in the mountains of northern Cyprus, and in refugee
communities in Nicosia and Limassol. Alternate
names: CYPRIOT MARONITE ARABIC, MARONITE, SANNA. Classification:
Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic.
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ARMENIAN
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[ARM] 2,740 in Cyprus (1987). Alternate names: HAIEREN, SOMKHURI, ERMENICE, ARMJANSKI. Dialects:
WESTERN ARMENIAN. Classification:
Indo-European, Armenian.
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GREEK
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[GRK] 578,000 in Cyprus (1995), 75% of the
population. Nearly all in southern Cyprus. Dialects:
CYPRIOT GREEK. Classification:
Indo-European, Greek, Attic.
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TURKISH
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[TRK] 177,000 in Cyprus (1995), 20% of the
population. Nearly all in northern Cyprus. Alternate
names: OSMANLI. Classification:
Altaic, Turkic, Southern, Turkish.
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