GREEK & THE INTERNET

THE AFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC MAIL EXCHANGE ON THE GREEK LANGUAGE

Antonios Valassakis

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Mnster of Arts. Depnrtment of Curriculum, Tenching nnd Lenrning Ontnrio Institute for Studies in Educntion of the University of Toronto

@Copyright by Antonios Vnlnssnkis 2001 Nalional Library Bibliothe ue nationale du canala Acquisitions and Acquisitions el Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellinglcn Sbwl 395. Na WeU'inpMn Onawa ON KlA ON4 ûüawON KlAW canada canada

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The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette Uièse. tiiesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced witiiout the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Thesis title: "Greek &the Internet: The affectsof electmnic mail exchange on the Greck Ianguage" Degree: Master ofArts Year of convocation: 2001 Narne: Antonios Valassakis Department: Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL) University: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education ofthe University ofToronto (OISUUT)

Abstract

The Greek language scems to be one ofthe minor languages on the Internet. The fact that Greek is not always recognized by computers. bccüuse ofits alphabet charücters, has Icd Greck-speaking Internet users IO crcate another script, a hybrid languagc callcd

"Greeklish", which is a translitcration ofthe Greek Ianguügc in Latin charücters.

Howcver, this kind ofscript has started an immense argument between acadcmic circles in Greece, who bclicve that it could bc a threat to the historical Greck Ianguagc. In this explontory study 1 present the results ofa survey conductcd on the Internet, and I try to analyze furthcr the growing phenomcnon of"Grceklish", as it is today. Acknowledgements

1 would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Lynn Davie for hclping me throughout the wholc rcseürch with his cxpcriencc. His contributions and rcmarks wcre vcry hclpful.

Also, 1 would likc to thank thc Grcck Youth Socicty of Wiesbaden Gcrmany and thcir maguine "Dyo Opscis". from whcrc 1 found resourccs for this study. With thcir help 1 mct onlinc with Dr. Jannis Androutsopoulos. from the University of Heidelberg, who 1 would like to thank for his help and support.

Funhcr, 1 would likc to thank al1 thc panicipünts to thc onlinc qucstionnairc of this rcscarch, who hclped me with thcir commcnts.

Finally, 1 would likc to thank my beloved parcnts in Greecc, who wcrc vcry supportive in cvcry wüy, and hclpcd me with spirit to cary out this study.

iii Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chaoter 2 2.1. Short history of the Greek language (Development - Evaluation) 2.2. History of the Latin-alphabeted Greek language Cliaoter 3 Chauter 5

List of Tables Chaptcr 1

Research background

This study inicrprets the cxpcricncc dcscribcd by adults engagcd in Electrotric itiail e.rcliatrge atid Clrat rooiirs. and their effccts upon thcir languagc (Greck) and typing skills. Thc Intcrnct. the "Information superhighway", has takcn a high profile in the media and has bccomc morc acccssiblc at the community Icvcl. Thc implications are that

Intcrnet uscrs will continuc to incrcasc and many will choosc to lcarn how to usc the lnternct indcpcndcntly, outsidc of formal cducational opportunitics (Taylor, 1987).

Elcctronic mil, also known as "cmail" has bccomc thc casicst, fastcst, most cost- cffcctivc way for communication today. One of the latcst activitics on the Intcrnct sccms to bc "chatting". Hundreds of chat lincs and rooms are active on thc Intcrnct, in many shapcs and forms - Java- or Clicnt-büscd - with scvcral topics. Somc of thc chat lincs

rcquire onlinc rcgistration, while thc majority are frcc, wcb-bascd chat-rooms.

1.2.

Purpose and objectives of study

The purpose of this study is to try to show thc cffccts of clcctronic mail cxchangc

and onlinc chatting on Greck language and typing skills. From my pcrspcctivc as a native of Grcece and ris a teacher, 1 can sense a change. and pcrhaps a sort of "catristmphic rcsult" on thc Greek language uscd on the Intcmct. My study focuses on the ways people use the Greek language on the Intemet. Relationships between Greek usagc and the type of intcnctivity (how close the person you arc writing to is). lime-loss factor (espccially in chat sessions). and the participants' already existing skills. Facts like Grcek languagc written in Latin charaeters, improper use of language (inconrct spclling, acronyms. etc.) will bc anülyzcd hem. This study stcms from my personal experiencc wiih clectmnic mail and chit rooms, wherc 1 could gct in touch with al1 that is happening in the cybcr-world betwecn Intcmet users.

One of the main objectives of this study is to give rcadcrs a scnse of what is going on in today's cybcr-world; not in ierms of cutting-cdgc tcchnology and its affections on human rclationships, but in tcrms of the very first clcmcnt of humün naturc. that is king modificd in ordcr to fit the needs of the rapid technologic~lchange: Lünguagc. Howevcr, this study should not bc cütegorizcd as "tcchno-phobic". 1 Iim not hcrc to scare anyonc about technology and computcrs. On the contrary, 1 myself use tcchnology as n means of communication as wcll. This paper only serves to inform people, cspecially Grecks and

Greek educators of the linguistic changes yet to corne. not to surprise thcm. 1.3.

Resources

Research involved collection of information fmm articles about the Internei, as well as oiher sources concerning electmnic mail and chat rooms found on the Web. Focus was centered on e-mail and chat line languagc, while books and articles about Greek languagc in general were not excluded. Howevcr, 1 musi note that finding resources for the curent topic of Latin-Grcek wûs extremely difficult. "Greeklish", Greek script tnnslitenied in Latin chaneters, as we will present in the next chapters, is a phenomenon that was born during the early 20Ih century. Nonetheless. Greeklish on the Internct is a growing phenorneno- 3f the late 90s. and people have just started analyzing it. Hence. there is not a huge bibliognphy on the subject. othcr than acadcmic and newspaper articles and online weii ,mges that are mostly written in Greek, for which 1 will provide ihe trünslaiion. Chapter 2

2.1.

Short history of the Greek language (Developrnent-Evaluation)

" Wlrarei~errlre Greeh rakefronr rlre barbariarrs.

rlrey iniprove ir grearly ar tlre erid."

This sayirig refers iior orrly ro crafis arid lerrers arrd ro tlre orlier activiries

of uiicierit Greeb brrr also to tlieir lungitage. Tlioirglr ir is rnte rliur the

Greek Irriigrtage >vasbrorglir biro Greece by rrorrlreni Greek rribes, ir is

eqrral~tnre r11ar rlrey slrapeù, errriclred mid àeveloped rhur Iurtgirage

niaiiily iri Greece, so rlrar Cicero believed rltar rlie Greek latrgitage \vas

ivorrlry of beirig spokeri eiw by flic gods. Ir is rior roo rrrircli ro su)' rlrat flic

Iristo~yof rlre Greek Iungrtuge is also nrabrly a prorltrcrioir of rlre Greek

tiibid of rlre Greek LrragNiuriori atidof the Greek soit1 irr gorerul. "

(hirpunlis. 1970).

Greek is a mcrnbcr of Indo-European fÿmily of Ianguagcs distinct in having thc longest hisiory of al1 Europcan Ianguages. It was uscd in Crete, dunng ihc Minoic pcnod (14'~ ccniüry BC), wlicreas the carlicst Grcck wntings arc the Linear B tablets from the

Myccnaean palaces of Creie and ihe mainland of Grecce, which date back IO the 13Ih ccniury BC. Becausc writicn litcrature emerged quiie Iate in thc timc scale of the development ofthe Greek Ianguage, the poems ofHomer are the carliest works ofGreek litcnture (7Ih-6" century BC). After the invasion ofDonc spcaking Greeks from the

North-Wcst (Elhcentury BC) mainland Greeks cstablishcd colonies in Italy and on the

Asia Minor coat. With the help ofmcrcantilism and tnde. thc new Grcek alphabct soon dcveloped a number of local variations: A West Greck version (with a Donc brünch). used in Italy and Sicily, was the predccessor ofthe Romün alphabct; the East Ionic alphabet on the müinland, which became thc standard form by the end ofthe 5Ih ccntury

BC; in Athens it bccame Attic-Ionic, with somc diffcrcnces;and the Aeolic, spokcn from

Smyrna Io Hcllcspont (with Donc clcmcnts). By thc end ofthe Chccntury BC, following the conqucsts ofAlexander thc Great, Greek wüs bcginning to be acccptcd as a common language, the Koirié (based on the Attic dialect), in thc wholc eastcm Mediterranean.

Egypt, Mcsopotamia and Iran. By the 3" century BC Greck was thc official languagc of the eüstcm Mcditcrrancan (trünslation ofthe Old Testament in Grcek), whcreas, by the end ofthc lS'centuryBC, dunng the mlc ofRomans, official documents were wnttcn in

Latin as well as Grcck. After the Chnstianization ofthe Greek nation, the Empcror of

Rome Constüntinc trünsferred thc capitül ofthc Roman Empire east (4Ihccntury AD), and though Latin was used for official purposcs, Grcck becamc the official languagc ofthc

Byzantine Empire (6Ih ccntury AD). The wnttcn Ianguügc was a mixture ofthe Attic and the Biblical Koirié Greek, whilc the oral language borrowcd words from othcr nations. such as the Vcnctians and Turks. Aftcr the invasion ofTurks in 1453 the dcvclopment of

Greck shows few structural or grammütical changes. Howcvcr, dunng that penod. thcrc

wüs much activity in the form of poetry and litcrüture. Pocms and songs. wnttcn in

dialects spokcn in the müinland, as well as in Crete, Cypms, Pontos, are still known today. In the 19th centuty, after the Greek Revolution in 1821, and the final libention of

Gtccce, there \vas littlc conccrn about the language, with the tcsult that no uniform language \vas cstablished thmughout the new nation. The big issue ofthis centuty ha been "the Language Question": what sort ofspeech the Greek people today should use.

Late in the 19th centuty, Greek scholats and wnms conccrned thcmsclves wiih a systematization ofthe popular tonguc for purposes ofeducation and communication. The leadcts ofthis widesptcad movement were known as Dcmotikists, bccause the vernacular language is called Dcmotike. Opposed to the Demotikists were the punsts, the advocaics ofa punfied Gtcck (Katharevousa). These scholats aimed primanly at reawakcning thc

Grcck people to a consciousncss oftheir ancient cultural hcntagc. The purists distcgarded the widcsptcad use ofthe writtcn and spoken vemacular. cspousing an clcgant, scholarly. iutificial language bascd on Ancicnt Greck and tcmote from the speech ofeveryday life.

The Dcmotike was first introduced in schools in 1917, whilc in the penod of 1933 and

1937 al1 textbooks wntten in Dcmotike wctc recallcd. In 1941 Dcmotikc \vas reintroduced wiih a ncw fomal grammar definition. Betwccn 1967 and 1974, under the militaty diciatorship. Katharevousa \vas used but in 1976 the Gtcck Government dccidcd that the tcliching at al1 levels ofeducation should bc solely in Dcmotikc.

Above 011. Greek is u Iurigttuge disfittgiiisl~edby un e.riruordinarily ricli

iacabirlary utid srrpple sytrrar. II is siill spokeri toduy oti ilte Greek

pniirrsrrlu atid the islutrds of rlte Aegeari, rlror is, bi areus ivlrere grorrps of

Greek-speukirig Irrdo-Etrropeuiu/irst esfublisltedrl~er~iselves oborrt 1000

BC (Brirantiicu E~rcyclopedia). History of the Latin-alphabetcd Greek language

Tliere are dociotierirsfrotri tlie Byiatrtitie period ivritreil in Latiti

cliaracrers. Firrtlrer, dirnirg rlie Middle Ages iri Crere arid Cypnrs.folk

sorigs ivere ivritteri iri Luriri cliaracters. Luter. froiti tlie early 19" cerintpl,

nrariy Greek books ivere pririted Ni Srtiynra ivirh Lariri cliaracrers. (...) In

Srtiynia tllere >vasa11 arreriipr ro pirblisli a Greek ricivspaper ivritreii bi

Lariri cliarac~ers.The Levaritities of Btiynia, ivlio ivere al1 speakirig Greek,

bitt ivere e.rperiericirig problertis leantirig oitr dificirlt spellNig, ivere

ahvays irsbig Latiri cliaracrers NI orùer to ivrite iti GreeR Luter, rliey ivere

folloived by rlle people frorrr Cliios arid otlicr foreigri iriercliatrts, ivlio ivere

ivritbig tlleir lerrers arid telegrattis NI Greek, birr rtsitig Lariri cliaracrers.

Tliis "fratico-clrioriki"' lartgrrqe ,vas everi iised ùy Greeksfor tlieir niail

cscltarrge ivirh Greeb livbtg NI Sniynia, Lorrdoti, mrd elseivliere. Tliis kitid

of script sitniivd years larer arid ive cari ven, ojrerijiird ir irr telgrartrs of

Greeks livirig abroarl. (Kartliaios, 1934)

About 70 ycars Iatcr ihis "franco-chiotiki" is prcscnt in the Modern Grcek language. From the eürly 90s Grccks living in Grecce and abroad are using it to communicatc through the Internet; they wriic pcrsonal emüil, ihcy publish

' From "franco". which mcans French. hcrc rcprescniing hiin in gcneral. and "chioiiki". which means from ihc island of Chios announcements, they contribute in list servcn, or even in student archives with jokes.

Even today, wherc Grcek chmcten have established their prcsence in web sites and electronic mail, the use of Latin chmcten is often nccessary for technical rcasons, since sender and rccipient may not have the same systcm that will support Grcek languagc. cithcr in Greece or, evcn morc. betwecn Greecc and foreign countncs.

The use of Latin-Grcek alphabet is bascd on a clear way of thinking about the language. Language is not just a means of thinking and communication. but also a symbol of social identity. WC do not just use the languagc, but also we connect it with

Our social and politicül standards. The wntten fom of it is the connection bctween the past and the prcsent, and it is bascd on the histoneal spelling of the language, which cünnot be learned "natunlly", by everyday use and communicütion, but through somc noms and niles. Howcvcr, Ianguage changes dong with the society that uses il. As J.

Androutsopoulos writcs:

"As yeurs go ùy, rlre vocul fonir of a lairgiiage is gerrbrg disruirt froitr rlre

ivrirren font1 of if,rriiril rlre point ivlrere rlre Iiisioricul onliogrupliy is trot

uiry tirore itr uccordurrce ivirh the niodenr prorrrtticiu~ionof the lungriuge.

So, the Greek latrgiiuge isJîtll of lerrers (11. I. II. ci. or...)' ivliiclr, roiri125

yeurs ago, ivlrere syttrbols curryitig cerrrrrries of hisrory, bitr riow ure ilor in

uccordritice ivirh tlre nrodenr vocul lurigituge. The reuson rliey are sri11

All ihcsc lciicrs and diphihongs arc inicniionnlly placcd hcrc, as ihcy dl sound as "i". iised is iior practical. but clearly eryiiological (onltc~grapltydejrtes the

backgrotoid of flic ivords), ItisroricBl (ivritiitg of the ivords /tas reniailied

the soirte for ceriritries). aiid niosrly syriibolic (the ttrtchoriged spellirig

syrriDoliies tlte historical corttir~itityof the irariorta1 Greek coniritirttity). "

(Androiitsopottlos, 1999)

One of the main arguments conceming the matter of the use of Lütin-Grcek alphabet (Grecklish or Grccnglish) is that it can destroy the natural Greck Ianguage.

Acüdemics who were concerned about keeping and using the Latin-Grcck alphabet argued that using the ordinary Greck alphabct is somehow old-fashioned and cxtremcly diflicult for those learning the language. Further, they argucd that the national idcntity of a community could not be destroyed by an orthographie change and should not be büscd on historical orthogrüphy. Onc of the great cxperts in the Grcck Ianguagc of thc 20Ih century, Nikos Hützidakis, replying to thc qucstion "Are we going to loose a part of our national spirit, if WC adopt the Latin alphabet?'wrote:

"1 iliirik tlie artsiver is very easy. Do ive loose oiir rtatiorrul spirit ivlicri. like

today, ive leant iriiisic ivritroi itt rlie Nireniariorial ritirsic alpltaDer? Do ive

loose oitr r~atior~ulspirit iv/teii ive coioit itsirig Ilte i~ttcntatioitulritirrrericul

code? Fiiially, do ive loose ottr rtatioricil spirit ivltert ive llress like

Ettrol>eaiis?(Hurzihkis, 1931) The Latin-Greek alphabet today is a supplementary system ofstfipt, which is used under certain circumstances and by certain social groups; students. academics, scientists, people ofthe media and technology field. Its use is technically effective,since, with a little pnctice, everyonc can write and read them. Further, Latin-Greek orthography does not prevent creative use of the Greek language (see next chapter). According to the wide nnge and the constant use ofthe Latin-alphabeted Greek by the academic community it is concluded that the Greek language has found just another helping tool.

However, this tool does not have rules that could refer to a language. There are certain un-established writing methods that a few people in the cyber world know and even fewer use, since these methods arc not taught and learncd anywhere. The tnnscription of a Greek word in "Greeklish" is not bascd on some certain criteria, since there is no specific norm that can represent a "grammatical rule". Because ofthat, Greek Internet users improvise with their keyboard, in order to find the morc effectivesolution; the one that will express the Greek alphabet at thc very best, either visually (orthographic)or phonetically (Lalios, 2000). As a result, the word around Greek e-mail users around the world is that 'kveryone writes howcvcr helshe likes and everyone uses hisher own method".

Because ofthe chaotic situation around Grccklish and the unofficial transliteration ofthe Greek words on the Internet, certain web sites have becn developed in order to help

Internet users that cxpcrience problems re-writing their c-mail messages in Grccklish, or reading their imported messages in Greeklish. Thesc web sites offera simple converter,

that automatically transforms the Greek script into Greeklish, or vise versa. However,

aftcr testing these converters, I found specific problcms thdt cause even more chaotic rcsults. 1 will refer to thcm in the next chapter. wherc we analyze the Grceklish Intcrnct language.

Finally, dunng the last thrcc ycars. a new means of communication seems to have bccome a basic part of Greeks' lives; cellular telephone devices. One of the main feüturcs of the cutting-edge tcchnology cellular phones is the SMS (Short Messaging System). and it seems that it is used even mon: frcquently than the voice transmission service of the telephone itself. The SMS provides the user with the ability to contact other cellular phonc usen with text messages, using hishcr own cellular phonc, faster and cost- efficicntly. Being myself a user of the SMS tcchnology 1 rcalized that the use of

Grceklish is prcsent herc as well. Even though the müjority of the cellular phones uscd in

Grcecc include Grcek as an option in their Ianguage settings, most uscn writc in

Grccklish whcn ihey scnd an SMS message IO another cellular phonc, espccially when the recipicnt livcs in anothercountry. Obviously, the reason is still the case of the rccipient not having a device that supports the Grcck language. Once again, the fcür of not bcing undentood turns people to the use of the casicst and simplest mcans of communication, in Our case Grccklish. Chapter 3

3.1.

Greeklish or Greenglish

Thcrc arc vanous names that have been given from time to lime Io this new tool of the Grcek language; "Franco-chiotika", "Fnnco-levantinika". "Greeklish",

"Grcenglish", "Latin-Greek", or "Greek-Latin". In ordcr for us to express the best meaning of what this new tool looks like and what it stands for. WC have to pay attention to what ils namc reprcsents. The words "Greenglish" and "Greeklish" are the ones most often used in the cyber world.

According to grammatical rules. the word "Greenglish". which is formed by the first threc letters of the word "Greek" and the ending "English", sounds like a differcnt type or dialeci of the English Ianguage. Further, this word does not sound good when pronounced. because the sound of "grccn" distracts the listener from the vcry essence of the meüning of the word, which refers to Greek and not the green colour. On the other

hand, the word "Greeklish" docs sound like a different type or dialcct of the Greek

language. evcn though the ending "-isli" somehow underestimatcs the first part of thc

word that it rcfers to, and sounds like "sort of Grcek". The cluster "Lütin-Greek" seems

to be the most effective way to express the full mcaning and usefulness of this language.

Nevertheless, in order for us to derto this new elcctronic type of the Greek

wntten Ianguüp. 1 shall use the word "Greeklish", which was and still is the name of the

Ianguage that is used by Grceks living abroad. Greeklish - An analysis

The wnting ofGreek with the use ofLatin chamcters is widely spread around the

Greek-speaking Intemet users ofthe world wiihin their communication systcms. A main feature of"Latin-Greek" is spelling variation. whcreby several Greck chmcters ÿn: tnnsliterüted with more than one Latin equivalents (Androutsopoulos. 1999). There an: two ways ofwnting and spclling Grceklish; the phonetic trünsliterütion, bascd on the sound ofthe Greek words, and the orthographie (visual) translitcntion, bascd on the correct spelling ofthe words. But before 1 carry on with the description ofthese two ways, let us focus on the kcyboard and software problems that the usen expericnce. because ofthe non-Latin shaped Greek alphabet.

3.2.1.

Keybonrd 8: Software problems

Since the first computer was importcd to Greecc, Greeks always experienccd problems writing in Greek. DOS programming, non user-fncndly Word progrüms, wcre always obstacles to their Greek expression. However, as Nikos Xydakis (2001)writcs, within the computer and Intemet environment the Greck language was established very soon, from the "Greck" Mücintosh period (laie 80s), while PCs with Windows 95 and 98 are fully supporting the Greek Ianguage only during the last five yeürs. Consequently, whoever talks about computers that do not "speak" Grcek. is not up to datc and wrongly rcfers to computers ofa prcvious en.

Even ifcutting-edge technology computers have managed to incorponte the

Grcek language into their software, by devcloping Greek Word prognms and interfaces for the Greck market, the Information Supcrhighway, the Internet rcrnains a banier to the frcc expression ofthe languagc betwcen Greek-speaking uscrs. especially those living abroad. The standard computer keyboard contains 26 keys with the English letten, from which 12 keys havc a letter not belonging to the Greck alphabet. In the Grcek market thesc lctters havc becn substituted with the Grcek leiters that do not bclong in the English alphabet (Table 1).

Table 1

The EnglishIGreek keyboard

The Greek alphabct contains 24 letiers. two less than the English one. The Ictters Q and

W hüvc been substituted by the Greek question mark ";"and the small"q" (capital 2). AH the other Ictters ofthe keyboard exist in the Grcek alphabet as wcll and they arc not substituicd. Of course, the English lctters remüin on the kcys with the addition ofthe slash (1) and the Grcck Icttcr. This substitution happens only with the kcyboards in the Greek market. For

Grccks living abmad and writing in Grcek the English keyboard, without the substitutions, is often difficult to work with. evcn if thcir computcr supports Grcek, bccausc they have to "gucss" wherc thc Grcek lctter is. Surprisingly, some of thcm put small stickcrs on the keys, dcfining whcrc the Grcek lctters arc on the English kcyboard?

Furthcr, for most Grceks living abroad, the computers, and cspccially their e-mail clients do not support Grcck, unlcss the user instülls the propcr software by himniersclf.

Conscqucntly, if a Grcek-speaking user living abroad rcccivcs an c-mail writtcn in Grcck from someonc living in Grcccc, helshc may not be ablc to view it propcrly. or evcn at dl, becausc hislher c-mail client docs not support Grcck fonts. This is why most Greek lntemct uscrs al1 over the world use Grceklish for thcir e-mail nccds.

3.2.2. Greeklish - Phonetie tnnsliterntion

This type of trünslitcntion is the one uscd in most of the "casy-to-use" Grcek-

English dictionaries for tourists trüveling to Grccce for vacations, as wcll as in strcet signs in al1 the major citics and islands of Grcecc, for tourist orientation. Using phonetic translitcrütion onc docs not pay attention to the correct spclling of the word. as long as it

"sounds likc it" and the other party cün comprchcnd it. This is why the name of thc cüpitül of Grcece, Athcns, was nevcr writtcn likc that in the city's signs, but as "Athinn".

which is the phonetic tnnsliterütion of the Grcck "A0 jra", for tourists to communicate

with locals.

' From a comment oi'a participant io the Onlinc Qucsiionnairc (scc ncxi chapicr). In the Internet environment the pmcess remains the same, and in order to demonstnte it I will use the samc examplc as above. In the word "AOijva" the lnternet user can see two letters that may cause difficulty to the other pxiy reading it; the consonant "O" and the vowel "q". In the case of the vowel the sendcr is using the English letter "i", which has the same sound as the Greek "q". On the othcr hand, for the letter

"O" the scndcr is using the English cluster "th" which again sounds like the Greek lettcr.

Howcvcr, both of these altentions do not match with the Greck word, in terms of correct spclling. This can be sccn more clearly in the word ''GicUOuvq'' (eng. address). Here wc have the diphthong "CU" (sounds like "el"). two different vowels that sound like "i" ("u" and "O"), and the same consonant "O". The phonetic tnnsliteration of this word would bc

"diefthinsi", where we can sec that the two different Greek vowels were substitutcd by the samc English one that sounds likc thcm. Thcre is no focus on spclling rules, as long as it is phonctically corrcct.

The most frequcnt cxamplcs of phonctic translitcration of Greck Ictters and diphthongs can bc scen in Table 3. Table 2: "Phonetic Tmnslitemtion"

Greek ;. , : Phonetic transliteration in sourtds'like ' letter/dipiaihon~ - Englkii 1, II. u i i

As one can sce, therc is no exception to the "nile" for every letter and diphthong. For instance. the verb "nai\Go" (eng. 1 am hungry) would bc tnnsliteratcd in "pinno", without any spelling check. 1 will rcfer to the "phonetic translitcntion" in the next chaptcr as PT.

3.2.3.

Greeklish - Orthogrnphic (Visunl) trnnsliteration

On the othcr side of the Latin transliicration of ihc Grcck Ianguagc is thc onhographic, the visual translitcrüiion of the Greck words. 11 is the typc of writing Grcck words in Latin characiers the samc way thcy would be writien in Greek chanciers. using the correct spelling. The only clement that is absent hcrc is the intonation, which cünnot bc found in the Latin alphabet.

In the cüse of orthographie transliteration the Intcrnet user ihat scnds the message is focuscd on the correct spelling of the words. in ordcr for thcm to look like the originül oncs, writtcn in Grcck chanctcrs. To do somcthing likc that one has IO think of al1 thc possible and effective ways to use the English kcyboard and prcscnt the Grcek lcttcn and words, as closcr IO ihc originals. Dnwing from the cxamplc uscd in the prcvious scction 1 will makc an orthognphic tnnslitcntion. As 1 showcd bcforc the word "A0 jva*' has two lcticrs ("9 and "if') that do not exist in the Latin alphabet. In ordcr for us to rcplacc thosc lcttcn WC have to use Latin substituics that can look likc thcm. The most common solution is to rcplacc thc lcttcr "O" with the number "8" and the lcttcr "if' with thc lcttcr

"h", but without the intonation. which cannot be placcd in thc Latin alphabet. In the case of "h" the lcttcr is uscd for two rcasons; fint bccausc it looks likc the Grcck lette:, and sccond bccausc it is placcd in the samc position on the kcyboard for both uscrs (sec Tüblc

1). For the samc sccond rcason the Grcck lcticr "v" is not rcplaccd by thc Latin lcttcr "v", as cxpcctcd, but the Latin lcttcr "n" rcmüins the samc, bccausc it is placcd in thc samc position. The word "AOqva" will bc now writtcn in Grccklish as %8hna9'. For a Grcck- speaking user this kind of trünslitcration looks almost cxactly likc thc Grcck word,

whcrcas thc type "Athinn" has no similaity with the propcr spcllcd word.

The cxamplcs of <661niO~vq''and "ncivhw" arc mon: intcrcsting. For the fini

word WC would have to usc the Lütin lcttcr "u" in thc place of "u". thc numbcr "8 in the placc of "O", and the lcttcr "h" in thc placc of "q". The word would bc thcn trmslitcratcd

into L'dicu8unsh9', without intonation. For the sccond word ünothcr substitution tükcs

placc; the Grcck lcttcr "o" is rcplaccd by thc Latin "w". which looks like thc formcr.

Howcvcr, thcre is no substitution for thc Icticr "R", which is rcplaccd by the Icttcr "p", for

the samc rcason mcntioncd abovc. Thus, thc mosl common Grccklish vcnion of the word

would bc "peinn\v". The most frcqucnt cxamples of orthognphic tnnslitcntion of Greek Ictters and diphthongs can bc sccn in Table 3.

Table 3: "Orthogmphic Trnnslitemtion*'

The visual tnnsliicntion is a mixture of Greek orihognphic mlcs and visual contact with the keyboard. We scldom find the Grcek lcttcrs "v" and "x" rcplaccd by the

Latin lettcrs "v" and "ch". bccause these letters have the exact samc place on both

English and EnglishIGrcck kcyboards. On the oihcr hand, for the Greck letter "u" thcre sccms to bc a confusion amongst the slimplc of Grccklish uscrs rcsclirchcd for this papcr, bctween thc visual transliterlition "u" and thc key placcd on the GrecWEnglish keyboard, which is "y" and refers to the samc letter. This is why a double translitcration of the diphthongs "EU" and "ou". as "edey" and "odoy" are commonplacc.

In Tables 4 and 5 below WC can sec the differenccs bctwcen Phonetic

Transliteration (PT) and Orthographie Transliteration (OT). Table 4: "Difïerences between Pï & OF'

Example PT OT AOGva Athina AShna OiniOuvq diefthinsi dieu8unsh / diey8ynsh naivcio pinao peinaw SiAo kilo 3ulo / 3yIo

Table 5: "Difïcrences between Pï & OT"

Greek Ortltograplzic Phonetic Transliteration Ietter/diplttltort~ Transliteration n i h

3.3.

GreeWGreeklish Converters on the Web

For thosc Grcck-spcaking uscrs who cannot compromise with thc un-official niles and noms of Grccklish, or arc not evcn able to writc in Grccklish bccause they do not know how or want to, Grcck software dcvclopcrs have designcd programs that can hclp with this situation; frcc wcb-bascd converters that cm translitcratc scripts writtcn in Greek or de-translitenic scripts writtcn in Greeklish. Using these converters a user does not have to think ofanything else but to wriie his/her message in Grcek chanciers and then copy and paste it on the converter for tnnslitention.

After testing somc ofthese web-based converters 1 concluded that they an: not bascd on one ofthe tnnslitention types mentioned above. but use elements ofboth, mixing them, whenevcr necded. For instance, the GreeWGreeklish converter ofthe

WebStar Intcrnet Services' web siteJ will use the phonctic tnnslitention ofthe letter Y,"

(ks)and the orthographic transliter~tionof the Ictter "u" (u),in order to form the word

"@ko'' (eng. wood) as "ksulo". As a conclusion, we must rcalize that theru arc appmntly no spccific noms that form one type of Greeklish script, in ordcr for a user to express and write what helshe thinks and bc understood. The main locus is on the meaning.

Howcver, in certain occasions, evcn that might be misundcrstood.

WebStar internet Services hltr>:llwww.\~~ehslnr.~?r/~r:~m~~:~s~~?h~ Chapter 4

4.1. The Research

As mentioned in Chapter 1 the main objective of this study is focused on the effects of the electronic mail exchange via the Intemet on the Greck Ianguagc. It is common knowledge that the use of Grceklish, a new script fom of Greek trünsliteraied in

Latin characters, is a growing phenomenon around Grcck-spcaking lntcrnet usen, who use e-mail. In the previous chapter 1 discussed about the a-typicül noms that cxist, in order to "create" Grceklish script. However, as mentioncd bcfore, there is no certüin rulc thüt one can be based on for the transliteration into Greeklish. In this chaptcr 1 will present the results derivcd fmm an onlinc questionnaire that was sent Io Greek-speaking users, living in Grecce and Canada. Using thesc results I will try to do an analysis in more depth about the background and the reasons that mükc intemet users use Grccklish, and in what way.

4.1.1.

Research Methodology

The research wiis camed out simply: an online (web-based) questionnaire was

fonvarded to twenty pcrsons through clcctronic mail. This questionnaire included questions conceming their academic background, as well as their computing and typing skills, Intemet experience ihat includes browsing. clectronic mail skills, and chat performance. Spccial focus was placcd on ihcir gnmmar and spelling skills, espccially when the participants werc asked to write with Latin chanciers. Replies werc rcqucstcd within one week. A copy of the questionnaire has becn included in the appendix of this paper.

This was an explontory study, with twenty volunteers answering an online questionnaire. Data collected by the online qucstionnairc wcre analyzcd descriptively

(descriptive analysis). This rcsearch will provide furthcr fecdbück on the growing phenomenon of improper use of ihe Greek language, since engagement in elccironic mail cxchange and chat room is so common between Grcek speaking uscrs.

The participants for this rcsearch wcre Grcek-speaking Inicrnei uscrs, conveniently selected from Toronto. Cünadü and Athcns, Greecc, who voluniarily

completed and submitted the online questionnaire. These pürticipants had at least one

expcricnce with e-mail and chat rooms, thus they fit in ihis research. The simple size was

70 participünts: 10 females (7 Greck-Cünadians, 3 Grecks) and 10 müles (4 Greck-

Canadian;, 6 Greeks). The participants werc sent an email by the rescarcher, explaining why ihey wcrc selected for this rcscmh. The email also provided information about the research and included the URL (Uniform Resourcc Locator, hyperlink for the web page) for the lnformed Consent Form, which dircctly scnt them to the onlinc questionnairc for submission. A copy of the c-mail sent to the participants has been included in the appendix of this papcr.

All the pxiicipanis were randomly sclccied from thc mailing list of the

researchcr. At Icasi half of thcm wcrc Greck-Cünadians from Toronto, Canada, whilc the

othcr half werc Grceks from Aihens, Greecc. All of the participants arc cithcr friends or

onlinc fricnds wiih the rcsearchcr, with a medium level of intimacy. Howcvcr, it is

possible that some of the pürticipants know each othcr. cithcr in real lifc or onlinc.

Nonetheless. they werc asked not to fonvard their rcsponses to anyonc clsc but the

rescarcher, for funher protection of their anonymity.

4.1.4.

Privncy and confidentiality

Participants who rad the Informcd Consent Form wcb page wcrc dircctly scnt io

the online qucstionnairc. By filling in and submiiting the questionnaire auiomatically constituted conscnt and therc was no association with the participants' name, since thcrc was no question conccrning that mattcr. All thc submittcd forms wcrc scnt directly to ihe rcsearchcr's cmail account anonymously, fmm whcrc thcy wcrc downlolidcd and storcd in the rcsearchcr's hard drive. Thc anonymity of thc participants' submittcd forms \vas fully proiectcd. since by submitting the form thcrc was no scndcr's namc appcaring as an cmail addrcss. othcr than [email protected]ü. thus thcrc was no chance of rccognizing the participant's namc or cmail addrcss. Aftcr thc completion of the study thcsc forms wcrc cmcd.

4.1.5.

Informed Consent Process

Pÿrticipants wcrc scnt an cmail, cxplaining thc purposc of the rcseÿrch, thc objcciivcs and hypothcsis of ihc topic, the proccdurcs and safcguards for proicciing thcir anonymity, as wcll as thc kind of analysis that will bc donc with thc rcsults of thc questionnaire. It also includcd the URL that would dircctly send ihcm to thc Informcd

Consent Form wcb page

(htt~://www.oisc.utoronto.ciiI-i~~'dIi~ssakis/thcsiinfocdconscnt form.html). Thc mail was scnt with the Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc) mcihod, in ordcr for ihc participants' cmail addrcsscs not to bc idcntificd by thc othcr rccipicnts. Thc Infonncd Conscnt Form included thc rcsclirchcr's and Faculty advisor's cmliil addrcsscs. as wcll as the tclcphonc numbcr of thc rescarcher for any questions bcforc thc complction of the form. Aftcr reading the form pxîicipants had to click on the word "Pmcccd", which would dircctly scnd them IO the onlinc questionnaire

(hit~://www.oisc.utoronto.~'J-avaIas~akis/the~is/q~~~Iionnairc.h~rn~.

In case participants did not agrec with the Informcd Conscnt Form. or thcy wcrc under 18 ycan of agc, thcy had to click on the word "Quit", which would dircctly scnd them to a web page thanking thcm for thcir try. A copy of the lnformcd Conscnt Form has bccn includcd in the Appcndix of this papcr.

4.2.

The results

4.2.1.

Genenl information of the participants

As mcntioncd abovc the numbcr of the sarnplc of thc participants was 20, from which 10 fcmalcs and 10 malcs, II Grcck-Canadians and 9 Grccks. 7 fcmalcs wcrc

Greck-Canadians living in Toronto, Canada. and 3 fcmalcs wcrc Grccks living in Athcns.

Grcccc, whilc 4 males wcrc Grcck-Canadians and G malcs wcrc Grccks. 5 of the femalc participants wcrc in thc agc nngc of 18 - 24. whilc the remaining 5 wcrc in thc agc range of 25 - 29.6 of thc male participants wcrc in thc agc rangc of 18 - 24, whilc thc othcr 4 wcrc in the agc rangc of 25 - 29. In regards to thc educational background of the piuticipants it sccms that the majonty hold a university degree in their mother language. while having a sufficient background in their second language cducation (Tables 6 and 7).

Table 6: "Educntionnl Background"

Tnble 7: "Educntionnl Background" Amongst the rcsearched group. the phenomcnon of Grcek-Canadians, bom in

Canada, living a numbcr of years in Grcece before and then rcturning to Canada was nther frcquent. In my rcsearch one female and two males had attended a Grcck high school, and then rctumed to Canada for undcrgnduatc studics. For this rcason thcy werc

not placed in thc above tables.

The criteria 1 was bascd on in order to check the educational background of the

participants' second language abilities werc the Grcek schools placcd in Toronto for

Grcek-Canadians, and the "Cambridge" or "Michigün" Laver and Projicietrcy Tests for

English as a second language speakers. commonly used in Grcece for English

bückground purposes for Grceks. Grcck schools in Toronto are under the supervision of

thc Grcek Community of Metropolitan Toronto and the Grcek Orthodox Church. and

their hours of opcntion are cithcr every Saturday morning or after regular school hours.

Thcir grüding system is organizcd in pürallel with that of the Canüdian schools, with

grades 1-12 and OAC.

According to the infomütion above the vast majority of the participants arc wcll

educüted in both their primüry and sccondary languagc. As a rcsult, thcy cün speak and

write both English and Grcek with some of the samc efficiency, and of course they cün

communicate in both languüges. Howcvcr, this scems not to bc a case of spokcn

Ianguage, but of written, wherc the most problems occur. as will bc discusscd inter. 4.2.2.

Internet experience

In regards to the participants' Intcmct expenence 1 found that most of the 20 participants have been using the lntcmet for mon: that 3 yem. Males in both Canada and

Grcece seem to have more expenence than females (more than 3 yem of use), whercas

Grcek-Canadian fcmalcs arc divided (25% with I year of expenence, 25% with 2 years,

25% with 3 yem, and 25% with more than 3 ycars). Greek females arc in the same nngc as males. However. the sample number of Grcek females in this rcsearch is too small for me io make conclusions.

The hours that the participants spend on the Intcrnct per day Vary from I to 3, with somc exceptions to both males and fcmalcs, who spend about 4 - 5 hours. The majonty of the sample size scems to be using the Intemet for c-mail and rcsearch purposes. and not for other reasons. like chatting or surfing. All of thcm own an e-mail account. either wcb-bised (frce) or client-based (via an Intemct provider). \\,hich they check reguliirly. According to the replies to the onlinc questionnaire the majonty of the participants use c-mail to contact inostly thcir fncnds and family mcmbcrs (90% of

Grcek-Canadian females, 100% of Greek fcmales, and 100% of both Grcek-Canadian and Grcck males), while e-mail use for work/busincss and acadcmic purposes is in second place. II appcars that most of thcir c-mail nceds refer to penons with a high or medium level of intimacy, which is a basic rcason for the fict that they fcel more frcc Io express themselvcs in any way - formal or non-formal - in order to be understood. In a way, they assume that. even ifthey misspell a word or use "slang" language, the recipicnt will automatically comprchend what they want to say.

One of the most important questions in the online questionnaire was whether the participants choose Greck or Latin chanctcn to wnte an e-mail message to a fellow

Grcek. Five out of7 ofthe Grcek-Canadian females chose Latin chanctcn. whcrcas only one will wnte in Grcek and the other one using both characters. On the other hand, al1 of the 4 Grcek-Canadian males chose Latin chanctcn in order to wntc e-mail. Thc most intercsting part cornes with the Grceks. Two out of the 3 Greck fernales used both chancter sets and one will use only Greek. Howcver, half of the Greek males (3 of 6) used Latin chancten, 2 used both, and one only uscd Greek. It is rather interesting to sec that, cven though the cornputer software of the Grcck male participants supportcd the

Greek alphabet, they prefercd to use Latin, in Our case, Greeklish.

Table 8: "Reasoning of using Latin characters" Two ofthe 6 Greek male pmicipants did not answer the spccific question. while one ofthe 7 Greek-Canadian fcmales replied that she only used Grcek chancters in hcr e- mail messages to Grceks. The answer "PC does not support Grcek fonts" rcfers espccially to Greek-Canadians using the English keyborird and software. Howevcr, Grcek participants rcplicd that the rccipient's PC might not support Greek or it docs not whatsoevcr. As mentioned beforc. that is also the answer that half of the Grcck males gave as an explanaiion on why they will use Latin chanctcrs in thcir Greek e-mail messages.

Il is intercsting to sec that most of the Grcek-Canadians use Grceklish bccausc they bclieve that it is a faster way to express themselves in the Greek Ianguagc whcn exchanging e-mail messages, rathcr than bccause their computcr softwarc does not support Grcek fonts. Over the last two years, Microsoft's Windows and Macintosh computcrs through thc Unicodc system have bcgun supporting al1 non-Latin languages.

However, therc still scems to bc a problcm with the e-mail client softwarc programs, espccially third-party vendors. That is the reason why the majonty of the Greek participants belicve they should use Grecklish for their Greek e-mail messages scnt to people living abroad. or evcn within Grecce. They strongly assume that the rccipicnt might not be ablc IO rcad the mcssage, and tharc is no necd to tüke a nsk, since thc other type of scnpt is more "universal". The samc typc of results werc found by Dr. Jannis

Androutsopoulos (1999) in his attempt to descnbe the reasons why Grccks usc Latin charücters in thcir e-mail messages.

Convenience seems to bc correlatcd with the lack ofspcll check. although the fact that Grceklish does not nced spcll checking is somehow ignorcd by this reseürch's sample. However, the test 1 nsked the participants to take in the online questionnaire can

lead us to further conclusions about Grceklish.

4.2.4.

Tnnsliternting Greek

In the onlinc questionnairc I askcd our participants 10 rc-writc a scntcncc wnttcn

in Grcek, tnnslitenting it in Grceklish, in thcir own wiy and style. Thc rcsults have

shown me that therc scems to be a mixturc of Phonctic (PT) and Orthogriphic (OT)

Tnnslitention, cspccially bctwecn Greck-Canadians. On thc other hand, half of the

Grcck participants werc closcr to OT, whercas the othcr half wcrc following the mixcd

type (espccially the malcs). Howcvcr, most of the participants translitcratcd the scntcncc

in thcir own unique wiy.

The Grcek scntence was:

"An8yc Oa ncpaaci va oc napci O riOpyo5 yia va nri~cva cpb~s."

(cng. Tonight George will pick you up to go for dinner.)

This scntence was chosen bccausc it contains lctters and words that cm providc us with

information about the user's style of wnting Grceklish. For instancc, wc arc able Io check

whether someone uses thc letiers "th" or the number 8 for the Grcek lcttcr "O", or cven

whethcr someone writcs the word petasei or pernsi for the Grcck word ncpUaci.

Examples likc this are used to venfy if a participant is using PT, OT or a mixturc of both.

The four most frequent samples werc:

1. Apopse thn pernsei na se pnrci O Giorgos gin nn pnte nn Tnte. (20%) 2. Apopse thn pemsei na se parei O Giwrgos gia na pale na bte. (15%)

3. Apopse 8a pemsei na se parei O Giargos gia na pate nu fnte. (10%)

4. Apopse tha pernsi O Giorgos na se pari gin na pate na fate. (10%)

Sentence 3 combines al1 the chancteristics of OT, with the substitution of the letter "O" with the number 8, the correct spelling of the words pensei (nopriaci) and parei (nbpci), and finally the substitution of the lcttcr "o*'with the Ictter "w". Only 2 (10%) of the participants (Grcek-Canadian fcmalcs) translitentcd the scntcnce using PT. whcre thcre was no attention to spelling check, as long as the words can sound like the originals, which is the basic elemcnt of Phonctic Tnnsliteration (sentcncc 4). On the other hand the two first sentences are a combination of both PT and OT. Sentence 2 looks cxactly like 3, exccpt of the 'Yh" in the place of "O". On the other hand scntcnce I seems to be a pure

PT, without the transliteration of "O" (th) and "o" (O). except of the correct spclling of the words perasei and parei, which makes it a mixture. Interestingly cnough sentcncc I was written by 3 Grceks (2 males, 1 female) and I Grcek-Canadian female, scntence by 2

Grccks (1 fcmalc, 1 male) and 1 Grcek-Canadian female, and sentence 3 by 1 Greck-

Canadian fernale and 1 Greek male.

Apart from the sentences that were alikc and could bc catcgorized in one or both of the tnnsliteration types 1 rcccivcd other sentences that includcd a "new" clcment that was not discusscd beforc. In Iwo of the sample sentences 1 found that the participants had tnnsliteratcd the Greek letter "ï" (capital) "y'' (small) with the Latin lettcr "y" (scntence

5).

5. Apopsc tha perasei na se parei O Yiorgos yia na pute na frite. (10%) In this case wc can sec a PT of thc Grcck Icttcr. which sounds likc "y", cspccially whcn it is followcd by an "i" (yia). Howcvcr, 1 bclicvc thai this kind of substitution is only applicable in thcsc kinds of Grcck words that includc thc vowcl "i" (0 aftcr thc consonant

'g" (y). For al1 the othcr words that start with or includc the lcttcr "y" without thc "i" following. the substitution lcttcr would bc "g". Ovcnll, thc scntcnce includcs agüin clcmcnts of OT, with comct spclling of the cndings of the vcrbs. It \vas writtcn by a

Grcck-Canadian fcmalc and a Grcck male.

In anothcr casc the participant chosc to tnnslitcnte only the lcttcr of the namc and not the ncxt word as wcll (scntcncc 6).

6. Apopse thn penisci na se pnrei O Yiorgos gin na pate na fate. (5%)

Thcrc sccms to bc confusion as to whcrc it is appropriate to put thc lcttcr "y" as a

Phonctic Tnnslitcrütion, or the lcttcr "g" as a rcsult of thc visual contact with the kcyboard (sec Ch.3, Tablc 1).

Finally, in somc of the scntcnccs 1 chcckcd that Ihc pürticipünts did not rcally mind using small-cüps cvcrywhcrc. cvcn in namcs. The name 6LiÏOpyoç''was not writtcn with a capital lcttcr, and surprisingly cnough this phcnomcnon of writing cvcrything in small characiers occurs nthcr frcqucnily in c-mail mcssagcs. not only in Grcck but intcmationally as wvcll (scntcncc 7).

7. apopsc tha pernsei na se parci O giorgos gin na pate na fate. (10%)

As littlc intcrvicwing \vas donc a fcw diffcrcnt cxplanations could cxplain this. 1 prcsumc thüt this all-lowcr casc phcnomcnon is rclatcd to the "timc-loss" factor, which could occur if the writcr would push the "Shift" button for capitals. Anothcr cxplanation müy bc the hcavy usc of Microsoft Word and othcr word proccssing prognms, whicli automatically comct lowcrcÿse letters at the beginning ofsentences. or notify the user of any such errors ai the beginning ofpmper names. As a result ofthe incrcased dependence of such "auto-correct" featurcs, typists (avid typists. morc often than novices) have possibly unlemed the capitalization ofa letter using the "shift" key. Howevcr, due to the lack ofin-depth reseamh, such claims cannot be properl! ai yed.

Perspectives

The last pan ofthe questionnaire focused on the participants' perspectives on the

phenomcnon. as 1 nsked them to fecl free to express their opinion and comment on the

topic ofGrceklish. The questions that 1 raiscd were: a) "WIiat do you think ofthe use of

Lütin chuacters for the Greck Ianguüge on the Internet?" and b) "Do you think it has any

affectson the Grcek language?" Overüll, 60% ofthe pünicipants replied that they believc

that the use ofLatin characters for thc Greck language will eventually have a ncgative

impact on the languap. whercas the rest 40% thought that the phenomenon docs not

really affectthe Grcck languüge. With more detüils. 63.5% ofthe Greck-Canadians (5

females, 2 müles). and 55.5% of the Greeks (2 femalcs, 3 males) werc on the negaiive

side (anti-Greeklish). whcreas 36.5% ofthe Grcek-Canüdians (2 females. 3 males), and

the rcst 44.5% ofthe Greeks (1 female, 3 males) were on the poskive sidc ofthe

phcnomenon (pro-Grceklish). Table 9 below provides the rcsults according to the sex of

the participants. Table !k "Opinions on Greeklish akts*'

. L.. . ~hyo~th&'tl&he Ùse of ,Catin characters hm an affect on the Greek 1 <. language?

1 1 Fernale participants 1 - 1 1 Greek-Canadinns 1 Greeks 1

1 1 Male participants 1 1 1 Greek-Canadians 1 Greeks 1

4.3.1. The negntive side (anti-Greeklish)

According IO the rcsulis it sccms that the femüles arc mon: womcd about ihc

phcnomcnon of the Latin translitcmtion of the Grcck Ianguagc on ihc Intcrnei than the

müles. Thcy cspccially focus on thc historical vüluc of the Grcck language, as wcll as

spelling knowledgc that icnds Io bc dcclincd and the accents that an: absent with thc use

of Lütin charactcn. WC can sec that in thcir commcnts on the subjcct bclow:

1. "I'd like ro try and use Greek clruracrers niore ofleri. hoivever so~rrerirrres

ir's corrveriierrr to itse Lariri clraracrers irrsread. 1 ilritdi rlre rtse of Lariri

clrarac~ersnriglrr rake aivay rke valite of the Greek langrruge irr solrie ivay.

Moreover, rlie rtse of Larirr clraracrers is rrot the correct ivay ro ivrire hl

Greek. " (Greek-Cana

2. "1believe it does Iiave a riegarive i~tipacrori the Greek larigrrage. giseri rlie

e.rparidirig idse of :lie hitenier. " (Greek-Carradiarife~riale. age 25-29)

Comment 2 comes fmm a female that uses only Latin chmctcrs in her c-mail messages.

She bclicves that the growing expansion of the use of Internet will eventually affect the

Grcek language.

3. "Yes, ir does (aflect rhc Greek Iaitgituge). becaiise I've troticed rliat ir lias

aflecred iriy spcllirtg bioivledge of rlie Greek laiigiiage, aiid riraiiy rirrics

becairse if'scasier and fasrer 1 irse bot11 Greek und Errglis11ivord.~. Ir's u

good ivay of forgerrirrg rlie legitiriiare spelliiig aiid usage of rlre Greek

larigiiage... " (Grcek-Cariadiariferr~alc, age 18-24)

This female participant tilks about anothcr phenomenon that occurs within the Grcek communities al1 over the world. Personally. bcing a rncmber of the Greck Community of

Metropolitan Toronto and talking with Grcck-Canadians of al1 ages, 1 realize that they

have somehow forgotten a large amount of vocabulary of the Grcck languagc, which thcy

substitute with English or Grceklish words. Howcver. this kind of language is only oral

and it is used in discussions and non-formal chats. On the Internet this language assumes a wntten form and includes al1 the chmctenstics of the onl. including pure English words. whcrcver needed.

4. "1 cari iotdersrand tliai ir ivoitld be casier for sorrie people ro irse Lariri

cliaracrers for rlie Greek langitage. Tlie reasori is becairse I arir orle of

rhose people. I also feel rliat ir doesri'r do ariy jiisrice becairse if does loose

(sic) ifs "Greek-riess. " (Greek-Cmiadiarrferirale, age 18-24)

The concept of "Grcek being and remaining Greek" hris becn in thc hcarts of Grceks al1 over the world for ccntunes. Harping a cord of national pndc. it rcfers cspccially Io the languagc, which is unique and a part of the Greek heritage, which links to ancicnt Grccce and Our ancestors. Comment 4 is a typical cxamplc of how many Grceks feel about the

Grcek languagc.

5. "The nrosr iriiponarrr probletri rhar occirrs ivitli rlic ilse of Lariri cliaracrers

for the Greek larigiragc is spellirig. Greek spellirrg is already dflcirlr arid

ilie rriajoriiy, especially yorrrrg people, expericrice rrtariy problcriis leaniirig

if. Tlie use of larhcliaracrers esrablislies an alibi for rlie irrrpropcr

ivriririg arid spellirrg of ilie words arid rriakes iiicorrecr spellers ro remairi

as iliey are. (...) Arrorlierproblerii is tlie accetirs, ivhicli are iiot used wirli

Laibi cliaracrers, arrd coriseqrterrtly the ilsers are iior rrsirrg tlierii arrd rlrey

forger the correct iritorratiori of the words. Ihi afraid rliat rlie ivide ilse of

Larbi cliaracrers will open rlie ivay for nrore siriipliciry, eileri a disasterfor

the larigrrage, ivirli rlie riori-use of acceiirs oiidperliaps everi spellirig. "

(Greek ferriale, age 25-29) Both correct splling and accents are mentioned in comment 5, which scems to be perhaps the most important issue of the Grceklish topic. As mentioncd in the previous comment. these two elements arc the basis for the proper writing of Greek and of course for the continuity of the uniqueness of the language. If simplicity, which is the chmcteristic of Greeklish, eclipses the two elements, then. as mentioned in the commcnt.

Greek language might be destmycd.

Comments fmm the male participants of the negative side are in the same fnmc of mind:

6. "Tlre use of lmtirr foiirs ro ivrite irr Greek Iras a rriiriirrial affect on ny

Greek. Tlre Irrrenrer is ariotker niediirni. separare frorrr rlie rest of the

ivorld. arid as a resirlt I Irave accepted rliat typirrg br Greeklish or1 rlie rrer

is jirst a separare larigriage. Ho~vever.it lias ari affect orr riiy icse of

accents. aiid sirtce 1 dori't really wite Ni Greek offrhe rier. ir is easy ro

forger ro ilse acceriis orr tlie odd occasiorr wherr 1 do ivrite Greek oii rlic

paper. " (Greek-Cariadiuniiiale. age 18-24)

1s Grccklish just a separate language of the Internet? According IO P. Kontos (2000)

"Greeklislr is Iike a fasliiori, of a rioir-penriarierirrratrrre. However, larrgiruge is orle of tlrc most cnicial factors of crhral srrtvival". Will that non-pemancnt language remain only an Intenicc language. or will it expand in other foms and penetrate into our evcryday lives? Herc we also can sec the Internet use of Greeklish might have affects on the off- the-Internct use of Greek in everyday life. Using a good Word-processor pmgram on the computer, which may include spelling check for the Greek language, can be a great help for those who cxpcricnce problems with the Greck accents. Howevcr, the use of"paper and pcncil" can always lead to major problcms, anxiety. and finally total abandonment of the effort.

7. "For those typirg in iutiii clraracters rlrere is rio interest in itsirig correct

spellirig. sirrce yorc 're riof t~pirigiri real Greek ifenrail is yoitr orrly

opponrtriity to ivrite Greek to frierrds aird fanrily tlre~ryoitr krroivle

Greek ,vil1 o111y deteriorate ivirh ri~~re!"(Greek-Carradiar~ rriale, age 18-

24)

This male participant is in accordance with the former one, in tcrms ofreality. He bclicvcs that Greeklish is not "real Greek", thus no credit is being givcn to spclling and grammar. He also assumes that pnctice makes a difference,cspecially for sccond and third gencration Greck-Canadians, for which Greek is a second Ianguagc. If thcrc is no support from the family environment in spcaking and writing in Greek. thcn the Ianguagc will not only be minimized but also cxtinguishcd.

4.3.2. The positive side (pro-Greeklish)

As mcntioned beforc, 40% ofthe participants in this research replicd that the use

ofLatin charaeters in writing Greek does not reülly have an affecton the Greek Ianguagc.

The general approach was that as long as someone knows how to writc in Greck propcrly

Greeklish will always be a tool to write faster and more convenicntly on the Internet. 1 must note that some of the participants did not really explain their rcasoning when asked to comment on the subjcct. Their comments werc:

8. "1 don'r rhink it afects the la~~grtage,as long as il is irsed correcrly.

lvritiug if1Latin clraractersproper Greek id1Ilor clrarige the nieaning of

!lie Greek larigitage. " (GreeQCa>radiaiifettrale, age 25-29)

This female participant believes that the gencral meaning of thc Grcek Ianguage will not change, as long as the users use Grceklish comctly. However, the concept of

"correciness" does not rcally apply to Grceklish, since thcre üre no spccific mles that form this "language". Nevertheless, this female uses only Latin in her e-mail mcssüges. and her Grceklish arc based on Phonctic Tnnslitention. which has no intcrest in correct spelling.

9. "Iris cor,/ltsirig,as it is anrroyiiig ro readnressages tlrrrr sli$ fronr oiie

la~rgiragero tlic orlier. Anrirsirig. rltar orte cuir pur Greek arid iroir-Greek

tltoitglits aiid e.rpressioiis rogerlier to wke a really creutivc audfroi

reading experieiice. " (Greek-Ca~radiarirjiale, age 18-24)

This comment seems to rcfcrespecially to Grccklish that Grcek-Cünadians use in their

evcryday lives and dunng their Internct sessions with other Grcck-Cünadians. He tcstifics

that hc uses Grcek words writtcn in Grccklish as an addition to his English scntcnces that

crcate a rather intcrcsting produci. It is obviously about a trünscription of the oral

Greeklish language that Grcek-Canadians use dunng iheir discussions Io the piper, in our

case, the computer. 10. No! 1 belieie rliar al1 itidividitals irsitig Lariri cliaracters are Greek utrd

live abroad or in Greece. liave stirdied Etiglisli tlicrdore ive ltave a

conmioti rie of cottittiirnicarion antotigsr us. " (Greek-Cariadiati fettiale. age

25-29)

Comment 11 seems nther confusing, as ii rcfers to the English cducationül background of both Greeks and Greek-Canadians. She believes that English. not Grceklish, is the common tic bctween Grceks al1 over the world, while she confinns that anyone using

Latin chanctcrs is still Grcek. 1 assume that this panicipani connected the issue of using

Latin chwactcrs with whether someone knows how to writc in English or noi.

1 1. "1 belieiw tliat it doesti 'r affect rlte Greek lattgrrage as lotrg us people sri11

ktioiv Iiow to write the Greek langirage ivlicriever and wlierever rliey need

to. " (Greek triale, age 18-24)

This comment is in accordancc with comment 8, in that it rcfers to the people's prcvious

knowledge of the Grcek language. which will noi dcicriorate, even if thcy use Latin

characiers in their Grcek e-mail messages. It is very intercsting io sec that people bclicve

in the alrcady exisient knowledge on a subject, which cannot be exiinguished if it is uscd

frcquently.

12. "Regardleus the fontiulity atid flic ittiporratice of idiar sonieoite ivrires. 1

tliitik tliat tlte itse of Lariri cliaracrcrs doesti't really affect tlie Greek

langriage. II is casier attd more ittitttediate to wite iti Lathi" (Greck inale.

age 25-29) The issues of convcniencc and timc an: mentioncd hcrc. which sccm to bc the main

Rasons that the pro-Grccklish participants use in their comments. This Grcck male, who tnnslitcntcd onhognphically the Grcck sentence givcn &fore. prcfen Grccklish üs a more immcdiate means of communication, rcgardless the fornality and the importance of the message. However, thc invasion of Grccklish in the fornal messages within acadcmic and political circles secms to bc a major issue of conccrn. which will bc analyzcd in the ncxt chaptcr.

13. "Tlie itse of rlie Lariri cliaracters is sornerliiiig rliat ivas erpecred sirice ilie

rrer is a niearts iliat cverybody uses. Ir does rior Iianrr tlie riurirre of rlie

Inrigitage sirrce it's berrer ivriring an erriail ro a fnerid iti Greeklisli rliari iti

Greek " (Greekferrrale, age 18-24)

What does "bcttcr" mean for this participant? 1 assume it is in accordancc with convcnicnce, which, as mentioncd bcforc. scems IO bc a major factor of accepting

Grceklish as an Internet Ianguage. What is undcr scmtiny hcre is whcther this language

will have effects on the cvcryday Grcek language; and that is somcthing this participant did not give cnough evidence for.

14. "1 tliitik ir has absolittely no ajfecr oti rlie Greek Iur~giiage.The lurigircige is

spokeri everyivliere il1 »y everyduy lqe. 1 dori 't rliirrk rliar unyorie is goitig

ro loose Iiisher biowledge of Greek iri oriy ivay. My opirriori is rliar rliose

ivlio oppose ro rltis are over-pcssirtiists." (Greek »rule. age 18-24)

This Grcek participant bclicvcs that sincc thc Grcck language cün be spokcn cverywhcrc

in his cveryday life, thcrc is no reüson to fcar that Grccklish will bccomc a thrcüt. Of course, he talks about Greece and the local people. What happens with Greeks living abroad, where the Greek language does not have the pnvilege to bc spoken cverywhere, and can even be forgotten? On the oiher hand. he talks about on1 language. which again might be casier to preserve. Again, what happens to those who do not have the chance of pmcticing the written language, in Our case, Greeks living abroad, which could be threatened by the invasion ofLatin chmcters? For one more the.the pro-Grecklish participants do not providc me with a fair reasoning.

3.4. Summary

Evcn though this was an exploratory rescarch, with only 20 participants answering an onlinc questionniiire, it provided me with a uscful amouni of information about the perspectives ofpeople between the agcs of 18 to 29 on the growing phenomenon ofGrecklish. Eleven Greek-Canadians from Toronto, Canada and 9 Greeks from Athens, Greece gave their insights on a iopic that has become fairly discussed recently, the Latin translitcration ofthe Greek Iünguiige.

In this resellrch 1 realized that GO% ofthe participants were womcd about the invasion ofLatin in the Greek vocabulary, which might cause further ünomalies and catastrophic results on the Greek language in gencral. Forty per cent believed that thcre is

no reason Io worry, since people still spcak and write in Greek in thcir cveryday lives,

thus Greeklish. which is considered IO bc just a convenient and fast Internet language, cannot be a major threat. Further, 1 reachcd the conclusion that Greeklish users are not briscd on only one of the basic un-official noms of the script, but they use both Phonetic and Orîhognphic Tnnslitention of the Greek language in Latin chmcters. whcnever it is convenient. According to thai, 1 am now cenain that "cveryone writcs however hdshc likes and everyone uses hisnier own method". Howcver, most of all, 1 am certain that thcre is a growing phenomenon thüt necds to be cxamincd closcly. Chapter 5

5.1. Tool or threat? - Conclusion

Afier presenting the rcsults of my rcsearch 1 am now faced with a dilemma; is

Grceklish. this hybnd Intcrnet language, a tool for the Grcek-spcaking users of the

Information Superhighway or a threat to the Greek language, one of the most ancient languages. yct with a minor range? Latin-alphabeted Greek seems to be a convcnient way. a supplementary system of script for most Grceks to communicate with fnends and family. especially those living abroad. Furihcr, since Grcek spelling is vcry difficult by naturc, Grceklish offcrs a chance for expression. even to those who arc not capable spellcrs. As D. Mitropoulos (1997) wnics: "(Greeklisli) is a solririori. of coirrse tior u qitiie elegarit one. Iioivever coirveriienr ". On the other hand, the Latin trünslitcrition of the Grcek Ianguagc through the Internet seems to annoy those who fight to prcserve the propcr Grcek languügc. They consider Grccklish to be a thrcat Io the Ianguage. which could losc ils uniqueness and might be extinguishcd in the Internet's "melting pot".

Thcrc has been quitc an argument on this subject. especially within Grcek

acüdcmic circles. which scem pretty divided. Those who consider Grceklish to only be a

convcnicnt tool or just a fashion belicve that there is nothing to fear. Anna Fngoudaki

(2001) explains:

"Lurrgiruge aiid alplrabet are riot eqitnl. sQrce larrgiruge riieuris riiost of al1

Iioiv ro speuk, ~vhilewrirreri te.rl is ifs siibstiiirre. ~yoioigerpeopleclioose ro co»itriiriiicatc ,vit11 "Greeklisli"if does rior rrreari rliat rliis Iiybrid script

will be adopred as ari alreniarise script arid. cotiseqcterirly. will becorrie a

rlirear to rlie Greek script. Ir is ~iotliitigbit! a kirid of glossary rliar gortrrg

people iise wirliin tlieir circles. Tliey tvill riever use rliis script ro ivrire an

oflcial docrrrrierir, and rliey ivill rieser itse ir ro rejer ro orlier parties. "

Pcrhaps official documents are not yet writicn in Grecklish, however ihis hybrid script is not only used by youngcr people, since acadernics, professors, and busincssrncn find in

Greeklish a useful tool as wcll (Lalios. 2000). Veritably. Ianguage and alphabet arc not equül. sincc the alphabet is just a way of exprcssing language in writien text. and cvcry

Ianguagc is connecicd with an alphabet. However, thcrc arc certain occasions whcre a second one (alphabet) is used, because of some need of cornrnunication. For instance, therc is a sirnilar trüdition in Japan and China, because of the idcogrürns of their alphabet

(Androutsopoulos. 2000). Should Greeks considcr the Grcck languagc IO be an idcogrüm

Ianguagc as wcll? It seems that the Intcrnet follows ihat ideü. Let us not forget that about

85% of the wcb sites on the Intcrnet arc wriitcn in the English Ianguagc. 2% arc in

French, while thc rcst arc writicn in al1 the othcr languages, including Spanish, Gcrman.

Italian, which are an "endangered-species" on the Net. It is obvious thiit English is the

"lingua früncü" of cutting-cdge technology (Miiropoulos, 1997). The fact that Greek is considcrcd to be a minor language on the Internet has bccn tüken under cürcful considention by the Grcek Govcrnrncnt, and ccriüin rneüsurcs werc announccd to support

Greek fonts and content on :iie Intcrnet. This rncasurcs includcd cornplctc sets of Grcck fonts. enrichment of sites wiih Greck content, and contücts with Grccks abmiad. Nonetheless, Grceklish is a rcality, perhaps unofficial, but a pan of our cvcryday life. An eniirc genention of young Greck people (and perhaps not so young) is using it. and evcntually will continue using it as a means of professional and pnvate communication (Androutsopoulos, 2000). Will this mean that it will gndually take ovcr as an official languügc? This idea secms to have crosscd the minds of some, who considcr the reccnt example of Turkey, where people saw that adopting the Latin alphabet nevcr hurt the languagc or the culturc of the Turks. However. famous academics rcply that "rlie

Turks did rior Iiave ro preserve a ciilriire os grear as rlie Greek citlritre, ivliicli oflered rlie basis of civilizariori ro rlie resr of rlie world via rliis porficirlar Greek alpliaber "

(Desporoporrlos. Moitrsopoirlos. 2001). The arguments could go on forcvcr.

Personally. I fear that this is just the beginningof something bigger that is yei to comc. 1 may bc a part of the "anti-Grccklish" side, howcvcr 1 bclicvc that thcrc should bc more rcsearch conducted on the phenomcnon of Grceklish on the Internct. On the othcr hand, 1 strongly support the idea of Mana Kükndi-Fcrnri (2001), who wntes:

"Developttierir of recliriology is rriily caitsirig itritiretise social atrd cirlritral

cliariges. Hoivever. ive krioivfrotrr Flistory tliar rlie orily ivay for a crrlritre

ro airvive bi sitch crirical sirirariotis is by accepririg rlie iieiv cliallenges

crearively aiidfor ifs oivti irireresr, ~virliorrruvoirlirig rlrerti aridfirially

renruiriitig mi oitrsider. "

Grcck culture has survivcd al1 thesc millcnnia by accepting challenges and clcmcnts of other culturcs. which wcrc finally reformed and added in its franc. What wc nced to do now is to acccpt the faci that the hybnd script of Grccklish is prcscnt in our everyday livcs. and try to find ways io make the ncccssriry rcformations, in ordcr for it not to become an obstacle to the Grcck languagc, or evcn a fatal thrcat. On the othcr hand, the total domination of the English languagc on the Intcrnet nceds to bc cxamincd and ccrtain mcasurcs to be takcn for othcr languagcs to bc prcscnt on thc Wcb (Chnstidis, 2001).

Hopefully, in a fcw ycars. the phcnomcnon of Grecklish will not be a phcnomcnon any more, white thc Grcck languagc will take thc place it dcservcs on the Inicrnet. References

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Athcns. Grcccc

Androutsopoulos J. (1998). Onhognphic variation in the Grcck clcctronic mail; first approach. in "Glossa" magazine, 46, p. 49-67

Androutsopoulos J. (1999). From Fnnco-chiotika to Grccnelish, onlinc documcnt, http://www.n.uscr.uni-hcidclbcrg.dcl-iandrou1/grc~kmaiIl~rccklish.html

Androutsopoulos J. (1999), GrccklishIGrccnglish: A work-in-proercss Summary, onlinc documcnt. Iittp://www.n.uscr.uni-hcidclbcrg.dd-iandrou~ercckmaiI~Vork-In-Pro~,

Sum.html

Androutsopoulos J. (1999). Latin-Greck spclline in thc elcctronic mail: usc and

pcrspcctivcs, Papcr prcscntcd ut the 20Ih Working Mecting of the Linguistics Dcpiartmcnt

of the Aristotlc University of Thess~loniki,Grcccc, April23-25, 1999

Androutsopoulos J. (1999). From "dicithinsi" to "dicv8vnsh": Onhoeraphic variation in

Latin translitcration of Grcck, Papcr prescntcd at the 4Ih International Confcrcncc on

Grcck Linguistics, University of Nicosia, Cypms, Scptcmbcr 1999

Androutsopoulos J. (2000), Introduction, "Excecsis" magazine, Athcns, Grcccc Christidis A. F. (2001). in the article, No to the anti-scientific mvîh-genesis of the lancuacc, 'TA NEA" newspaper, Athens, Greece, January 16,2001, (pp. P05), onlinc

Despotopoulos K.-Moutsopoulos E. (2001). in the article. Grceklish: the confusion, the argument. and the truth, 'TA NEA" newspaper, Athens. Greece, Januruy 16,2001, (pp.

PO?). online archive: http:lIta-nea.dolnct.grlneawehlnsearch.nnnt unique?cntvpo=A&f=16944&m=PO4&aa=I

Frngoudnki ii. (2001). in the article. Grceklish: the confusion, the arcument, and the -truth, "TA NEA" newspapcr, Athcns, Greecc, Januÿs, 16,2001. (pp. P05), cnline archive: http://ta-nca.dolnet.cr/n~~vch/nscarch.pnntunique?cntvno=A&f=l6944&m=PO4&aa=l

Fonitiki Gr;iiï (1980), acollection of articles by Filintas M., Glinos P., Sidcris G.,

Giofillis F., Hatzidakis N., Prousis K., Kartheas K.. Bcnekos G., Athens. Greece

Georgnkopoulou A. (1997). Self-nrcscntütion and international alliances in c-mail

discoune: the stvlc and code switchinr! of Greck messaces, international Journal of

Applicd Linguistics. 712. (pp. 141-1G4)

Kakridi-Ferrnri M. (2001). in the :irticle. Ethiciil oanic, 'TA NEA" newspaper. Athcns.

Grecce. January 01,2001, p. P05, online archive:

htt~://ta-nea.dolnet.~rInea~vcb/nscarch.pnntuniauc?entvno=A&f=169JJ&m=POS&a:i=3 Kontos P. (2000). in the article, Do vou speak Grccklish or Greek?, "Kathimerini" newspaper, Athens, Grecce, July 16.2000, online archive: htt~://www.kathimerini.er/sundavIcontcnt.asp?id=3S 174

Lalios G. (2000). in the article, Do vou speak Grccklish or Greek?, "Kathimerini" newspaper, Athcns, Grecce. July 16,2000, online archive: http://www.kathimcrini.er/sundüv/contcnt.asp?id=3S 174

Mnndilnras B. (1972). Studies in the Grcek laneuaee, Athens, Greccc

Mitropoulos D. (1997). in the article. The Grcek laneuaec on the Net, 'To Vima" ncwspaper, Athcns, Grccce, Dcccmbcr 28, 1997, (pp. 43). onlinc archive: http:lltovim:i.doln~t.~rIdemo/o~vdtobhma.~rintuniauc?c=B&f=12461&m=I43&a:1=I&c -ookic=

Molcas W. (1989). The devclopmcnt of the Greck Ianeuaee. England, Bristol Classicil

Prcss

Taylor M. (1987). Self-dirccted Icarning: Morc than mccis the observer's cyc. Q

Baud & V. Griffin (Eds.), Apprcciatine adult's leamine: From the Icimer's pcrspcctive,

(pp. 179-196), London, England: Kogan Page

Tsirpanlis N. T. (1970). A short historv of the Greek Ianguaee, Thcssüloniki, Greece

Xydnkis N. G. (2001), in the article. Müchincs talk Grcck, "Kithimerini" ncwspüpcr,

Athcns, Greece, January 14.2001, online archive: http://www.kithimerini.er/sundav/contcnt.asp?id=664SS Encarta Onlinc Encyclopedia, Cireck language hi~~:llcncartü.msn.com/findlConcise.as~?z=lâpe=2âii=7G 1553508

Brown University, Hcllcnic Studcnts Associalion. Short history of the Greck Ianguagc hti~:/lwww.hrown.cdu/Studcnis/HclIcni<:Studcnts AssociaiionlGrceklhiston>.html

Hcllcnism Net, Greek Ianguüge http:llwww.hellcnism.neI/endI:~ng~aec.htm

Greck Pnmc Minister's office, Cultunl policy in the Information Society h1to:ll~vww.~nmcministcr.er/infosoclen-07-03.htm

Tnnslcxis. The Greek languagc http:llwww.trünslcxis.dcmon.co.uk/booklc~html

Grcck Information Nctwork. The Grcck languagc htt~:/lwww.~reccc-info.nci/dcucülionl~cInneu:icc.hrml

Brighüm Young University, The Grcck Iünguüge through timc http://l1umûnitics.h~~.cdu/cl;isscs/linel50chlrcponslercck.h1ml

WebStar Internet Services h~tp://www.webstar.grlfrümc.üsn?http://~v~v~v.~veh~tar.erltcinslate.asp

Greck~GrccklishConverter http:llwww.softlab.nt~a.~rI-roussopl~rceklish.htm

Grecklish - Demokritus University of Thrüce hti~:ll~cncles.ce.duth.erl~rc~klishlBasic.html

Athcns News Agency Archive htt~:l/www.hn.ord:ind

Computing in Greek on Microsoft Windows '95198 Systcms h1tp:llwww.hn.ordfontsI~v95I Appendix Printed by: Antonlos Valassakls Seplember 12.2001 1:17:50 PM Title: Greek & the lnternet Page 1 of 3 I-1.I July 19,2001 7:21:44 AM Unsent Message From: Antonios Valassakis Subject: Greek 8 the lnternet To: Cc:

Dear friend,

1 am currently working on my thesis for the M.A. program at OISE/W, and 1 would like to invite you to take part in the research process of it.

The title of my thesis will be "Greek & the Internet - The affects of electronic mail exchange on the Greek language", and it talks about the current use of the Greek language on the Internet, and especially the affects on the language because of the use of Latin characters.

The purpose of this study is to try to show the effects of electronic mail exchange and online chatting on Greek language and typing skills. It focuses on the ways people use the Greek language on the Internet. Relationships between Greek usage and the type of interactivity (how close the penon you are writing to is), time-loss factor (especially in chat sessions), and the participants' already existing skills. Facts like Greek language written in Latin characters, improper use of language (incorrect spelling, acronyms, etc.) will be analyzed here. One of the rnain objectives of this study is to give the world a sense of what is going on in !odayfs cyber-world; not in terms of cutting-edge technology and its affections on human relationships, but in terms of the very first element ül hurrian nature, that is being modified in order to fit the needs of the rapid technological change: Language.

In order to get the appropriate feedback from Greek speaking email users that use the Internet for email exchange, 1 am sending you a questionnaire, which 1 am asking you to fiIl in. This questionnaire is online (web-based) and the questions are focused on the use of Latin characten and improper use of the Greek language. Please keep in mind the following: Printed by: Antonios Valassakis Seplember 12.2001 1:17:50 PM TiUe: Greek & the lntemet Page 2 of 3 1. The questionnaire is fully anonymous. There is no question concerning names, email addresses or anything that has to do with recognition, other than age, sex, and location. With you submitting the questionnaire 1 wiII be receiving an email in my account sent by nobodv40ise.utoronto.ca, which will further ensure your anonymity. Inthe research your submission will be referred to as a number, and there will be no association with your name.

2. One of the basic parts of the questionnaire asks you to re-write a sentence written in Greek. With that 1want to see how you will do that, what kind of characters you will use, ana if you will ignore spell and grammatical checking or not. The analysis of that will be one of the main parts of the project.

3. There is a chance that some of the participants may know each other, either in real life or online. After you are done with questionnaire please do not forward your responses to anyone else, other than me. That will further ensure your anonymity in the research.

4. After the completion of the research al1 the data collected will be destroyed and you will be sent a URL for a web site especially designed for you to see the results of the study.

The following URL will send you to the Infoned Consent Form web plge, which will directly send you to the Online Questionnaire page (better viewed with Internet Explorer): Iwww.oise,utoronto.cal~avalassakislthes. 1-dinformed ' consent form.W

Ifyou have any questions or concerns about the questionnaire or the research please contact me at avalassakis40ise.utoronto.ca. . or cal1 me at (415j 469-0878.. . You can also contact my supervisor Lynn Davie at Idavieloise.utoronto.ca. Please note that you have the right to withdraw from this research at any time without explanation or negative consequences.

Thank you for your time

Antonios Valassakis M.A. Computer Applications C.T.L. OISEIUT Infornfed Consent Form

1 have volunteercd to be the participant in a study entitled: Grcck & the Intemet, The affccts of electronic mail exchange on the Greek language. This study is king conductcd by Antonios Valassakis, in panial fulfillment of the Masters of AN rcquircments in the Depanment of Cumculum, Teaching and Leaming (CTL). at the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISUUT). under the direction of Dr. Lynn Davie. The purpose of this study is to show the effects of electmnic mail exchangc upon the Greek language. 1 understand that the study rcquires thai 1 answcr a11 the questions given in the questionnaire, and that 1 am over 18 ycars of age. 1 am awm that this projcct will be conducted in June 2001.

1 will be given the opportunity to ask any questions about the study prior to or aftcr my participation by sending an cmail IO r\nionios ~iÏl:iss:ikis(cmail: aval~sakis~oisc.utoronto.ca.tel.#: (416) 469-0878) or Lvnn Dwic (cmail: [email protected]).1 acknowlcdge that the data will bc uscd in the analvsis and subseaucnt oublication of the thcsis. 1 have been info&ed that therc arc no potential risks for participation~inthé study, as by tilling in and submitting the online questionnaire thcre will bc no association with my name, sincc the qucstionnairc is nnonyrnous.

The potcntial bcnefits fmm participating in this siudy include lcaming about the cffects of the Intemct upon the Greek languagc thmugh a web site, designed especially for this purpose. 1 undcrstand that therc will be opportunity to mise any concerns throughout the study so that they might bc addrcsscd. 1 understand that 1 can withdnw at any tirne without explanation or negative conscqucnces. 1 undersiand thai following the study. 1may be contactcd via cmail to cliuify or confimi the findings. 1 understand that the data collectcd for this study will bc destroyed after the study is complcicd. 1 have carcfully considcred the implications of this study and will indicate my agreement Io participate by clicking on "Proceed" below. 1 understand that submitting the questionnaire constitutes consent.

Proceed

Quit Znternet and the Greek language

Please answer the following questions

GENERAL

Where are you from? : Country: l cily: l

Whnt is your gender? :

Whnt is your agc? :1 v

BACKGROUND

Plcase indicnte your ncndemic background in:

Grceks :1 Grcek-Cünadians :1 v

Grceks : 1 3 Greck-Canadiüns : 73

When did you stnrt using the Internet? :1 v

How mnny hours do you spend daily on the Internet? :1

Do you use electronic mail (email)? :

Where do you usually send email? (check al1 thnt upply):

r Fnends Unline Questionnaire Page 2 or 3

r Family

r WorklBusiness

r 0 . - . .. _ _. -

Do you send emnils outside your country? :

When you scnd email to a Greek do you prefer to use Greek or Latin chancters? :

If you use Latin then why? :

r It is hster

r It does not nced spelling check

r My cornputer does not support Greek fonts

r 0iher l

Do you change your mind about typing in Greek or Latin characters when you send an eniail to a relative or a îriend? :

Plcase re-type the following sentence the way yoii would if you were to send an email messug :

kKLummN~9N

Whnt do you think of the use of Latin charncters for the Greek lungunge on the Internet? Do gou think it hns nny nfîects on the Greek Inngunge?

(please send us a fcw ihoughts) :

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