The Moesian dialects are a group of closely related dialects of the
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian (; , ) is an Eastern South Slavic, Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeast Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians.
Along with the closely related Macedonian language (collectively forming the ...
, part of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. The Moesian dialects are spoken in northeastern Bulgaria and in the regions of
Karnobat
Karnobat ( ) is a town in the Burgas Province, Southeastern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Karnobat Municipality. According to the 2021 census, the town had a population of 16,483.
Geography
Karnobat municipality i ...
,
Aytos,
Burgas
Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...
and
Yambol in southern Bulgaria. However, due to the mass population movements that affected eastern Bulgaria during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, nowadays, there are very few areas where only Moesian is spoken. In most areas, and especially in southern Bulgaria and
Dobruja
Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...
, Moesian speakers are mixed with speakers speaking
Balkan dialects. As a result of this and also due to the influence of the literary language, most features of the Moesian dialects have given way to features typical for the
Balkan dialects.
Phonological and morphological characteristics
* Vowel change я/broad е (/) instead of formal Bulgarian я/е (/) for Old Church Slavonic ѣ – (''бял/бли'' instead of ''бял/бели''). As a result of the influence of the
Balkan dialects, the broad e () has now been almost universally replaced by ()
* щ/жд (/) for Proto-Slavic / (as in Standard Bulgarian) - ''нощ, между'' (night, between)
* Universal loss of x and ф . The two consonants are either completely lost or replaced by v or w
* The masculine definite article is о (stressed) and у (unstressed) instead of formal Bulgarian –ът/ъ (''гърˈбо, ˈстолу'' instead of ''гърˈбът, ˈстолът''). As a result of the influence of the
Balkan dialects, the о/у definite article has largely been replaced by –ът/ъ
* ending e instead of formal Bulgarian i for multi-syllable masculine nouns (''българе'' instead of ''българи'')
* ending e instead of formal Bulgarian i for plural past active aorist participles (''биле'' instead of ''били'')
* Preposition у instead of formal Bulgarian в (''у Русе'' instead of ''в Русе'')
Sources
Стойков, Стойко: Българска диалектология, Акад. изд. "Проф. Марин Дринов", 200
{{Bulgarian dialects
Dialects of the Bulgarian language