Southwestern Bulgarian dialects
Encyclopedia
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
dialects which are located west of the yat
Yat
Yat or Jat is the thirty-second letter of the old Cyrillic alphabet. Its name in Old Church Slavonic is jěd’ or iad’ . In the common scientific Latin transliteration for old Slavic languages, the letter is represented by e with caron: .The yat represented a Common Slavic long vowel...
boundary and are part of the Western Bulgarian dialects. The range of the Southwestern dialects on the territory of Bulgaria includes most of west central and southwestern Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. The Southwestern dialects border on the Northwestern dialects
Northwestern Bulgarian dialects
The Northwestern Bulgarian dialects are two closely related dialects of the Bulgarian language, which are located west of the yat boundary and thus are part of the Western Bulgarian dialects. The range of the dialects includes most of northwestern Bulgaria, to the west of the line between Nikopol,...
to the north, the Transitional dialects
Transitional Bulgarian dialects
The Transitional Bulgarian dialects are a group of Bulgarian dialects, which are located west of the yat boundary and are part of the Western Bulgarian dialects. On Bulgarian territory, the Transitional dialects occupy a narrow strip of land along the Bulgarian border with Serbia, including the...
to the northwest and the Balkan dialects
Balkan dialects
The Balkan dialects are the most extensive group of dialects of the Bulgarian language, covering almost half of the present-day territory of Bulgaria and slightly less than a third of the territory on the Balkans where Bulgarian is spoken. Their range includes north-central Bulgaria and most of the...
and the Rup dialects
Rup dialects
The Rup dialects, or the Southeastern dialects, are a group of Bulgarian dialects located east of the yat boundary, thus being part of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. The range of the Rup dialects includes the southern part of Thrace, i.e. Strandzha, the region of Haskovo, the Rhodopes and the...
to the northeast and southeast, respectively. If the Macedonian language is regarded as a third literary form of Modern Bulgarian, then the Southwestern dialects extend west and southwest to include the Slavic dialects in Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...
and the western half of Greek Macedonia. Should the Macedonian language be counted as a separate language, then the southernmost dialect of the group, the Blagoevgrad-Petrich or Pirin dialect, along with the corresponding variety on the Macedonian side of the border, the Maleshevo dialect, constitute a transitional dialect between Bulgarian and Macedonian. A defining characteristic of the Southwestern dialects is the gradual transition from one dialect to another, as well as to dialects which belong to other dialectal groups. For example, the Dupnitsa dialect
Dupnitsa dialect
The Dupnitsa dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the region of Dupnitsa in central western Bulgaria...
is transitional to both the Samokov dialect
Samokov dialect
The Samokov dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the region of Samokov in central western Bulgaria...
and the Blagoevgrad-Petrich dialect, the Botevgrad dialect
Botevgrad dialect
The Botevgrad dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the region of Botevgrad and Etropole in northwestern Bulgaria...
is transitional to the Eastern Bulgarian Balkan dialects
Balkan dialects
The Balkan dialects are the most extensive group of dialects of the Bulgarian language, covering almost half of the present-day territory of Bulgaria and slightly less than a third of the territory on the Balkans where Bulgarian is spoken. Their range includes north-central Bulgaria and most of the...
, and especially to the Pirdop dialect
Pirdop dialect
The Pirdop dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, which is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes the towns of Pirdop, Zlatitsa and Koprivshtitsa, as well as several neighbouring villages...
, etc. etc.
Phonological and morphological characteristics
- Old Church Slavonic (yat) is always pronounced as ɛ vs. formal Bulgarian я/е (ʲa~ɛ) – бел/бели (white, white pl.)
- щ~жд (ʃt~ʒd) for Proto-Slavic *tʲ~*dʲ (as in Standard Bulgarian) - леща, между (lentils, between). The future tense particle is, however, different in the different dialects: ще, ше, че, ,
- The reflex of Old Church Slavonic (yus) is generally a, with the exception of the Sofia dialectSofia dialectThe Sofia dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in western part of the Sofia valley in central western Bulgaria...
where it is ъ (ə): каща vs. formal Bulgarian къща (house) - The reflex of Old Church Slavonic ъ gradually shifts from north to south from only a to both a and o. The northern dialects (e.g. the Vratsa dialectVratsa dialectThe Vratsa dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the region of Vratsa in northwestern Bulgaria...
) have only a, the central ones (e.g. the Ihtiman dialectIhtiman dialectThe Ihtiman dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the regions of Ihtiman, Kostenets and Septemvri in central western Bulgaria. It is transitional between the Botevgrad and Samokov dialect....
) have mostly a with occurrences of o only in certain suffixes and prefixes, the southern ones (e.g. the Maleševo-Pirin dialectMaleševo-Pirin dialectThe term Maleševo-Pirin dialect is used in South Slavic linguistics to refer to a group of related varieties that are spoken on both sides of the border between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia. Some linguists treat them as dialects of the Bulgarian diasystem. while Victor Friedman views...
) have only o in suffixes and prefixes and some roots and a in other roots - Preserved transition of o into e after ж /ʒ/, ш /ʃ/, ч /t͡ʃ/: ножеве vs. formal Bulgarian ножове (knives)
- Single masculine definite article -o (as in the Moesian dialectsMoesian dialectsThe Moesian dialects are a group of closely related dialects of the Bulgarian language, part of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. The Moesian dialects are spoken in northeastern Bulgaria and in the regions of Karnobat, Aytos, Burgas and Yambol in southern Bulgaria...
) or a (as in the BalkanBalkan dialectsThe Balkan dialects are the most extensive group of dialects of the Bulgarian language, covering almost half of the present-day territory of Bulgaria and slightly less than a third of the territory on the Balkans where Bulgarian is spoken. Their range includes north-central Bulgaria and most of the...
Pirdop dialectPirdop dialectThe Pirdop dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, which is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes the towns of Pirdop, Zlatitsa and Koprivshtitsa, as well as several neighbouring villages...
), depending on the dialect: гар'бо/гар'бa vs. Standard Bulgarian гър'бът (the back). - Widespread formation of past passive participles with -н: чуен vs. formal Bulgarian чут (heard)
- Suffix -чки instead of -шки for formation of certain adjectives: човечки vs. човешки
For the phonological and morphological characteristics of the individual dialects included in the dialectal group, cf. individual articles.