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

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. They exist as part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic languages that joins the Macedonian language with Bulgarian to the...

 of the Macedonian language

Macedonian language

Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...

. The dialect is spoken on small territory on the mountain Bistra

Bistra

Bistra may refer to:* Bistra, Silistra Province, a village in Silistra Province, Bulgaria* Bistra, Targovishte Province, a village in Targovishte Province, Bulgaria* Bistra, Croatia, a village in Zagreb County, Croatia...

 in western part of the Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

. The name of the dialect is derived by the biggest village in that area- Galičnik

Galicnik

Galičnik is a mountain village in the Republic of Macedonia and along with Lazaropole is one of the two biggest and oldest Mijak villages in the region. Galičnik has well preserved traditional architecture, including an amphitheater in the village square and is famous for its surrounding...

. Also the dialect is spoken in many other small villages including the village Gari

Gari

Gari may refer to:*Gari , a Japanese condiment*Gari , a bivalve mollusc group*Gari , a cart*Garri, a West African flour*A crater on MarsIn geography:*Gari, Mali*Gari, Russia*Gari , a village near Kruševac, Serbia...

. The Galičnik dialect is closely related with the Reka dialect

Reka dialect

The Reka dialect is a member of the west and north-west subgroup of the western group of dialects of the Macedonian language. The dialect is mainly spoken on the territory of the region Reka in north-western Macedonia. The Reka dialect is very close with the Galičnik and the Debar dialects...

 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.

Phonological characteristics

• reduced use of the letter Џ (dž) - /dʒ/: џам- жам (window);
• use of O instead of A: рака / raka > рока / roka; (hand)
• use of J between two vowels: чекаа / čekaa > чекаја/ čekaja. (they have been waited)
• the accent is on the third syllable counted from the end of the word.

Morphological characteristics

• use of the suffix -ajet for third person singular: ставаат / stavaat > ставајет / stavajet (they are putting);
• use of ќа / ḱa instead of ќе / ḱe for future tense: ќе одам / ḱe odam > ќа одам / ḱa odam;
• use of the suffix -t for third person singular;
• use of the preposition VO / V.

Examples of the dialect

Traditional song from Galičnik

Galicnik

Galičnik is a mountain village in the Republic of Macedonia and along with Lazaropole is one of the two biggest and oldest Mijak villages in the region. Galičnik has well preserved traditional architecture, including an amphitheater in the village square and is famous for its surrounding...

, that is sung on the holiday Vasilica:

Surova, surova godina,

vesela, vesela godina,

ž'lt majmun na lesa,

p'lna kuḱa koprina

živo zdravo, živo zdravo

do godina do amina!