Istanbul Greek Language and Identity
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Title Page Cosmopolitan Constantinopolitans: Istanbul Greek Language and Identity by Matthew John Hadodo BA, Rutgers University, 2010 MA, New York University, 2013 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2020 Committee Page UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Matthew John Hadodo It was defended on March 20, 2020 and approved by Karen E. Park, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics Shelome Gooden, Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics Brian D. Joseph, Distinguished Professor, Department of Linguistics, The Ohio State University Dissertation Director: Scott F. Kiesling, Professor, Department of Linguistics ii Copyright © by Matthew John Hadodo 2020 iii Abstract Cosmopolitan Constantinopolitans: Istanbul Greek Language and Identity Matthew John Hadodo, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2020 The Istanbul Greek (IG) community is an indigenous minority group totaling ~2000 members. Due to their specific geopolitical and sociohistorical context, the IG dialect has unique contact-induced linguistic features from Turkish, French, and other languages, in addition to archaisms and innovations. Because the IG community encompasses multilingual individuals who are ethnically Greek but nationally Turkish, they provide a unique opportunity to observe how identity is represented and circulated with language. This dissertation presents an ethnographic and variationist sociolinguistic analysis of the IG community and their speech. Six months of ethnographic observation over 2016 and 2018 resulted in interviews with over 80 IG speakers of various demographic backgrounds. Sociolinguistic interviews elicited a range of dialectal variants from a range of task types. I acoustically measured phonetic features of IG that differ from Standard Modern Greek (SMG) from wordlist data and ran mixed-effects models along conventional linguistic and social factors. The results from these analyses show that a salient dialectal feature (velarized laterals) patterns as expected with traditional variationist research, but only with young females. Meanwhile a less salient dialectal feature (postalveolar affricates) does not pattern as expected regardless of demographics. Factors such as social networks and language ideologies do not reliably account for how these and other variables pattern. These results are triangulated with metapragmatic commentary of IG speakers discussing their language. Metapragmatic discourse reveals specific social meaning attributed to these dialectal features and to IG holistically. Speakers appeal to chronotopic relationships with their iv language use and IG identity, which represents cosmopolitanism and urban sophistication that contrasts with SMG. IG speakers’ awareness of dialectal differences and qualities associated with such differences are then used to form characterological figures that reinforce an IG identity in opposition with SMG. Laterals serve as an index of IG identity for all IGs, whereas postalveolar affricates do not have the same social meaning, which aligns with how these features pattern in the community. As a result, the variation seen in IG cannot be explained by traditional methods alone. Knowledge of the specific IG sociohistorical context is important because social meaning is crucially what drives language change. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... xiii 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 Interlude 1: Welcome to My Family ........................................................................................... 7 2.0 Overview on Istanbul Greek(s) ............................................................................................ 12 2.1 Who are the Istanbul Greeks? ..................................................................................... 12 2.1.1 Brief History of Greeks in Istanbul ..................................................................15 2.1.2 Challenging National Identity ...........................................................................25 2.1.3 Reimagining Diaspora .......................................................................................32 2.2 Greek Dialects ............................................................................................................... 36 2.2.1 Modern Greek Dialectology ..............................................................................36 2.2.2 Katharevousa and the Language Question ......................................................44 2.2.3 Standard Modern Greek ...................................................................................47 2.3 Istanbul Greek .............................................................................................................. 49 2.3.1 Phonetic Inventory .............................................................................................51 2.3.2 Phonological Processes ......................................................................................55 2.3.3 Morphology .........................................................................................................57 2.3.4 Syntax ..................................................................................................................59 2.3.5 Sociopragmatics .................................................................................................60 2.3.6 Summary .............................................................................................................62 Interlude 2: Welcome to Istanbul .............................................................................................. 66 3.0 Ethnographic Language Change and Identity ................................................................... 74 vi 3.1 Variation and Language/Dialect Contact ................................................................... 75 3.1.1 Variationist Sociolinguistics ..............................................................................76 3.1.2 Contact Linguistics ............................................................................................78 3.1.3 Contact and Variation in Istanbul ....................................................................82 3.2 Sociolinguistic Ethnography ........................................................................................ 86 3.2.1 Active and Passive Observation ........................................................................87 3.2.2 Interviews ............................................................................................................88 3.2.3 Metapragmatic Awareness ................................................................................89 3.3 Language and Identity ................................................................................................. 90 3.3.1 Ideology ...............................................................................................................93 3.3.2 Indexicality .........................................................................................................95 3.3.3 Stance ..................................................................................................................97 Interlude 3: Coup d’état ............................................................................................................ 100 4.0 Istanbul Greek Semiotic Field ........................................................................................... 105 4.1 Social Features of Istanbul Greeks ........................................................................... 106 4.1.1 Byzantine Historical Referents .......................................................................108 4.1.2 Cosmopolitan Sophistication ...........................................................................111 4.1.3 Cologne, Tea, and Cuisine ...............................................................................114 4.2 Metapragmatic Awareness of Istanbul Greek ......................................................... 116 4.2.1 Fieldwork and Friends .....................................................................................116 4.2.2 Discussing Difference .......................................................................................120 4.2.3 Nostalgic Narratives .........................................................................................127 4.3 Salient Linguistic Features of Istanbul Greek ......................................................... 133 vii 4.3.1 Laterals .............................................................................................................136 4.3.2 Affricates ...........................................................................................................138 4.3.3 Backing-up Patterns ........................................................................................140 Interlude 4: Running from Place to Place .............................................................................. 144 5.0 Speaking Heavy ................................................................................................................... 148 5.1 Metapragmatic Awareness of /l/ and /ts/ .................................................................