Arcado-Cypriot

Arcado-Cypriot is a dialect group of the ancient Greek language. It is primarily associated with the regions of Arcadia in Greece and the island of Cyprus. This dialect group emerged from the immigration of Greek settlers, specifically from the Peloponnese, to Cyprus starting around 1200 BCE.1

The Greek language has been predominant in Cyprus since the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE, with Arcado-Cypriot being the dialect that first appeared on the island. This dialect is distinct from other ancient Greek dialects like Ionic-Attic, Aeolic, and West Greek.12

While most inscriptions in Cyprus from the 6th to 3rd centuries BCE are in Greek and use the Cypriot syllabary, this syllabary was originally developed for an earlier, non-Greek language spoken on the island. The Cypriot syllabary is believed to be a later development of the undeciphered Cypro-Minoan script, which dates back to around 1500-1100 BCE.34