The Chepino dialect is a Bulgarian dialect of the Rhodopean group of the

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. Str ...

. Its range includes the northwestern Rhodopes, i.e. the towns of

Velingrad Velingrad ( bg, Велинград ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, located at the western end of Chepino Valley, part of the Rhodope Mountains. It is the administrative center of the homonymous Velingrad Municipality a ...

, Rakitovo and

Kostandovo Kostandovo ( ) is a small town in the Pazardzhik Province, southern Bulgaria. In 2010, it had 4342 inhabitants. It gained its town status in 2005. It is located in the Rhodope Mountains close to the Batak Dam and the town of Rakitovo Rakitovo ...

and the villages of Dragichevo and

Dorkovo Dorkovo ( bg, Дорково; rup, Dorcova) is a village in the Rakitovo municipality, Pazardzhik Province, western Bulgaria. The population of the village is 2,955. Aromanians live in the village. Geography Dorkovo is situated in the western Rh ...

. Its immediate neighbours are the

Central Balkan dialect The Central Balkan dialect is a Bulgarian dialect that is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes most of north-central Bulgaria (without the regions of Dryanovo and Elena), as well as the regions of Karl ...

and the

Ihtiman dialect The Ihtiman dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the regions of Ihtiman, Kostenets and Septemvri in central western Bulgaria. It is transitional between the Botevgrad and Samokov dia ...

to the north, the Babyak dialect to the west and south and the

Hvoyna dialect The Hvoyna dialect is a Bulgarian dialect of the Rhodopean group of the Rup dialects. Its range includes the northern part of the Central Rhodopes and the town of Batak in the Western Rhodopes. Its immediate neighbours are the Central Balkan dial ...

to the east. The Chepino dialect is spoken by both Orthodox and Muslim Bulgarians in the region irrespective of religious affiliation.

Phonological and morphological characteristics

* Broad e () for Old Church Slavonic

yat Yat or jat (Ѣ ѣ; italics: ) is the thirty-second letter of the old Cyrillic alphabet and the Rusyn alphabet. There is also another version of yat, the iotified yat (majuscule: , minuscule: ), which is a Cyrillic character combining a ...

in a stressed syllable and ordinary e () in an unstressed syllable : ''бл/бли'' vs. formal Bulgarian ''бял/бели'' (white) but ''деца'' as in Standard Bulgarian (children). * Single definite article: -oaт, -та, -то, -т * Strong palatalisation of consonants and especially of soft t and d which are sometimes transformed into soft k and g: ''т҄иква''/''к҄иква'' The diacritic ◌҄ indicates palatalization. vs. formal Bulgarian ''тиква'' * Merger of Old Church Slavonic big yus ѫ, little yus ѧ, ь and ъ into one vowel which is different in the four subdialects of the Chepino dialect: :Velingrad subdialect: Merger of Old Church Slavonic big yus ѫ, little yus ѧ, ь and ъ into broad o (oa) in a stressed syllable and into semi-reduced a in an unstressed syllable: ''зоап'' but ''за'боaт'' vs. Standard Bulgarian ''зъп/зъ'бът'' (tooth/the tooth) :Kostandovo subdialect: Merger of Old Church Slavonic big yus ѫ, little yus ѧ, ь and ъ into broad o (oa) in a stressed syllable and into u in an unstressed syllable: ''зоап'' but ''зу'боат'' vs. Standard Bulgarian ''зъп/зъ'бът'' (tooth/the tooth) :Rakitovo subdialect: Merger of Old Church Slavonic big yus ѫ, little yus ѧ, ь and ъ into broad o (oa) in a stressed syllable and into a in an unstressed syllable: ''зоап'' but ''зa'боат'' vs. Standard Bulgarian ''зъп/зъ'бът'' (tooth/the tooth) :Dorkovo subdialect: Merger of Old Church Slavonic big yus ѫ, little yus ѧ, ь and ъ into broad a in a stressed syllable and into semi-reduced a in an unstressed syllable: ''зап'' but ''зa'бат'' vs. Standard Bulgarian ''зъп/зъ'бът'' (tooth/the tooth) For other phonological and morphological characteristics typical for all Rup or Rhodopean dialects, cf.

Sources

Стойков, Стойко: Българска диалектология, Акад. изд. "Проф. Марин Дринов", 200

References

{{Bulgarian dialects Dialects of the Bulgarian language