Dialects of the Macedonian language

The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of Macedonia as well as some varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia [isp. Большaя Советская Энциклопедия, tom. 37, Moskva 1938, р 743–744)] . They exist as part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic languages that joins the Macedonian language with Bulgarian to the east and Serbian to the north. As such, the delimitation between the languages, especially with Bulgarian, is fleeting and controversial. Macedonian authors tend to treat all dialects spoken in the geographical region of Macedonia as Macedonian, including those spoken in the westernmost part of Bulgaria (so-called Pirin Macedonia), whereas Bulgarian authors treat all Macedonian dialects as part of the Bulgarian language.cite book |author=Institute of Bulgarian Language |title=Единството на българския език в миналото и днес |publisher=Bulgarian Academy of Sciences |year=1978 |page=p. 4 |language=Bulgarian |location=Sofia |oclc=6430481] cite book |title=Българска диалектология (Bulgarian dialectology)|last=Стойков (Stoykov)|first=Стойко |authorlink=Stoyko Stoykov |origyear=1962 |year=2002 |location=София |publisher=Акад. изд. "Проф. Марин Дринов" |language=Bulgarian |url=http://www.promacedonia.org/jchorb/st/index.htm |isbn=9544308466 |oclc=53429452] In Greece, the identification of the dialects spoken by the local Slavophone minority with either Bulgarian or Macedonian is often avoided, and these dialects are instead described simply as "Slavic"Fact|date=June 2008, "Dopia" ('Local'), Stariski (old) or Našinski (ours).

The dialects of Macedonia in the wider sense can be divided into Eastern and Western groups (the boundary runs approximately from Skopje and Skopska Crna Gora along the rivers Vardar and Crna), based on a large group of features. In addition, a more detailed classification can be based on the modern reflexes of the Proto-Slavonic reduced vowels ("yers"), vocalic sonorants and the back nasal (o). That classification distinguishes between the following 3 major groups [стр. 244 Македонски јазик за средното образование- Стојка Бојковска, Димитар Пандев, Лилјана Минова-Ѓуркова, Живко Цветковски- Просветно дело- Скопје 2001] [Z. Topolińska- B. Vidoeski, Polski~macedonski- gramatyka konfrontatiwna, z.1, PAN, 1984] ::

Dialects

Northern dialects
*Western group:
#Lower Polog dialect
#Skopska Crna Gora dialect
*Eastern group:
#Kumanovo dialect
#Kratovo dialect
#Kriva Palanka dialect
#Ovče Pole dialect

Western Dialects:
*Central group:
#Prilep-Bitola dialect [стр.68 Граматика на македонскиот литературен јазик, Блаже Конески, Култура- Скопје 1967]
#Kičevo-Poreče dialect [Академик Божидар видоески, Кичевскиот говор. МЈ, 1957, VIII, 1, стр. 31-90.]
#Skopje-Veles dialect

*Western and north western group:
#Upper Polog dialect
#Reka (torbeš) dialect
#Galιčnik (malorekanski or Mala Reka) dialect [Belić 1935: A. Belić, Galički dijalekat, Srpski dija­lek­to­lo­ški zbor­nik, VII, Srpska kraljevska akademija, Beograd – Sr. Kar­lov­ci, 1-352+IV]
#Debar dialect
#Drimkol-Golo Brdo dialect
#Vevčani-Radοža dialect [The Radožda-Vevčani Dialect of Macedonian: Structure, Texts, Lexicon by P. Hendriks. The Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Spring, 1978), pp. 111-112]
#Struga dialect
#Ohrid dialect
#Upper Prespa dialect
#Lower Prespa dialect

Eastern and Southern dialects
*Eastern group:
#Tikveš-Mariovo dialect
#Štip-Strumica dialect
#Maleševo-Pirin dialect [A comparative historical analysis of nominal accentuation in archaic (Maleševo) and transitional (Nivičino) Eastern Macedonian dialects," in Proceedings of the Third North American-Macedonian Conference on Macedonian Studies. Indiana Slavic Studies 10:135-151. 1999]
*South-western group [Македонските дијалекти во Егејска Македонија: (Обид за класификација). Македонските дијалекти во Егејска Македонија: научен собир, Скопје 23-24 декември 1991. Скопје: МАНУ, 1994, стр. 23-60.] :
#Nestram-Kostenar dialect
#Korča (Gorica) dialect
#Kostur dialect

*South-eastern group:
#Solun-Voden dialect [ str. 249- 252 Makedonski jazik za srednoto obrazovanie- S.Bojkovska, D.Pandev, L.Minova-Ǵurkova, Ž.Cvetkovski- Prosvetno delo AD- Skopje 2001]
#Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect [ str. 249- 252 Makedonski jazik za srednoto obrazovanie- S.Bojkovska, D.Pandev, L.Minova-Ǵurkova, Ž.Cvetkovski- Prosvetno delo AD- Skopje 2001]

Most linguists classify the dialects in the Pirin (Blagoevgrad) region of Bulgaria and in the far east of Greek Macedonia as Bulgarian, and the dialects in the rest of Greece and in Republic of Macedonia as Macedonian. [Trudgill P., 2000, "Greece and European Turkey: From Religious to Linguistic Identity". In: Stephen Barbour and Cathie Carmichael (eds.), Language and Nationalism in Europe, Oxford : Oxford University Press, p.259.] [Schmieger, R. 1998. "The situation of the Macedonian language in Greece: sociolinguistic analysis", International Journal of the Sociology of Language 131, 125-55.]

Variation in vowels

The vocalic inventories of the West Central dialects consist of five vowels, IPA|/i, ɛ, a, ɔ, u/. Most of the remaining dialects also have phonemic IPA|/ə/. In addition, phonemic IPA|/ɑ/, IPA|/æ/, and IPA|/y/ and vocalic IPA|/l/ and IPA|/r/ occur in various dialects.

Most dialects have IPA|/ɛ/ from original ě (yat), but the Eastern region is characterised by the development of ě to IPA|/a/ after IPA|/c/: Eastern "cal", Western "cel" (whole). Besides that, in easternmost Greek Macedonia and the Blagoevgrad Province of Bulgaria ě gives IPA|/a/ or IPA|/æ/ under stress. In the dialects of Greek Macedonia, this happens regardless of the environment, whereas the Nevrokop dialect in Bulgaria has (similarly to standard Bulgarian and its eastern dialects) IPA|/^ja/ if there is a back vowel in the following syllable, and IPA|/ɛ/ if there is a front vowel.For example, 'white' (sing. - plur.) sounds in the following way in these dialects: Serres-Drama: IPA|/bala/ - IPA|/bali/, Suho and Visoka: IPA|/bæla/ - IPA|/bæli/, Nevrokop [ Стойков, Стойко. 2002 (1962) Българска диалектология. Стр. 143] ] : IPA|/b^jala/ - IPA|/bɛli/. In Korca, ě becomes IPA|/iæ/ under stress.

Variation in consonants

As far as consonantal features are concerned, the entire Western region is distinguished from the East by loss of IPA|/x/ (except Tetovo, Gora and Korča) and the loss of IPA|/v/ in the intervocalic position (except Mala Reka and parts of Kostur-Korča): IPA|/glava/ (head) = IPA|/gla/, IPA|/glavi/ (heads) = IPA|/glaj/. The Eastern region preserves IPA|/x/ (except Tikveš-Mariovo and Kumanovo-Kriva Palanka) and intervocalic IPA|/v/. The East is also characterised by the development of epenthetic IPA|/v/ before original IPA|/o/ where the West has epenthetic IPA|/j/: Eastern IPA|/vaglɛn/ ("coal") but Western IPA|/jaglɛn/. The diphonemic reflexes are most characteristic of the dialects of Greek Macedonia and Blagoevgrad province, Kostur-Korča and Ohrid-Prespa. The Serres - Nevrokop dialects have a series of phonemically palatalised consonants.

Variation in word stress and its effects on vowels

The Western dialects generally have fixed stress, antepenultimate in the Republic of Macedonia, and penultimate in Greece and Albania. The Eastern region, along with the neighbouring Bulgarian dialects, has various non-fixed stress systems. In Lower Vardar and Serres-Nevrokop unstressed IPA|/a, ɛ, ɔ/ are reduced (raised) to IPA| [ə, i, u] . The reduction of unstressed vowels (as well as the aforementioned allophonic palatalisation of consonants) is characteristic of East Bulgarian as opposed to West Bulgarian dialects, so these dialects are regarded by Bulgarian linguists as transitional between East and West Bulgarian.

References