Thanasis Costakis was a Greek linguist and lexicographer best known for his work on the now-moribund Tsakonian language

Tsakonian language

Tsakonian, Tsaconian, Tzakonian or Tsakonic is a Hellenic language, spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece....

 spoken in the eastern Peloponnese

Peloponnese

The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...

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Costakis was born in Pera Melana in Arcadia

Arcadia

Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...

, a Tsakonian-speaking village. He taught at several high schools in Athens before taking a post at the Academy of Athens, serving as a contributor to the Historical Lexicon. In addition to his linguistic works, he also published a volume on the traditional architecture of Tsakonia

Tsakonia

Tsakonia or the Tsakonian region describes the area of the eastern Peloponnese where the Tsakonian language is presently spoken...

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Works

• A Brief Grammar of the Tsakonian Dialect, The French Institute of Athens, Athens: 1951.
• Tsakonian Popular Architecture, The Academy of Athens, Athens: 1961.
• The Tsakonian of Propontis, The Academy of Athens, Athens: 1979.
• Lexicon of the Tsakonian Dialect, The Academy of Athens: 1986.

External links

• Biography at the University of Patras website (in Greek)