Prilep-Bitola dialect explained

The Prilep-Bitola dialect (Macedonian: Прилепско-битолски дијалект, Prilepsko-bitolski dijalekt) is a member of the central subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. This dialect is spoken in much of the Pelagonia region (more specifically, the Bitola, Prilep, Kruševo and Demir Hisar municipalities), as well as by the Slavic-speaking minority population in and around Florina (Lerin)^{[1] [2]} in neighbouring Greek Macedonia. The Prilep-Bitola dialect, along with other peripheral west-central dialects, provides much of the basis for modern Standard Macedonian.^[3] Prestige dialects have developed in the cities of Bitola and Prilep.

Phonological characteristics

The phonological characteristics of the Bitola-Prilep dialect which can also be found in the other peripheral dialects are:

• mostly antepenultimate word stress (see Macedonian phonology);
• Proto-Slavic *ǫ has reflexed into pronounced as //a//:

rǫka > рака pronounced as //ˈraka// ('hand')

• except for the Prilep sub-dialects, Bitola sub-dialects have two phonemic lateral consonants (pronounced as //ɫ// and pronounced as //l//, continuants of Proto-Slavic *l and *ĺ):

ex. Proto-Slavic *kĺučь > pronounced as /[ˈklut͡ʃ]/ in Bitola sub-dialects, pronounced as /[ˈkɫut͡ʃ]/ in Prilep sub-dialects

• while most Macedonian dialects have a phonemic pronounced as //f// (in loanwords), many sub-dialects of the Prilep-Bitola dialect—with the exception of urban prestige dialects—instead have pronounced as //v//:

Megleno-Romanian fustan pronounced as //ˈfustan// > вустан pronounced as //ˈvustan// ('ladies' dress')

Ottoman Turkish فوطة pronounced as //ˈfuta// > вута pronounced as //ˈvuta// ('apron')

Ottoman Turkish فرنا pronounced as //ˈfuɾna// > вурна pronounced as //ˈvurna// ('bakehouse, masonry oven')

• the palatal affricates are typically prepalatalized: свеќа pronounced as //ˈsvɛca// ('candle') is realized as pronounced as /[ˈsvɛjca]/, меѓа pronounced as //ˈmɛɟa// ('border, frontier') is realized as pronounced as /[ˈmɛjɟa]/ and in Prilep, especially in younger speakers as pronounced as /[ˈsvɛjt͡ʃa]/ and pronounced as /[ˈmɛjd͡ʒa]/;
  • a similar features occurs with the palatal nasal: јадење pronounced as //ˈjadɛɲɛ// ('food') is realized as pronounced as /[ˈjadɛjnɛ]/;
• the etymological pronounced as //v// in initial position has been lost in a number of instances:
  • in the sequences *vs- and *vz-, as is the case in the standard; e.g. сè pronounced as //sɛ// ('all') from the earlier *все, зема pronounced as //ˈzɛma// ('to take') from the earlier *взема;
  • in a handful of words where the pronunciation was "evened up" with that of their antonyms: натре pronounced as //ˈnatrɛ// from the earlier внатре pronounced as //ˈvnatrɛ// ('inside') as per надвор pronounced as //ˈnadvɔr// ('outside'), ногу pronounced as //ˈnɔɡu// from the earlier многу pronounced as //ˈmnɔɡu// ('much, a lot') as per малку pronounced as //ˈmalku// ('a little');
• intervocalic consonant elision is typical of this dialect, and elided forms are in free variation with non-elided forms:
  • elision of the intervocalic pronounced as //v//:
    • in the plural forms of monosyllabic nouns, e.g. лебо(в)и:^[4]

pronounced as //ˈlɛbɔvi// → pronounced as //ˈlɛbɔi// (realized as pronounced as /[ˈlɛbɔi̯]/ ~ pronounced as /[ˈlɛbɔj]/)

• and in most other positions, e.g. то(в)ар:^[5]

pronounced as //ˈtɔvar// → pronounced as //ˈtɔar// (realized as pronounced as /[tɔa̯r]/)

• certain short words (conjunctions, pronouns, determiners, etc.) have undergone further elision, ex.:

pronounced as //ˈsɛɡa// (→ pronounced as //ˈsɛa//) → pronounced as /[sa(ː)]/ ('now')

*pronounced as //ˈtɔva// (→ pronounced as //ˈtɔa//) → pronounced as /[tɔ(ː)]/ (indic. pron. 'that')

pronounced as //ˈkɔɡa// (→ pronounced as //ˈkɔa//) → pronounced as /[kɔ(ː)]/ (interr. pron. 'when')

• insertion of pronounced as //t// and pronounced as //d// into consonant clusters -pronounced as //sr//- and -pronounced as //zr//-, respectively; for example, pronounced as //stram// from the earlier pronounced as //sram// (срам, 'shame') and pronounced as //zdrɛl// from the earlier pronounced as //zrɛl// (зрел, 'ripe').
• use of /v/ instead of the archaic /x/: страх (strah) > страв (; fear);
• In the sub-dialect of Bukovo-Orehovo, especially among the oldest generations:
  • while pronounced as /[ɫ]/ is an allophone of pronounced as //l// in most dialects (occurring in all positions except before front vowels and pronounced as //j//), in this dialect pronounced as /[ɣ]/ is used instead; ex.:

pronounced as /[ɡɣaː]/ for pronounced as /[ˈɡɫava]/ (глава, 'head') and pronounced as /[ˈsɣama]/ for pronounced as /[ˈsɫama]/ (слама, 'straw')

• • the phoneme pronounced as //a// mutates (is raised) to pronounced as /[ɛ̞]/ (pronounced as /[æ]/ ~ pronounced as /[ɛ]/) when preceding an affricate or iotated consonant with the exception of suffixes; ex.:

чаша pronounced as //ˈt͡ʃaʃa// ('cup') is realized as pronounced as /[ˈt͡ʃɛ̞ʃa]/

жаба pronounced as //ˈʒaba// ('frog') is realized as pronounced as /[ˈʒɛ̞ba]/

• • the Proto-Slavic syllabic *l̥ has reflexed into pronounced as //ə//, e.g. *sъlnьce > pronounced as //ˈsənt͡sɛ// ('sun'), *vьlkъ > pronounced as //vək// ('wolf').

Morphological characteristics

• tripartite definite article pertaining to the position of the object (see Macedonian grammar);
• use of the preposition во (vo) or в (v);
• use of the grammatical construction have + past participle: имам работено (imam raboteno; I have worked);
• merger of thematic е-group verbs to и-group verbs; e.g. јаде pronounced as //ˈjade// → јади pronounced as //ˈjadi// (3P sg. of 'to eat');
• the third-person personal pronouns: тој, та/таа/таја, то(а), тие/тија (he, she, it, they);
  • some of the outermost dialects of the Lerin subdialect have он, она, то, они;
• imperfective verbs are typically derived from perfective verbs by means of the suffix –ва (e.g. зборва and боледва) in Bitola dialects, but standard -ува in Prilep dialects;
• 'expansion' where other dialects have palatalization: падина ("to fall", sing. present third-person) versus the standard паѓа;
• use of the oblique form for proper names;
• no distinction between masculine and feminine short possessive pronouns, i.e. consistent use of му and го for both genders, in Bitola dialects, but they are used in the plural third person in Prilep;
• use of -јќум and -јким instead of the standard -јќи for the gerund, in older speakers, e.g. одејќум (while walking).

Typical words

• чупе (pronounced as //ˈt͡ʃupɛ//) 'girl'
• преѓе (pronounced as //ˈprɛɟɛ//), преѓеска (pronounced as //ˈprɛɟɛska//) 'recently, lately'
• модистра (pronounced as //ˈmɔdistra//) 'seamstress'
• бендиса (pronounced as //ˈbɛndisa//) 'to have a liking for something or someone', 'to fancy'
• сурат (pronounced as //ˈsurat//) 'face'
• плусне (pronounced as //ˈplusnɛ//) 'to fire (a rifle)'
• капнат (pronounced as //ˈkapnat//) 'exhausted'
• греда (pronounced as //ˈɡrɛda//) 'plank', 'beam (of wood)'

External links

• Dialectal dictionary of the Macedonian language dialect spoken in Oshchima (Trigonon), Greece

Notes and References

1. Book: Vidoeski, Božidar (Божидар Видоески) . Lerinskiot govor. . 1983. 23–49 . mk . mk:Леринскиот говор.
2. Book: Hill, Peter . The Dialect of Gorno Kalenik . 1991 . Slavica Publishers . Columbus, OH . 9780893572174 . en . Google Books.
3. Lunt . Horace G. . 1951 . Makedonska gramatika by Krume Kepeski . Language . en . 27 . 2 . 180–187 . 10.2307/410435 . 410435.
4. Book: Koneski, Blaže (Блаже Конески) . Gramatika na makedonskiot literaturen jazik . 1967 . Kultura . Skopje . 68 . mk . mk:Граматика на македонскиот литературен јазик . Blaže Koneski.
5. Book: Koneski, Blaže (Блаже Конески) . Istorija na makedonskiot jazik . 1986 . Kultura . Skopje . 21 . mk . mk:Историја на македонскиот јазик .