Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Tsaconia, Tsakonia
CLASSIFICATION		Indo-European, Greek, Doric
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		tsd
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Southern Tsakonian Northern Tsakonian
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Subdialectal diversity in the Tsakonian-speaking area of Arcadia” (76-88) . Valentina Fedchenko (2013) , Mark Janse and Brian D. Joseph and Angela Ralli and Metin Bagriacik ·

Severely endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2000-4000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Tsakonian is supposed to be a critically endangered language because of its relatively small number of fluent speakers which are estimated to be 2000 to 4000 and because of the lack of a younger generation."

TRANSMISSION
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "The southern Tsakonian area speakers form quite a heterogeneous bilingual community. The percentage of population which doesn`t speak Tsakonian is high in the town of Leonidion and very low in the surrounding villages."

PLACES: Arcadia, Greece

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: "The northern variant is spread in the villages of Kastanitsa and Sitena, and the southern one is used in the city of Leonidion, and some villages to the North: Vaskina, Melana, Pragmatevtis, Tyros, Sapunokeika, and Agios Andreas.... The village of Prastos should be mentioned apart, because it is situated in the mountains and is distinct and isolated from the main southern dialect area. The population of Prastos spends there only a few months in the summer and leaves to Agios Andreas during the winter period."

Critically endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
A couple hundred
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"There are a couple hundred people with some fluency in Tsakonian at best, mainly in the Leonidio region but still a few in Kastanitsa as well."

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"Critically endangered."

PLACES: Greece, eastern Peloponnese

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: "Southern Tsakonian is still spoken in villages around Leonidio, but practically all speakers are elderly, while northern Tsakonian barely survives in the villages of Kastanitsa and Sitena."

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,200
Native speakers worldwide

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
300
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,200
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Speaker number data: (J. Werner 1981).

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

PLACES: Greece;

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Kastanitsa, Sitena, Prastos, Leonidi, Pramatefti, Sapounakeika, Tyros, Melana towns, possibly Korakovunio; Peloponnesos east coast

3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing	Paris	http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub	300	100-999				Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						37.1712,22.7911
	2007	Europe and North Asia	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	211-282	C. Moseley	London & New York: Routledge			Tapani Salminen	Salminen, Tapani. 2007. "Europe and North Asia." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 211-282. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD	A couple hundred	100-999	"There are a couple hundred people with some fluency in Tsakonian at best, mainly in the Leonidio region but still a few in Kastanitsa as well."			Critically Endangered (60 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	"Critically endangered."		Greece, eastern Peloponnese	"Southern Tsakonian is still spoken in villages around Leonidio, but practically all speakers are elderly, while northern Tsakonian barely survives in the villages of Kastanitsa and Sitena."	37.165331, 22.858825; 37.263957, 22.649835; 37.291813, 22.651180
	2013	Subdialectal diversity in the Tsakonian-speaking area of Arcadia	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Modern Greek Dialects and Linguistic Theory	76-88	Mark Janse and Brian D. Joseph and Angela Ralli and Metin Bagriacik			https://www.academia.edu/5743870/Subdialectal_diversity_in_the_Tsakonian-speaking_area_of_Arcadia	Valentina Fedchenko			2000-4000	1000-9999	"Tsakonian is supposed to be a critically endangered language because of its relatively small number of fluent speakers which are estimated to be 2000 to 4000 and because of the lack of a younger generation."	Greek	"The southern Tsakonian area speakers form quite a heterogeneous bilingual community. The percentage of population which doesn`t speak Tsakonian is high in the town of Leonidion and very low in the surrounding villages."	Severely Endangered (60 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	14		"The northern variant is spread in the villages of Kastanitsa and Sitena, and the southern one is used in the city of Leonidion, and some villages to the North: Vaskina, Melana, Pragmatevtis, Tyros, Sapunokeika, and Agios Andreas.... The village of Prastos should be mentioned apart, because it is situated in the mountains and is distinct and isolated from the main southern dialect area. The population of Prastos spends there only a few months in the summer and leaves to Agios Andreas during the winter period."	Arcadia, Greece		37.262826, 22.683782; 37.264144, 22.649813; 37.291668, 22.651277; 37.167092, 22.858031
		World Oral Literature Project						http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.		1,200	1000-9999				Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX	http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	1,200	1000-9999	Speaker number data: (J. Werner 1981).	Greek		Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Greece;	Kastanitsa, Sitena, Prastos, Leonidi, Pramatefti, Sapounakeika, Tyros, Melana towns, possibly Korakovunio; Peloponnesos east coast

Tsakonian

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2000-4000

Critically endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

A couple hundred

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,200

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

300

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,200

Discussion

Tsakonian

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2000-4000

Critically endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

A couple hundred

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,200

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

300

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,200

Discussion

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