Many of us who speak Modern Greek may not realize that there are several distinct dialects within the Greek language; many of which are still spoken and used in daily life, but not to the capacity that it once was. A great article by Kathimerini focuses on three of the dialects, that have survived in different communities around the Meditterean and although diminishing in some parts, still make up a significant proportion of many people's daily lingua franca.
The most common dialect that has survived and spoken by Greeks in northern Greece, and in communities around the Black Sea is the Pontic Greek dialect; with total speakers nearing 1 million if you include the Greeks of Ukraine, Georgia and the Pontic Greek speakers of Turkey. Pontic Greeks located in Europe have even began teaching the language to their youth; especially in Sweden and Germany.
Another dialect which has survived, yet begining to fade is that of the Old Cypriot dialect; which is spoken by Greek and Turkish Cypriots who are elderly. The dialect is spoken mostly in Cyprus yet also in emmigrant communities and is spoken by about 230,000 people. The Cypriot Greek that is spoken today has evolved only in the last 50 years on the island.
A very resiliant group of grecophones is that of the communities in Syria and Lebanon which number nearly 12,000 people and speak an old Cretan dialect which was brought with these immigrants seven generations ago when the left Crete. Cretan Greek is still spoken on the island of Crete and in lesser extent on the coast of Asia Minor, remanents of Turks who left Crete after the population exchange.
The article fails to mention three other small dialect. There are Griko speakers in southern Italy, who number nearly 30,000 and can trace their roots back to Magna Grecia. Greeks from Turkey and Constantinopol speak a dialect called "Romaika" which does have a bit of Turkish influence. And the smallest and probably most endagered of Greek dialects is that of the Tsakonian language, which is spoken by a mere 2,000 people at best, on the Peloponessian coast. This dialect goes all the way back to Doric Greek.
DF: Does your family speak any dialect at home?
Kathimerini
DeanMan... ...I was reading "The Glorious Foods of Greece", by Diane Kochilos (http://www.dianekochilas.com/book_4.asp) a few years ago and remember being amazed by how much broader and diverrse Greek cooking was compared to the narrow range of dishes I had experienced in Greek-American restaraunts, Greek cooking reflected a wide range of influences, Oriental, Slavic and Italian. The dishes and diet of the Islanders, for example, were completely different than those of the Mountain-dwellers.
So it's no surprise that the dialects spoken by by Greeks also reflect our people's long, far-flung and peripatetic history.