Middlesex University and the University of Westminster are delighted to announce the launch of the GRƐNGLISH PROJECT.
Led by Dr Anna Charalambidou and Dr Petros Karatsareas, the project seeks to crowd source Grenglish words – English words that the UK’s Greek Cypriots borrowed from English and turned into Cypriot Greek. For example, pason for ‘bus’, ketlon for ‘kettle’ or experiotita for ‘experience’.
Anna and Petros believe that Grenglish words are unique linguistic creations that are emblematic of the Greek Cypriot community’s history, resourcefulness and creativity. However, they are facing the threat of disappearance as younger generations of British-born Greek Cypriots tend to avoid them.
The GRƐNGLISH PROJECT brings together older and younger generations within the UK’s Greek Cypriot diaspora in a community campaign of language documentation. We invite everyone to visit our website www.grenglish.org and submit any type of linguistic material relating to Grenglish: words and their meaning, thoughts about their origin, visual material such as photographs, stories that involve the use of English.
Anna and Petros will curate all entries and produce an online Grenglish dictionary as well as a print dictionary, a permanent record for generations to come.
For further information please email Anna Charalambidou at [email protected] or Petros Karatsareas at [email protected]
