The Skopje-Veles dialect is a member of the central subgroup 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 by a larger group of people in the cities Skopje

Skopje

Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

 and Veles

Veles (city)

Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600...

 and in the surrounding villages: Volkovo, Katlanovo

Katlanovo

Katlanovo is a village in the Republic of Macedonia. It belongs to the Petrovec municipality and is situated between the cities of Skopje and Veles.-See also:* Petrovec municipality...

, Petrovec and Čaška

Caška

Čaška is a village in Republic of Macedonia. It is the seat of the Čaška Municipality. Near the village historians from Republic of Macedonia found a 6000 year old flute called the "Globular Flute".- References :...

 among others. This dialect is of historical importance 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...

 as is considered by many to be a prestige dialect

Prestige dialect

In sociolinguistics, prestige describes the level of respect accorded to a language or dialect as compared to that of other languages or dialects in a speech community. The concept of prestige in sociolinguistics is closely related to that of prestige or class within a society...

. On August 2, 1945, the Skopje-Veles dialect, together with the other dialects of the central group was officially regulated as a basis of the standard Macedonian language. Many Macedonian writers and linguists were writing on this dialect and considered it to be the standard 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...

. One of them was Krste Petkov Misirkov

Krste Misirkov

Krste Petkov Misirkov was a philologist, slavist, historian, ethnographer, publicist author of the first book and scientific magazine in Macedonian, where he for the first time outlined the principles of the literary Macedonian language...

 and in his book For Macedonian affairs wrote that this dialect should be the standard 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...

. He has been writing on Skopje-Veles dialect and on Prilep-Bitola dialect

Prilep-Bitola dialect

The Prilep-Bitola dialect is a member of the central subgroup of the western group of dialects of the Macedonian language. This dialect is spoken in much of the Pelagonia region , as well as by the Macedonian-speaking minority population in and around Florina in neighbouring Greek Macedonia...

Phonological characteristics

• use of /v/ instead of the archaic /h/: страх / strah > 'страв / strav (fear);
• emphasis on the antepenultimate syllable;
• use of the hard L ;
• use of intervocalic /v/: човек / čovek (man);
• use of the hard sound Њ/ nj (in the other dialects of the central group this sound is soft);
• use of the letter Ќ and Ѓ (in the others dialects of the central group the cluster јќ and јѓ is found): куќа / kuḱa - кујќа / kujḱa (house).

Morphological characteristics

• use of the preposition VO or V;
• use of the suffix -ule: дете / dete - детуле / detule (child);
• use of the grammatical construction have + past participle: имам работено/ imam raboteno (I have worked);
• use of three articles.

Examples of the Skopje-Veles dialect

The poem "A voice from Macedonia" by Kole Nedelkovski

Kole Nedelkovski

Kole Nedelkovski was a Bulgarian communist and Macedonian revolutionary and poet. He was born in Vojnica, near Veles, Ottoman Empire in 1912 and died in 1941 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Hunted from the Serbian police he emigrated to Bulgaria in 1933...

is probably one of the most famous texts written in the Skopje-Veles dialect.

O, trajte, trajte, tirani nedni!

Dosta se tija lagi i zloba -

pakosten glas od ustite gadni

nad mojot narod u sekoja doba.

Ta ete veḱe vekovi celi

piska i stenka od volci gosti -

za brata vijat koj da go deri,

za da mu gloda suvite koski.

Pa neka sega sam da si reši

so svoja volja, sudba i seva,

v životot ednaš sam da se teši,

d' izdigne slavno svoj rod bez vreva.

Ta Šar i Pirin družno da viknat

rodnata pesna v nebesa temni

i burniot Egej — navek da pliska

teškiot glas na novite himni.