The Southeastern Macedonian dialects according to one of the scientific views are one of three groups of Macedonian. According to another view all or part of these dialects are part of the Bulgarian language. [1] [2] [3]
The group is located in the eastern and southeastern areas of North Macedonia, surrounding the cities of Štip, Strumica, and Delčevo. The group also includes Blagoevgrad Province, or Pirin Macedonia, in Bulgaria [ citation needed ], and Macedonia, or Aegean Macedonia, Greece. The group of Southeastern Macedonian dialects is divided into three subgroups: the eastern group, the southwestern group, and the southeastern group.
Based on the main isogloss separating the Bulgarian dialects into Eastern and Western - yat border, some of the Southeastern Macedonian dialects are classified as Eastern Bulgarian. [7] [8]
Bulgarian dialects are the regional varieties of the Bulgarian language, a South Slavic language. Bulgarian dialectology dates to the 1830s and the pioneering work of Neofit Rilski, Bolgarska gramatika. Other notable researchers in this field include Marin Drinov, Konstantin Josef Jireček, Lyubomir Miletich, Aleksandar Teodorov-Balan, Stoyko Stoykov.
The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of North Macedonia as well as some varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia. They are part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic languages that joins Macedonian with Bulgarian to the east and Torlakian to the north into the group of the Eastern South Slavic languages. The precise delimitation between these languages is fleeting and controversial.
The Vevčani-Radožda dialect is a member of the western and north western subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. Because of the old and rich tradition that this region has and because of the Vevčani Carnival, many old words are present in everyday communication of the people. The Vevčani-Radοžda dialect is the smallest dialect among the other dialects of Macedonian.
The Struga Dialect is a member of the western and north western subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. The dialect is spoken in Struga, Pogradec, Pustec, and up to the Golo Brdo and in the surrounding hinterland. The dialect has many similarities with the Vevčani-Radožda, Ohrid and Korča dialects.
The Kumanovo dialect is a member of the eastern subgroup of the Northern group of dialects of Macedonian. It belongs to the so-called Prizren-Timok dialects, also known as Torlakian. The dialect is typical for the northern dialect of Macedonian and is very well known because of the use of some cases, such as the locative case. The Kumanovo dialect is spoken mainly in the city of Kumanovo and the surrounding villages. The dialect is closely related to the neighboring Kriva Palanka dialect. The Kumanovo dialect can be found in literary works, such as the famous play “Lenče Kumanovče” written by Vasil Iljoski in 1928. The Kumanovo dialect is especially popular as a source of humor in the spoken media, whereas the print media tend to favor Western dialect forms for humorous anecdotes and quotations in local news stories. The most significant example where the Kumanovo dialect is used in a humorous way is the festival Tumba Fest.
The Skopje-Veles dialect is a member of the central subgroup of the Western group of dialects of Macedonian. The dialect is spoken by a larger group of people in the cities Skopje and Veles and in the surrounding villages: Volkovo, Katlanovo, Petrovec and Čaška among others. This dialect is of historical importance for Macedonian because it is considered by many to be a prestige dialect. On August 2, 1945, the Skopje-Veles dialect, together with the other dialects of the central group was officially regulated as a basis of standard Macedonian. Many Macedonian writers and linguists were writing on this dialect and considered it to be standard Macedonian. One of them was Krste Petkov Misirkov and in his book For Macedonian affairs wrote that this dialect should be standard Macedonian. He has been writing on Skopje-Veles dialect and on Prilep-Bitola dialect.
The Kičevo-Poreče dialect is a member of the central subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. The dialect is spoken in a vast area in North Macedonia and mainly in the cities Kičevo and Makedonski Brod. It is also native to the villages of the region Porečje, such as Samokov and those around Kičevo. Because of the migration of the population from Porečje, the dialect is spoken in the region of Polog and in the capital Skopje. The Kičevo-Poreče dialect is closely related to the Prilep-Bitola dialect, Gostivar dialect with which they share many common characteristics. This dialect can be found in many books and novels, and one of the more popular is the novel "Milion mačenici" by Risto Krle. The Kičevo-Poreče dialect has a significantly small number of Serbian and Turkish loan words than the Macedonian dialects.
The Galičnik dialect or Mala Reka dialect is a member of the subgroup of western and north western dialects of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. The dialect is spoken on small territory on the mountain Bistra in western part of the Republic of Macedonia. The name of the dialect is derived by the biggest village in that area- Galičnik. Also the dialect is spoken in many other small villages including the village Gari. The Galičnik dialect is closely related with the Reka dialect which is spoken north-western of Galičnik dialect. This dialect is well known in Republic of Macedonia because of the archaic words that this dialect has. The dialect can be found in many historically important literary works for the Macedonian literature. One of the most important is Ǵorǵija Puleski and his dictionary of three languages.
The Ohrid dialect is a member of the western and north western subgroup of the western group of dialects of the Macedonian language. The dialect is spoken in the region around the city Ohrid, North Macedonia up to the southern point of the Ohrid Lake. Except in the city of Ohrid, the dialect is spoken in the villages Trpejca, Peštani, Elešec, Velgoshti and many others smaller villages in that area. This dialect is known among the Macedonians as a dialect of extensive use of the suffix -t and to some extent shortening of the words. The Ohrid dialect is also part of the Macedonian literature, especially with the works of Grigor Prličev with his Biography, Skenderbeg and Serdarot. The Ohrid dialect is closely related with the nearby city Struga and Upper Prespa dialects.
The Gostivar dialect is a member of the western and north western subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. The dialect is mainly spoken in the area around the city of Gostivar to the villages Brvenica and Bogovinje on north, Reka region on west, Poreče on east and Galičnik on south. The dialect is closely related with the neighbouring dialects, particularly with the Kičevo-Poreče dialect, Reka dialect and Galičnik dialect. Also in some extent, the dialect shares some similarities with the Tetovo dialect. The dialect is very well known for using masculine forms of direct and indirect objects, for male and female.
The term Maleševo-Pirin dialect is used in South Slavic linguistics to refer to a group of related varieties that are spoken on both sides of the border of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. Some linguists treat them as dialects of the Bulgarian language, while Victor Friedman views them as part of Macedonian. According to some authors, they are linguistically transitional between the two national languages, Bulgarian and Macedonian and form part of the larger dialect continuum between them. The dialect group is named after the mountain ranges of Pirin in Bulgaria and Maleševo in Macedonia. When referring specifically to the dialects on the Bulgarian side, the term Petrich-Blagoevgrad dialect, after the two major towns in the area, is also used.
The Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect is a dialect currently treated both in the contexts of the southeastern group of Bulgarian dialects and the southeastern subgroup of dialects of the Macedonian. Prior to the codification of standard Macedonian in 1945, the dialects of Macedonia were classified as Bulgarian. The dialect is dynamic and is well known for the shortening of the words, and also characterised by the excessive use of for the Proto-Slavic yat even in cases where standard Bulgarian has, a feature which is typical for a number of dialects spoken in southern and southwestern Bulgaria . The Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect is closely related to the neighbouring dialects. It is closer to all Eastern Bulgarian dialects than to all Western. Macedonian shares much less features with the dialect than it does with the Maleševo-Pirin dialect of Macedonian and Bulgarian. Some Bulgarian dialects are more similar to Macedonian than the Ser-Nevrokop dialect, the Samokov dialect shares more features with Macedonian than both the Ser-Nevrokop and the Pirin-Malasevo dialects do, even though it is not considered a Macedonian dialect, the most of the western Bulgarian dialects and the Smolyan dialect share more similarities with Macedonian than the Ser dialect does. The Samokov dialect, most remarkably, shares with Macedonian and the Maleševo-Pirin dialect—the "to be" verb for future tense—"ke", which in contrast is "shte" in the Ser-Nevrokop dialect and in the Bulgarian language. The Yat border passes through the Maleševo-Pirin dialect and divides it on such a way that in the northern area of the dialect the yat is pronounced "e" and in the south—"ya". In the Ser-Nevrokop dialect the yat is pronounced in most places "ya", therefore the city of Serres, after which the dialect is named, is called "Syar" by the locals, as opposed to "Ser" in Macedonian. The first person singular is as in Bulgarian, ending with "a" or "am" as opposed to the constant "am" in Macedonian and the Bulgarian Smolyan dialect. The words for man -"m'zh" and for a dream "s'n" are as in Bulgarian, unlike the Macedonian "mazh" and "son". The words for night and tear—"nosht" and "s'lza" are as the Bulgarian, unlike the Macedonian "nok" and "solza".
The Central Balkan dialect is a Bulgarian dialect that is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes most of north-central Bulgaria, as well as the regions of Karlovo, Kazanlak and Plovdiv in southern Bulgaria, all the way down to the northernmost ridges of the Rhodopes. As a result of the mass population movements that affected eastern Bulgaria during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the Central Balkan dialect is now spoken also in vast areas of northeastern Bulgaria. The most significant feature of the dialect is the pronunciation of Old Church Slavonic ѣ (yat) as or, depending on the character of the following syllable. The Central Balkan dialect lies at the foundation of formal Bulgarian. However, it is not identical to the standard language because many of its features derive from the Western Bulgarian dialects, including the Macedonian dialects, or are a compromise between Eastern and Western standard. The Central Balkan dialect includes a number of subdialects, e.g. Troyan, Lovech, Gabrovo, Karlovo, Kalofer, Tryavna, etc. which share many common features and yet have some differences.
The Strandzha dialect is a dialect of the Bulgarian language, member of the Rup or Southeastern Bulgarian dialects. The present range of the dialect includes the Bulgarian part of Strandzha. In the past, the dialect was spoken on a much larger territory and extended far down into Eastern Thrace, now in Turkey. Following the Balkan wars, the Bulgarian population there was forced to flee to Bulgaria, settling mostly in the regions of Burgas and Varna in eastern Bulgaria.
The Thracian dialect is a dialect of the Bulgarian language, member of the Rup or Southeastern Bulgarian dialects. The present range of the dialect includes the regions of Haskovo, Parvomay, Elhovo, Harmanli, Svilengrad, Topolovgrad and Ivaylovgrad. In the past, the dialect was spoken on a much larger territory and extended far down into Eastern and Western Thrace, now in Turkey and Greece, respectively. Following the Balkan wars, the Bulgarian population there was forced to flee to Bulgaria, settling mostly in the regions of Burgas and Haskovo, Yambol and Plovdiv.
The Paulician dialect is a Bulgarian dialect of the Rhodopean group of the Rup dialects. The Paulician dialect is spoken by some 40,000 people, nearly all of them Catholic Bulgarians, in the region of Rakovski in southern Bulgaria and Svishtov in northern Bulgaria, aswell as regions in Romania. The language of the Banat Bulgarians, late 17th century Bulgarian Catholic migrants to Banat, is phonologically and morphologically identical to the Paulician dialect.
The Southwestern Bulgarian dialects are a group of Bulgarian dialects which are located west of the yat boundary and are part of the Western Bulgarian dialects. The range of the Southwestern dialects on the territory of Bulgaria includes most of west central and southwestern Bulgaria. The Southwestern dialects border on the Northwestern dialects to the north, the Transitional dialects to the northwest and the Balkan dialects and the Rup dialects to the northeast and southeast, respectively. If the Macedonian language is regarded as a third literary form of Modern Bulgarian, then the Southwestern dialects extend west and southwest to include the Slavic dialects in Vardar Macedonia and the western half of Greek Macedonia. Should the Macedonian language be counted as a separate language, then the southernmost dialect of the group, the Blagoevgrad-Petrich or Pirin dialect, along with the corresponding variety on the Macedonian side of the border, the Maleshevo dialect, constitute a transitional dialect between Bulgarian and Macedonian. A defining characteristic of the Southwestern dialects is the gradual transition from one dialect to another, as well as to dialects which belong to other dialectal groups. For example, the Dupnitsa dialect is transitional to both the Samokov dialect and the Blagoevgrad-Petrich dialect, the Botevgrad dialect is transitional to the Eastern Bulgarian Balkan dialects, and especially to the Pirdop dialect, etc. etc.
The Transitional Bulgarian dialects are a group of Bulgarian dialects, whose speakers are located west of the yat boundary and are part of the Western Bulgarian dialects. As they have most of the typical characteristics of the North-Western Bulgarian dialects, they are sometimes classified as belonging to this subgroup under the name of Extreme North-Western dialects. On Bulgarian territory, the Transitional dialects occupy a narrow strip of land along the Bulgarian border with Serbia, including the regions of Tran, Breznik, Godech, Chiprovtsi and Belogradchik. They also cross the border to include the dialects or subdialects of the Bulgarian minority in the Western Outlands. The Transitional dialects are part of the Torlak dialectal group also spoken in southeastern Serbia and North Macedonia and are part of the gradual transition from Bulgarian to Serbian. The Bulgarian Transitional dialects and the Serbian Prizren-Timok dialects are loosely characterised by mixed, predominantly Serbian phonology and predominantly Bulgarian morphology. The features described here are characteristic only of the Transitional dialects within Bulgaria.
The Nestram-Kostenar dialect is a Macedonian Slavic dialect spoken in parts of northwestern Greece, in the area around the village of Nestorio (Nestram) and the area known as Kostenarija, which encompasses most of the Nestorio municipality as well as in the Akrites region. There are also speakers in the adjacent Devoll District of Albania.
The Kostur dialect, is a member of the Southwestern subgroup of the Southeastern group of dialects of the Macedonian language. This dialect is mainly spoken in and around the town of Kastoria, known locally in Macedonian as Kostur, and in the surrounding Korešta region, which encompasses most of the area to the northwest of the town. The Kostur dialect is also partially spoken in Albania, most notably in Bilisht and the village of Vërnik (Vrabnik). The dialect is partially preserved among the ″people of Bulgarian origin in Mustafapaşa and Cemilköy, Turkey, descending from the village of Agios Antonios (Zhèrveni) in Kostur region ″.
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1 Also considered a dialect of Bulgarian. 2 Considered to be a part of the transitional Torlak dialect and as a subdialect of Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Serbo-Croatian. | ||||||