The Kyustendil dialect is a
Bulgarian dialect, member of the
Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the region of
Kyustendil
Kyustendil ( bg, Кюстендил ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see.
The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Vall ...
in central western Bulgaria. It borders on the
Transitional dialects to the north, the
Dupnitsa dialect
The Dupnitsa dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the region of Dupnitsa
Dupnitsa, or Dupnica ( bg, Дупница (previously ), ), is a town in Western Bulgaria. It is at the foot ...
to the east and the
Blagoevgrad-Petrich dialect to the south. It is closely related to the Dupnitsa dialect.
Phonological and morphological characteristics
* щ/жд (~) for Proto-Slavic ~ (as in Standard Bulgarian) - ''леща, между'' (lentils, between). The future tense particle, however, is ''че'': ''че че'темe'' vs. Standard Bulgarian ''ще четем'' (we will read)
* Vowel a for Old Bulgarian ѫ (yus): ''маж'' vs. formal Bulgarian ''мъж'' (man). Limited number of u reflexes of yus (as in the
Samokov
Samokov ( bg, Самоков ) is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in a basin between the mountains Rila and Vitosha, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due to the suitable winter sports conditions, Sam ...
and the
Dupnitsa dialect
The Dupnitsa dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the region of Dupnitsa
Dupnitsa, or Dupnica ( bg, Дупница (previously ), ), is a town in Western Bulgaria. It is at the foot ...
): ''пупка'' vs. Standard Bulgarian ''пъпка'' (pimple)
* Vowel o for Old Bulgarian ъ in suffixes and prefixes and most roots and a limited number of a reflexes in certain roots: ''сос него'' vs. Standard Bulgarian ''със него'' (with him), ''бочва'' vs. Standard Bulgarian ''бъчва'' (cask) but ''вашка'' vs. Standard Bulgarian ''въшка'' (louse)
* Vocalic r for Old Bulgarian ръ/рь instead of the combination ръ/ър (~) in Standard Bulgarian - ''дрво'' instead of ''дърво'' (tree).
* The reflex of Old Bulgarian лъ/ль is:
: Before non-labial consonant - schwa (): ''съза'' vs. formal Bulgarian ''сълза''
: Before labial consonant - u: ''вуна'' vs. formal Bulgarian ''вълна'' (wool)
* Verb ending -м in verbs of the first and second conjugation: ''чет'ем'' vs. formal Bulgarian ''чет'ъ'' (I read)
* Adverbial participal on ''-ечки'' (vs. ''-ейки/айки'' in Standard Bulgarian): ''играечки'' vs. formal Bulgarian ''играейки'' (while playing)
* Еnding йe instead of formal Bulgarian и for multi-syllable masculine nouns (''галабйе'' instead of ''гълъби'')
* Dynamic stress
For other phonological and morphological characteristics typical for all Southwestern dialects, cf.
Southwestern Bulgarian dialects.
Sources
Стойков, Стойко: Българска диалектология, Акад. изд. "Проф. Марин Дринов", 200
{{Bulgarian dialects
Dialects of the Bulgarian language
Kyustendil