Bulgarian dialects

Map of the Bulgarian dialects within Bulgaria

Bulgarian dialects (Bulgarian: български диалекти, balgarski dialekti, also български говори, balgarski govori or български наречия, balgarski narechiya) are the regional spoken varieties of the Bulgarian language, a South Slavic language. Bulgarian dialectology dates to the 1830s and the pioneering work of Neofit Rilski, Bolgarska gramatika (published 1835 in Kragujevac, Serbia, then Ottoman Empire). Other notable researchers in this field include Marin Drinov, Konstantin Josef Jireček, Lyubomir Miletich, Aleksandar Teodorov-Balan, Stoyko Stoykov.

Bulgarian dialects are part of the South Slavic dialect continuum, linked with Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian to the west and bordering Albanian, Greek and Turkish to the south, and Romanian to the north.

The yat (*ě) split in the Bulgarian language.

The dialects of Macedonian were for the most part classified as part of Bulgarian in the older literature.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} The Bulgarian linguistics continue to treat it as such in.^[7][8][9] Since the second half of the 20th century, foreign authors have mostly adopted the convention of treating these in terms of a separate Macedonian language, following the codification of Macedonian as the literary standard language of Yugoslav Macedonia.^[10] However, some contemporary linguists still consider Macedonian as a dialect of Bulgarian.^[11][12][13] Macedonian authors in turn tend to treat all dialects spoken in the geographical region of Macedonia as Macedonian, including those spoken in Bulgarian Macedonia.^[14] The present article treats all these dialects together, because of their close structural similarity and the fact that many important dialect boundaries intersect both territories.

Map of the big yus (*ǫ) isoglosses in Eastern South Slavic and eastern Torlakian according to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' atlas from 2001.^[15]

The main isogloss separating the Bulgarian dialects into Eastern and Western is the yat border, marking the different mutations of the Old Bulgarian yat form (ѣ, *ě), pronounced as either /ʲa/ or /ɛ/ to the east (byal, but plural beli, "white") and strictly as /ɛ/ to the west of it (bel, plural beli). In order to avoid political issues, many linguists use interchangeably Western Bulgarian and Macedonian in national and geographical contexts, respectively; however, this is not precise because Western Bulgarian dialects include also non-Macedonian dialects while some dialects in the region of Macedonia (Drama-Ser, Solun, and Korca dialects) are classified as Eastern Bulgarian on the basis of the yat vowel.^[7][16] Bulgarian dialects can be divided into the following dialectal groups and individual dialects:^[17]

Eastern Bulgarian dialects: Moesian dialects Shumen dialect Balkan dialects Central Balkan dialect Kotel-Elena-Dryanovo dialect Panagyurishte dialect Pirdop dialect Teteven dialect Erkech dialect Subbalkan dialect Transitional Balkan dialects Rup dialects Strandzha dialect Thracian dialect Hvoyna dialect Chepino dialect Paulician dialect Zlatograd dialect Smolyan dialect Pomak dialect (Greece) Babyak dialect Razlog dialect Serres-Nevrokop dialect Solun dialect

Western Bulgarian dialects: Northwestern Bulgarian dialects Byala Slatina-Pleven dialect Vidin-Lom dialect Southwestern Bulgarian dialects Botevgrad dialect Vratsa dialect Ihtiman dialect Elin Pelin dialect Sofia dialect Samokov dialect Dupnitsa dialect Kyustendil dialect Pirin-Malashevo dialects Blagoevgrad dialect Petrich dialect Pianec-Kamenitsa-Kraishte dialect Malashevo dialect Transitional Bulgarian dialects Tran dialect Breznik dialect Belogradchik dialect Bosilegrad dialect Tsaribrod dialect

Dialects from Vardar Macedonia (traditionally treated as part of Bulgarian in Bulgarian sources.)[18] Northern dialects[18] Tetovo dialect[19] Veles dialect[20] Prilep-Mariovo dialect[21] Bitola dialect[22] Debar dialect[23] Ohrid-Struga dialect[24] Prespa dialect[25] Korca dialect[26] Dialects from Aegean Macedonia (traditionally treated as part of Bulgarian in Bulgarian sources.)[18] Kostur dialect[27] Doyran dialect[28] Lerin dialect[29] Kukush-Voden dialect[30] Among the traditional diaspora: Banat Bulgarian dialect Wallachian Bulgarian dialects Transylvanian Bulgarian dialects Bulgarian dialects in the former Soviet Union Anatolian dialect

See also

• History of the Bulgarian language
• Bulgarian lexis
• Bulgarian grammar
• Torlakian dialect
• Macedonian language
• Slavic dialects of Greece

Notes

1. Mazon, Andre. Contes Slaves de la Macédoine Sud-Occidentale: Etude linguistique; textes et traduction; Notes de Folklore, Paris 1923, p. 4.
2. Селищев, Афанасий. Избранные труды, Москва 1968.
3. Max Vasmer Die Slaven in Griechenland. Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1941. Kap. VI: Allgemeines und sprachliche Stellung der Slaven Griechenlands.
4. K. Sandfeld, Balkanfilologien (København, 1926, MCMXXVI).
5. Konstantin Josef Jireček, Die Balkanvölker und ihre kulturellen und politischen Bestrebungen, Urania, II, Jg. 13, 27. März 1909, p. 195.
6. Stefan Verković, Описание быта македонских болгар; Топографическо-этнографический очерк Македонии (Петербург, 1889).
7. Стойков (Stoykov), Стойко (2002) [1962]. Българска диалектология (Bulgarian dialectology) (in Bulgarian). София: Акад. изд. "Проф. Марин Дринов". ISBN 954-430-846-6. OCLC 53429452.
8. Institute of Bulgarian Language (1978). Единството на българския език в миналото и днес (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. p. 4. OCLC 6430481.
9. Шклифов, Благой. Речник на костурския говор, Българска диалектология, София 1977, с. кн. VІІІ, с. 201–205.
10. Friedman, Victor (2001). "Macedonian". In Garry, Jane; Rubino, Carl. Facts about the World's Languages: an Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, Past and Present. New York: Holt. pp. 435–439.
11. Who are the Macedonians?, Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, ISBN 1-85065-534-0,p. 116.
12. When languages collide: perspectives on language conflict, language competition, and language coexistence, Brian D. Joseph, Ohio State University Press, 2003, p. 281, ISBN 0-8142-0913-0.
13. Language profile Macedonian, UCLA International Institute
14. isp. Большaя Советская Энциклопедия, tom. 37, Moskva 1938, р 743–744)
15. Кочев (Kochev), Иван (Ivan) (2001). Български диалектен атлас (Bulgarian dialect atlas) (in Bulgarian). София: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. ISBN 954-90344-1-0. OCLC 48368312.
16. Mazon, A. Documents, contes et chansons slaves de l’Albanie du sud. Paris, 1936, 462 p.
17. Per Stoykov.
18. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 170
19. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 171
20. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 172
21. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 173
22. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 174
23. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 175
24. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 176
25. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 179
26. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 180
27. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 181
28. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 182
29. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 183
30. Bulgarian dialectology, p. 184

References

• Стойков (Stoykov), Стойко (2002) [1962]. Българска диалектология (Bulgarian dialectology) (in Bulgarian). София: Акад. изд. "Проф. Марин Дринов". ISBN 954-430-846-6. OCLC 53429452.
• Иванов (Ivanov), Йордан (Yordan) (1972). Български диалектен атлас: Български говори от Егейска Македония (Bulgarian dialect atlas: Bulgarian dialects in Aegean Macedonia) (in Bulgarian). София: Акад. изд. "Проф. Марин Дринов". OCLC 7321826.
• Кочев (Kochev), Иван (Ivan) (2001). Български диалектен атлас (Bulgarian dialect atlas) (in Bulgarian). София: BAN, KK "Trud". ISBN 954-90344-1-0. OCLC 48368312.