This study is concerned with the investigation of a potentially “new” variety of English spoken in the Greek part of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. However, the influence of English in Cyprus is not new in the sense that it has only recently gained importance. Its roots, in fact, go back to the period of British imperialism, during which the English language was transported to and became rooted in many “‘un-English’cultural and linguistic contexts in various parts of the world, wherever the arm of the western colonizers reached”(Kachru 1981: 15). This brought about a multitude of native and second-language varieties of English around the world, eg the different Australasian, Asian, and African Englishes. These and other varieties of English have experienced an ever increasing scholarly interest ever since the onset of World Englishes research about 30 years ago. Even though Cyprus shares the historical experience of British colonization, the English spoken there has not yet been discussed systematically and comprehensively within the framework of World Englishes.

The overall aim of the present study is to remedy the lack of systematic and comprehensive investigation and to place Cyprus and the English language spoken there on the map of World Englishes research. For reasons of practicability, this monograph focuses on the Greek part of the island, as Cyprus is divided into a Greek and a Turkish part, which have developed important differences in their sociolinguistic settings.