Subbalkan dialect
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...
dialect, which is part of the Balkan
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...
group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes the northeastern part of Bulgarian Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
, i.e. the regions of Burgas
Burgas
-History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...
, Sliven
Sliven
Sliven is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality. It is a relatively large town with 89,848 inhabitants, as of February 2011....
, Yambol
Yambol
Yambol is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 72,843 inhabitants. It is occasionally spelt 'Jambol'.The administrative centres...
, Stara Zagora
Stara Zagora
Stara Zagora is the sixth largest city in Bulgaria, and a nationally important economic center. Located in Southern Bulgaria, it is the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province...
and Chirpan
Chirpan
Chirpan is a town on the Tekirska River in Stara Zagora Province, South-central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Chirpan Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 16,355 inhabitants....
. As a result of the mass population movements that affected eastern Bulgaria during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, speakers of the Subbalkan dialect have moved en masse to northeastern Bulgaria and now form a vast portion of the population of the districts of Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
, Dobrich
Dobrich
Dobrich is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Dobrich Province. With 91,030 inhabitants, as of February 2011, Dobrich is the ninth most populated town in Bulgaria, being the centre of the historical region of Southern Dobruja...
and Balchik
Balchik
Balchik is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is located in Dobrich Oblast and is 42 km northeast of Varna...
. Some of these also went as far as Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
establishing numerous colonies there. Nowadays, a large part of the Bessarabian Bulgarians
Bessarabian Bulgarians
The Bessarabian Bulgarians are a Bulgarian minority group of the historical region of Bessarabia, inhabiting parts of present-day Ukraine and Moldova.- Location and number :-Modern Ukraine:...
speak this dialect. The most significant feature of the Subbalkan dialect, as in all 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...
, is the pronunciation of Old Church Slavonic (yat) as ʲa or ɛ, depending on the character of the following syllable.
Phonological and morphological characteristics
- The ending of the verbs in 1st and 2nd conjugation and female nouns is -a instead of -ъ as in the Central Balkan dialectCentral Balkan dialectThe Central Balkan dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, which is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes most of north-central Bulgaria , as well as the regions of Karlovo, Kazanlak and Plovdiv in southern Bulgaria, all the way down to the northernmost ridges of...
: че'та, же'на (I read, woman). This separates the Subbalkan dialect from most other Balkan dialectsBalkan 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...
and brings it closer to 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...
and all Western Bulgarian dialects - Ending ʲa for Old Church Slavonic (yat) in the end of the word instead of formal Bulgarian ɛ: instead of formal Bulgarian зле (badly), instead of formal Bulgarian добре (well)
- reduction of i into ʲə in an unstressed syllable before hard syllables or a consonant in the suffixes -ин, -ина, -ино and -ик: instead of formal Bulgarian българин (a Bulgarian), instead of formal Bulgarian истина (truth)
- Transition of the consonant group -дн into -нн: гланна vs. formal Bulgarian гладна (hungry)
- Stress on the final syllable in past aorist tense of certain verbs: гли'дах (I watched)
- The masculine definite article is (ə) (in a stressed syllable) and slightly reduced a (in an unstressed syllable) - гърˈбъ, ˈстола (the back, the chair)
- The plural definite article is -ти instead of formal Bulgarian -те: мъжети instead of formal Bulgarian мъжете (the men)
- Lack of the oblique case in proper nouns: дадух на Иван (I gave to Ivan), cf. Central Balkan dialectCentral Balkan dialectThe Central Balkan dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, which is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes most of north-central Bulgaria , as well as the regions of Karlovo, Kazanlak and Plovdiv in southern Bulgaria, all the way down to the northernmost ridges of...
As a result of its specific characteristics, the Subbalkan dialect is usually considered to be a transitional dialect between 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...
. Most other phonological and morphological characteristics of the Subbalkan dialect are the same as the general features typical for all 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...
, cf. article.