Misthi, Cappadocia

Greek city in Cappadocia, now Konaklı

Misthi or Misti (Μιστί or Μισθί), was a Greek city in the region of Cappadocia, which is in modern day Turkey. It was situated 82 kilometres southwest of the regional capital,Caesarea (Greek: Καισαρεία), now known as Kayseri, Turkey. Administratively, it was a part of the nearby city of Niğde, ssituated 26 kilometres north northwest at an altitude of 1380 metres above sea level. The current name of the town is Konaklı.

«’Απ’ Μιστί ’μι, νά πάμ’ σ’ Μιστί»

(From Misthi I am, let's go to Misthi)

The city of Misthi is today inhabited by about 4000 Turkish citizens originating from the population exchange of 1924 between Greece and Turkey. The inhabitants are mostly descendants of Turks born in Thessaloniki, Greece (Tr. Selanik) and in the Kozani region at the turn of the 20th century. Descendants of the current inhabitants of the city came to Misthi while the Misthiotes had not yet left the city. When the Greeks population left the city the name changed from Misthi to Misly. Today, the city is known as Konaklı.

The Misthiotica dialect belongs to the Cappadocian branch of Greek and is thought to be based on Byzantine Greek with archaic features preserved as well as attached with a plethora of loanwords from Turkish. Some examples of this dialect are:

MisthioticaTranscribedDemotic/Modern GreekMeaningRemarksNounsΑεφλό/Αελφό, αελφίAefló/Aelfó, aelfíΑδελφός, αδελφήBrother/Brother, SisterSimplification. Omission of Greek delta " d "ΑστενάρAstenarΑσθενήςPatientSimplification. "σθ >στ"ΒαβάςVavásΠατέρας, μπαμπάςFather, daddyΒαλίValiΒουβάλιBuffaloSimplification. Omission of initial syllable "Bu "ΒρεχόςVrechosΒροχήRainGender alteration.ΔιάολουςDiaolusΔιάβολος/ΔιάολοςDevilUse of "ου" instead of "ο"ΚιρυόςCiriosΑέραςAirUnknown origin of word perhaps from κρύος αέρας (cold, chilly air), similar to νερό from νεαρόν ύδωρΚρομμόCrommóΚρεμμύδιOnionSimplification. Omission of middle syllable " mi "ΛαλάτζαLalándzaΛουκουμάδεςGreek style dougnuts made of fried dessert doughFrom Byzantine Lallangia (Λαλλάγγια) (Fried bread, cf. Lallangita)>Hellenistic Lallangi>Archaic Greek Laganon (wide but thin pita like bread made with herbs and sesame seeds on it) [a predecessor to the current well known pizza]ΛερόLeróΝερόWaterΝ >Λ (N >L)ΜανάλManalΜανουάλιCandleChurch candleΝαίκαNécaΓυναίκαWomanSimplification. Omission of initial syllable "Gy"ΝεκκλησιάΝeclischáΣτην ΕκκλησίαChurchReanalysis: the final nasal was misinterpreted to be constituent to the noun rather than the preposition/article and entered the morphologyΠισίκαPischícaΠιτσιρίκα (Κορίτσι)Fem. childFrom Byzantine pitsiricon>N. Italic piccër (small)+Byzantine ίκο (ico). Cf. Modern Italian "piccolo" (small).ΠαιίPeíΠαιδίChildSimplification. Omission of Greek delta "d". See also "Fschách" for child.ΠαλκάρPalcárΠαλικάριMask. childA brave person (mask). From Byzantine pallecarion (young follower of soldiers) > Hellenistic pallicarion> derived from pallak (follower)+arion (young)> Archaic Greek (attic) pallax (πάλλαξ).ΣτράδαStradhaΔρόμοςStreet, roadFrom Italian >Byzantine >Misthiotica.ΤσερίTscheríΚερίCandleSound alteration of initial "K" >TschΤεμέλTemelΘεμέλιαFoundationΘ >TΤύραTíraΘύραDoorFrom Archaic Greek >Byzantine >Misthiotica, Θ >TΦ'σάχFscháchΠαιδίChildPossibly derived from the word "σπλάχνο" meaning gut, wound, religiously denoting "child" >Byzantine.ΦραίδαFraídaΣφραγίδαStampSimplification. Omission of initial "s" and middle (voiceless) "g".ΦτείριαFtíriaΨείρεςLouseSound alteration PST >FT and gender alteration from feminine to neuter.ΧεγόςCheyosΘεόςGodPalatalisation of Θ >Χ, epenthesis of "g" to avoid hiatus between "e" and "o". (This epenthesis resembles the use of yumuşak ge in Turkish. )Other categoriesΙτόItóΑυτόThis, thatΜιMiΜεWithVowel change E >I

Pitoulica [aka Mantiz] is a yoghurt based soup with pasta and olive oil croutons. There are variations where fried garlic sometimes adds to the distinctive character of the dish. Another version of Mantiz (from other places of Asia Minor) is a kind of pasta with minced meat, like tortellini, served with tomato sauce with yogurt and paprika (chilli pepper powder). Toundouri (tandouri) bread is bread baked in the ground based oven known as toundouri. The toundouri is also found in numerous other cultures. Some examples are the Indian cuisine, the Middle East cuisine as well as in regional Turkish cuisines. Arjalou fai is a soup made of yoghurt and pligouri (cracked wheat). Gilindiria is a kind of soup with little balls of pasta made of pligouri (cracked wheat) and flour, and boukovo (chili pepper). Goultsigalat fai is a kind of soup with milk and pligouti (cracked wheat). Xovota avga (eggs) are fried eggs in boiled water instead of butter or olive oil. Pintoush is a cream made of eggs, milk, flour and pligouri (cracked wheat) and it's like béchamel cream. Sougkatous is an omelet with eggs, milk and flour.

Surnames were seldom used in the sense we know of today. Misthiotes referred to one another on a first name basis (a very common procedure during the Ottoman era for all Ottoman population). To separate between persons with similar or equal names they used patronymes or toponyms, i. e. names from places of origin. For instance "Daniil dou Yaserli" [Δανιήλ dου Γάσερλη], Daniel the Caesarian's / Daniel Caesarian's son. Such surnames became through transformation unrecognizable to the holders. The Yaserli surname for instance was originally in Greek (and Latin) Caesarius/Kaisarios [Καισάριος or plural Καισάριοι], denoting a person from Caesaria (Kayseri). With the influx of Turkish, the name went through a transformation process that rendered it adaptable to the Turkish equivalent Kaiserli (from Kayseri and the suffix 'li' denoting belonging). Usually an initial 'K' in Byzantine Greek was transformed in the Misthiotica dialect either as "ch" or "Y". In this case it was transformed as "Y". When the bearers of the name entered the port of Mersina from where they were taken by boat to Piraeus, Athens, their name were written in Turkish as "Kaiserli". Entering Piraeus the Greek authorities "re Hellenised" their name by adding a common Greek surname suffix " (i)dis" and once again transformed the surname into its current form "Kaiserlidis". Some members continued however to pronounce the name "Yaserli", and due to the civil war that broke out in Greece following WWII with the loss of the village archives, they were recorded as "Gaserli" or "Gaserlidis" [Γάσερλη, Γασερλίδης] during their entrance to Greek army service.

The international academic community of linguists considered Misthiotica and other Cappadocian Greek languages to be extinct until recently when researchers discovered speakers of the language in Greece. (Studies are currently in progress of both linguistic as well as social character). Many Misthiotes left Misthi to establish themselves as traders in the United States of America and in Russia. Travels to Russia was usually a collective endeavour of 20 30 persons and took normally about 20–25 days. The Misthiotes would spend 2–3 years if not longer before returning home when another group would leave to the same destination. Many of the surnames of Misthiotes of today are of Turkish origin while some are just transliterations of Byzantine names. Many of the surnames of Turkish origin could be classified as having a derogatory meaning. For instance, Sismanides 'sisman' meaning fat, or most commonly Delioglou ('deli'=idiot) meaning the idiot's son. Only few of the first generation Misthiotes in Greece have understood the meaning of their surnames. These surnames were often given by the Turkish authorities. Numerous accounts show that Misthiotes would not recognise themselves by these names as they referred to themselves either only by their first name or by the first name followed by a patronyme and/or a name of the city of origin. The completely different level of literacy of the second and third generation has however spurred an interest of the subject and subsequently several name changing processes. Many of the second generation of the Misthiotes from Greece emigrated during the late 1960s from Greece to northern European countries such as Germany, Belgium, and Sweden but also to Australia and the US making Greece only a temporary place of stay along their history.

Kappadokes. gr General information on Greek Cappadocia by the Greek Cappadocean Federation
Cappadocia. gr General information on Greek Cappadocia
Misti. gr Information on Misthi provided by Misthiotes from Neo Agioneri, Kilkis
Cappadocian Greek Information from Wikipedia by Prof. Mark Janse on the Cappadocian Greek language

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