Cyprus has two official languages reflecting the island's bicommunal history: Greek, spoken by the Greek Cypriot majority in the south, and Turkish, spoken by the Turkish Cypriot community primarily in the north. The Greek Cypriot dialect is notably archaic, preserving features of Medieval Greek that disappeared from standard Modern Greek, including certain vocabulary and sounds closer to ancient forms. English also holds special status as a co-official language in some contexts, a legacy of British colonial rule from 1878 to 1960. Following the 1974 Turkish military intervention and the de facto partition of the island, Greek is dominant in the Republic of Cyprus in the south while Turkish is primary in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Turkey. The Cypriot dialect is distinctive enough that mainland Greeks sometimes struggle to understand it.
