The Kumanovo dialect is a member of the eastern subgroup of the Northern 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...

. It belongs to the so called Prizren-Timok dialects, also known as Torlakian

Torlakian

Torlakian or Torlak is a name given to the group of South Slavic dialects of southeastern Serbia , northeastern Macedonia , western Bulgaria , which is intermediate between Serbian, Bulgarian and Macedonian.Some linguists classify it as an Old-Shtokavian dialect of Serbian or a fourth dialect of...

. The dialect is typical for the northern dialect 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...

 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

Kumanovo

Kumanovo is a city in the Republic of Macedonia and is the seat of Kumanovo Municipality which is the largest municipality in the country. Municipal institutions include a city council, mayor and other administrative bodies.-Name:...

 and the surrounding villages. The dialect is closely related with the neighboring Kriva Palanka dialect

Kriva Palanka dialect

The Kriva Palanka dialect is a member of the eastern subgroup of the northern group of dialects of the Macedonian language. This dialect is spoken mainly in the city of Kriva Palanka and surrounding villages.-Phonological characteristics:...

. The Kumanovo dialect can be found in the literal works, such as the famous play Lenče Kumanovče written by Vasil Iljoski in1928. The Kumanovo dialect is especially popular sources of humor in the spoken media, whereas the print media tend to favor West dialect forms forhumorous anecdotes, quotations in local news stories. The most significant example where Kumanovo dialect is used in humorous way is the festival Tumba Fest.

Phonological characteristics

• use of A instead of E: трева / treva > трава / trava;
• use of the letter U instead of the letter A: рака / raka > рука / ruka (hand) , пат / pat > пут / put (road);
• the old vocal L is changed with U/ LU/ LA: волк / volk > вук / vuk (wolf), сонце / sonce > сл'нце / sl'nce (sun).
• use of palatal J at the beginning of the word: јазик / jazik > език / ezik (tongue), еж / ež > јеж / jež.

Morphological characteristics

• use of the suffix -V in third-person plural: тие имаа / tie imaa > они имав / oni imav (they had);
• complete disappearance of the letter H in some words: сиромаа / siromaa (poor);
• use of the suffix E for plural instead of the suffix -I: торби/ torbi > торбе / torbe (bags).
• Use of KUDE instead of KADE (where).
• Use of the forms gu and ga instead of the forms go and i: њега га виде / njega ga vide (I saw him).

Personal pronouns

singular:

• Ја / ја (I)
• Ти / ti (you)
• Он / on (he)
• Она / ona (she)
• Оно / ono (it)

plural:

• Ми / mi (we)
• Ви / vi (you)
• Они / oni (they)

Examples of the dialect

• A song that is very well known in 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...
  
  and typical for the Kumanovo dialect:

Три невесте тикве брале, бре

три невесте тикве брале, бре

три невесте тикве брале, бре, бре, бре

тикве брале, бре.

Куде брале туј заспале, бре

куде брале туј заспале, бре

куде брале туј заспале, бре, бре, бре

туј заспале, бре.

Phrases

• Кумановци не се претопуев л’ко, на свој дијалет зборив куде и да су
  • Kumanovci ne se pretopuev l'ko, na svoj dijalekt zboriv kude i da su ("The people from Kumanovo cannot be assimilated easily, they speak their own dialect wherever they are")
• Пол’ко ќе научиш англиски да пишуеш и читаш, него ли кумановски
  • Pol’ko ḱe naučiš angliski da pišueš i čitaš, nego li kumanovski ("You will learn to write and read English more easily than the Kumanovo dialect")