When I wrote about the IT industry in Cyprus, I briefly touched on the topic of languages on the island. However, I’ve now decided to delve deeper into the subject because it’s not as straightforward as it seems, and it’s a fascinating topic.
I believe Cypriots themselves are well aware of the languages spoken on their island, but if you ask an immigrant who arrived a few years ago and generally feels like a “local,” they will confidently tell you that the island has three official languages: Greek, Turkish, and English. The more informed ones might even show you a residence permit or a birth certificate (like the one illustrated in this post), where all terms are presented in these three languages. However, this statement is incorrect.
Before I explain why it’s incorrect, it’s worth exploring the historical background by going back centuries.
Originally, some population lived on Cyprus, but during the time of the Trojan War, when the Greeks were returning victorious, some of them settled on the island. This marked the beginning of the assimilation of the local population, and Cyprus essentially became part of Achaean culture (since there was no unified country of Greece at the time, and the Greek city-states were constantly at war with each other, except when they united against the Trojans, for example).
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