The Kumanovo dialect (, ''Kumanovski dijalekt'') is a member of the eastern subgroup of the Northern group of
dialects
A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...
of
Macedonian. It belongs to the so-called Prizren-Timok dialects, also known as
Torlakian. The dialect is typical for the northern dialect of
Macedonian and is very well known because of the use of some cases, such as the locative case. The Kumanovo dialect is spoken mainly in the city of
Kumanovo
Kumanovo ( ; , sq-definite, Kumanova; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is the second-largest city in North Macedonia after the capital Skopje and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic ...
and the surrounding villages. The dialect is closely related to the neighboring
Kriva Palanka dialect. The Kumanovo dialect can be found in literary works, such as the famous play “Lenče Kumanovče” written by Vasil Iljoski in 1928. The Kumanovo dialect is especially popular as a source of humor in the spoken media, whereas the print media tend to favor Western dialect forms for humorous anecdotes and quotations in local news stories. The most significant example where the Kumanovo dialect is used in a humorous way is the festival ''Tumba Fest''.
Phonological characteristics
*use of A instead of E: трева / treva > трава / trava;
*use of the letter U instead of the letter A as a reflex of Proto-Slavic *ǫ: рака / raka > рука / ruka (hand), пат / pat > пут / put (road);
*the old syllabic L is changed into U/ LU/ LA: волк / volk > вук / vuk (wolf), сонце / sonce > слăнце / sl'nce (sun).
*use of palatal J at the beginning of the word: јазик / jazik > език / ezik (tongue),
Morphological characteristics
*use of the suffix -V in third-person plural: тие имаа / tie imaa > они имава/имасва / oni imava/imasva (they had);
*use of the suffix E for plural feminine nouns instead of the suffix -I: торби/ torbi > торбе / torbe (bags).
*Use of KUDE instead of KADE (where).
*Use of the forms gu and ga instead of the forms go and i: њега га виде / njega ga vide (I saw him).
[p.252- 253, Makedonski jazik za srednoto obrazovanie- S.Bojkovska, D.Pandev, L.Minova-Ǵurkova, Ž.Cvetkovski- Prosvetno delo AD- Skopje 2001]
Personal pronouns
Possessive pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns
Nominal inflection
Adjectival inflection
Examples of the dialect
*A song that is very well known in
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...
and typical for the Kumanovo dialect:
:Три невесте тикве брале, бре
:три невесте тикве брале, бре
:три невесте тикве брале, бре, бре, бре
:тикве брале, бре.
:Куде брале туј заспале, бре
:куде брале туј заспале, бре
:куде брале туј заспале, бре, бре, бре
:туј заспале, бре.
Phrases
*Кумановци не се претопуев лăко, на свој дијалект зборив куде и да су
**''Kumanovci ne se pretopuev lăko, na svoj dijalekt zboriv kude i da su'' ("The people from Kumanovo cannot be assimilated easily, they speak their own dialect wherever they are")
*Полăко ќе научиш англиски да пишуеш и читаш неголи кумановски
**''Polăko ḱe naučiš angliski da pišueš i čitaš negoli kumanovski'' ("You will learn to write and read English more easily than the Kumanovo dialect")
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumanovo Dialect
Dialects of the Macedonian language
Kumanovo
Kumanovo Municipality