Torlaks

Torlaks (Торлаци, Torlaci) is a name for Slavic inhabitants of south-eastern Serbia and northern Macedonia who speak the Torlakian dialect. Being a distinctive South Slavic population in the past, in each country the members of the group are considered and self-declare as Serbs, Macedonians or Bulgarians respectively.

Origin of the name

According to one theory, name "Torlak" derived from the South Slavic word "tor" ("sheepfold" in English), referring to the fact that Torlaks in the past were mainly shepherds by occupation.

ubgroups

The Torlak population also includes three distinctive ethnic groups - Gorani in Kosovo and Macedonia, Janjevs in Kosovo, and the Krashovani in Romania. The difference between these three groups and the rest of Torlaks is mostly religion - while most of the Torlaks are Orthodox Christians, the Gorani population is Muslim and the Krashovani and Janjevs populations are Roman Catholic. The Krashovani are also somewhat remote from all other Torlaks and South Slavic groups in that they form a linguistic island within Romania, embedded by speakers of Romanian.

The Janjevs of Kosovo are Catholic by religion and have a separate identity. Closely linked to today's Croats, they trace their arrival to their present homeland many centuries back and their presence too forms a part of the Torlakian community.

Connection with Shopi

The Shopi population living in the east of Torlak-inhabited territory (mainly in the western Bulgaria) is cognate to Torlaks. Some researchers even thought that names Torlaks and Shopi are only two names for the same population, but since Torlaks considered themselves different from the Shopi, more accurate definition is that Torlaks and Shopi are two cognate but different groups. In the 19th century, Torlaks were aware of the exact border between Torlak and Shopi settlements.

References

*Kosta V. Kostić, Prilog etnoistoriji Torlaka, II izdanje, Novi Sad, 1995.

ee also

* Torlakian dialect
* Gorani (Kosovo)
* Krashovani
* Shopi