Lower Prespa dialect

The Lower Prespa dialect (, ''Dolnoprespanski dijalekt''), is a member of the western subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. This dialect is mainly spoken on the Eastern shore of Prespa Lake and Small Prespa Lake, both in North Macedonia and by the Slavic-speaking community on the Greek side of the border. The Prespa dialect spoken in the Greek community has elements of Greek such as "d/δ". This area is mainly composed of villages, such as Brajčino, Dupeni, Štrbovo, Ljubojno, western parts of the Florina regional unit and northern parts of the Kastoria regional unit. The Lower Prespa dialect is very similar to the Upper Prespa dialect and Ohrid dialect.

Phonological characteristics

*use of ''e'' instead of yat: цена/''cena'' 'price'
*use of palatal ''j''
*use of ф/f and в/v instead of Old Church Slavonic х.

Morphological characteristics

*use of the preposition ''od'' with possessive case: внукот од брат ми / ''vnukot od brat mi'' 'nephew through my brother'
*the plural suffix -''ovi'' is often changed to the suffix -''oj'': лебови > лебој / ''lebovi > leboj'' 'bread'
*personal pronoun for third person singular and plural: тој, таа, тоа, тие / ''toj, taa, toa, tie'' 'he, she, it, they'стр.248 Граматика на македонскиот литературен јазик, Блаже Конески, Култура- Скопје 1967
*shortening of words: Богројца/''Bogrojca'' instead of Богородица/''Bogorodica'' 'Virgin Mary', П'делник/P'delnik instead of Понеделник/''Ponedelnik'' 'Monday'
*loss of ''v'': ''Nivno'' > ''Nino'', ''Nivna'' > ''Nina''

Typical words

*мисур/''misur'' instead of чинија/''chinija'' 'plate/dish'
*с'ти/''s'ti'' instead of сите/''site'' 'everyone'
*воа/''voa'' instead of ова/''ova'' 'this one'
*шо/''šo'' instead of што/''što'' 'what'
*как/''kak'' instead of како/''kako'' 'how'
*планучки/''planučki'' instead of јагоди/''jagodi'' 'strawberries'
*к'ртол/''k'rtol'' instead of компир/''kompir'' 'potato'
*даскал/''daskal'' instead of учител/''učitel'' 'teacher'
*луканец/''lukanec'' instead of колбас/''kolbas'' 'sausage'
*думан/''duman'' instead of прашина/'prašina'' 'dust'
*пепун/''pepun'' instead of диња/''dinja'' 'cantaloupe'
*пупки/''pupki'' instead of ќофтиња/''kjoftinja'' 'meatball'
*лафе/''lafe'' instead of зборува/''zboruva'' 'talk'
*зборва/''zborva'' instead of зборува/''zboruva'' 'talk'
*стори/''stori'' instead of случи/''sluči'' 'happen'
*заек/''zaek'' instead of зајак/''zajak'' 'rabbit'
*пули/''puli'' instead of види//''vidi'' 'look'
*ошче/''ošče'' instead of уште/''ušte'' 'still'
*каδе/''kadhe'' instead of каде/''kade'' 'where'
**дека/''deka'' or деа/''dea'' is usually used instead of каде/''kade'' 'where'

Some example phrases (in comparison to Standard Macedonian):

*''Oti zborvaš kak taka?'' as opposed to ''Zošto zboruvaš kako taka?'' 'Why are you talking like that?'
*''Šo ke se stori ako znaj toj?'' as opposed to ''Što ḱe se sluči ako znae toj?'' 'What's going to happen if he knows?'
*''Kadhe oiš?'' as opposed to ''Kade odiš?'' 'Where are you going?'

Examples

Below is written a popular folk song from the Prespa region. The song is in the Lower Prespa dialect.

:Ozgora idat Turcite,
:mladi Ljubanki teraat,
:napred mi odi Todorka.

:Todorke mlada nevesto,
:ostavi si go deteto
:na tie ravni ledini
:na tie tenki kamenja.

:Todorka poču turčinot
:si go ostavi deteto
:na tie ravni ledini.

:Mi pominal ovčarče
:pa si go zema deteto,
:pa si go glavil sluginče
:kaj edna mlada vdovica.
:kaj toj mi Osman Beg.

:Devet mi godidi sluguval,
:liceto ne i go videl
:na taa mlada vdovica.

:Poduvnal veter gornjaneni
:i go duvnal feredžeto,
:liceto i se otkrilo,
:liceto na vdovicata.

:I togaš si ovčarče zagrabil,
:majčice mila majčice,
:deka sisluguvaše devet godini
:vo taa crna zandana.

:Ah milo moje detence,
:deka rasteše devet godini
:vo tie crni zandani.

:Togaš si majka zagrnal,
:zaklal si turčin na guša
:i kuḱa si napravil
:so tie pari od sluguvanje

References

Literature

* Шклифов, Бл. Долнопреспанският говор. -В: Трудове по българска диалектология. Т. 11. София: Изд. на БАН, 1979. (Shklifov, Bl. Dolnoprespanskiyat govor. -V: Trudove po balgarska dialektologiya. T. 11. Sofia: Izd. na BАN, 239 s.)

{{Macedonian dialects

Dialects of the Macedonian language