Cylingo platform records more than 2,000 words shared across Cyprus’s dialects

A bicommunal digital platform is documenting shared vocabulary between the Cypriot Greek and Cypriot Turkish dialects, with more than 2,000 words currently recorded, according to reports by Cyprus Mail and Yeniduzen.

Cylingo was founded by childhood friends Doruk Ekingen and Uğurcan Karşılı. The project checks submitted words to establish that they belong specifically to the two Cypriot dialects before adding them to its database.

The platform includes seven interactive language games, pronunciation guides and academic material on the phonetics of both dialects. Reported examples of shared words include anari, zivania and molohiya. The vocabulary also reflects influences from Latin, French, Arabic and Persian, Yeniduzen reported.

Ekingen said the project began taking shape in 2024, after the founders collected language material from their grandparents. A separate account reported that the database was also prompted by a Cyprus-specific word whose meaning the founders could not find online.

Recording language in a changing environment

Cylingo draws on earlier academic research that identified about 3,425 words common to the two dialects. Its own database applies a stricter filter by excluding terms that are also shared with Standard Greek or Standard Turkish, Cyprus Mail reported.

Linguists cited by the newspaper said Cypriot Greek is relatively well documented but faces pressure from the dominance of Standard Greek in formal settings. Cypriot Turkish, they said, is comparatively under-recorded and has become more homogenised.

Linguist Orhan Kabataş estimates that further research could bring the shared vocabulary to nearly 9,000 words. That figure is a projection, rather than the number currently published by Cylingo.

The team is also developing an artificial-intelligence tool intended to understand and use both dialects. Ekingen said existing AI systems often confuse Cypriot Greek and Cypriot Turkish with Standard Greek or Turkish, and that the planned model will draw on Cylingo’s resources and original Cypriot-language texts.