The Lower Polog dialect is a member of the western 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 is spoken by the population in north-western 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...

. This dialect is spoken in the city Tetovo

Tetovo

Tetovo is a city in the northwestern part of Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River.The city covers an area of at above sea level, with a population of 86,580 citizens in the municipality. Tetovo is home to the State University of Tetovo and South East...

, in the bigger villages Jegunovce

Jegunovce

Jegunovce is one of the larger villages in the Polog Valley, Republic of Macedonia. It is located about 10 mi northeast of the Macedonian city of Tetovo...

, Vratnica

Vratnica

Vratnica is a small village and community located in the Jegunovce Municipality of Macedonia. Vratnica lies in the north-west, and is 22km away from the city of Tetovo and 5km away from Jazince --the border crossing point with Serbia...

, Tearce

Tearce

Tearce is a village located 12 km to the northeast of Tetovo, in northwestern Republic of Macedonia, about 15 kilometres from the border with Kosovo. It is a seat of the Tearce municipality. Population 3,974 . The B-405 road connects it to Tetovo....

, Lešok, Neprošteno, Brvenica

Brvenica

Brvenica is one of the largest and most developed villages in Tetovo, in addition to others in the village and is the seat of the municipality Brvenica.-Geography and location:...

, and in all other smaller villages in this area. One of the main characteristics that this dialect has is the use of the words таќе (taḱe)- on that way and ваќе (vaḱe)- on this way. The Lower Polog dialect can be found in several books, two of which were written by Kiril Peychinovich

Kiril Peychinovich

Kiril Peychinovich or Kiril Pejčinoviḱ was a cleric, writer and enlightener, one of the first supporters of the use of modern Bulgarian in literature , and one of the early figures of the Bulgarian National Revival...

, namely "Ogledalo" and "Uteshenia greshnim".

Phonological characteristics

There are many characteristics that are connected with this dialect but the most significant are:

• the old vocal L is replaced by the groups u/ lu/ la: јаболко / jabolko > јабука / jabuka (apple), солза / solza > слăза / sluza (tear);
• use of A instead of E: трева / treva > трава / trava (grass), орев / orev > орав / orav (nut);
• use of ă instead of use of the yer: лаже / laže > лăже / lăže (lie);
• use of U instead of the Old Church Slavonic letter ON: пат / pat > пут / put (road), внук / vnuk > унук / unuk (nephew).

Morphological characteristics

• use of the suffix -mo for first person plural: одиме / odime > идемо/ idemo (we are going);
• palatal J before the letter E at the beginning of a word: јазик / jazik> језик / jezik (tongue), јаже > јуже (rope);
• the consonant group MN is replaced with the consonant group ML: многу / mnogu > млогу / mlogu (too much);
• use of the preposition U instead of the preposition VO: во град/ vo grad > у град / u grad (in city)

Examples

Below is written a popular folk song from Lower Polog region. The song is in Lower Polog dialect.

Ogreala mesečina,lele,

Ogreala mesečina,

Od Soluna do Tetovo.

Ne mi bilo mesečina,lele,

Ne mi bilo mesečina,

Tuk’mi bile tri neveste,

Tri neveste Tetovčanke.

Pravo odat za Tetovo,lele,

Pravo odat za Tetovo,

Kaj bakalot ,čičko Jakim.

Dobro utro čičko Jakim ,lele,

Dobro utro čičko Jakim .

Dal bog dobro tri neveste ,

Tri neveste Tetovčanke.

Da ni dadeš dram belilo ,lele,

Da ni dadeš dram belilo,

Dram belilo ,dram crvilo.

Naši maži gurbetčii,lele,

Naši maži gurbetčii,

Ko’ḱe dojdat ḱeti platat.