Solun-Voden dialect
The Solun-Voden dialect, Lower Vardar dialect, or Kukush-Voden dialect is a South Slavic dialect spoken in parts of the Greek periphery of Central Macedonia, and the vicinity of Gevgelija and Dojran in the Republic of North Macedonia. It has been treated as part of both Macedonian and Bulgarian dialectology.
Dialect area
The dialect is named after Slavic toponyms for the cities of Thessaloniki, Edessa and Kilkis, or after the river Vardar. In terms of Macedonian dialectology, the dialect is classified as a member of the south-eastern subgroup of the Eastern and Southern group of Macedonian dialects, spoken in an area that also covers Veria, Giannitsa, and the towns of Dojran and Gevgelija in the Republic of North Macedonia.In terms of Bulgarian dialectology, Solun dialect is a separate Eastern Bulgarian dialect, spoken in the northern part of today's Thessaloniki regional unit in Greece. Solun and Ser-Drama dialects are grouped as western Rup dialects, part of the large Rup dialect massif of Rhodopes and Thrace which are transitional between the Western and Eastern Bulgarian dialects. The dialect spoken around Voden and Kukush as well as in the region of the Lower Vardar to the west of Thessaloniki is characterized as Western Bulgarian Kukush-Voden dialect, which shows some connections with Eastern Bulgarian dialects like the reduction and absorption of unstressed vowels and retention of the sound x /x/.
Suho-Visoka sub-dialect
The Suho-Visoka sub-dialect is spoken in and around the city of Salonika. The dialect is also found in the town of Lagkadas. The dialect is best preserved in the villages of Sochos, Osa, Nikopoli, Xylopoli, Levchohori, Klisali and Assiros. The subdialect has been referred to as Bogdanski Govor, in reference to its position on the "Bogdan" mountain.One of the first researchers of the Slavic dialects in this part of Macedonia, Slovenian linguist Vatroslav Oblak described the historical development of the Bulgarian phonology and morphology, based mainly on the dialect of Suho and the adjoining area. He noted that the villages Suho, Zarovo and Visoka formed a center of nasalization.
Phonological characteristics
- Retention of Proto-Slavic nasal vowels : rə ̃ka, skɤ ̃p, pɛ ̃tuk, tʃɛ ̃du.
- Retention of vowels ɤ or ə which come from Old Church Slavonic ѫ: vəʒa, vətuk, gɤska, dəɡa, zəbi, mɤka, mɤʃ, pɤrt, pɤt, prɤtʃki, sɤbuta, ɡəsɔk, ɡəsɛnitsa, mɤtɛnitsa. Less often the vowel u occurs instead of ɤ: kuca, kusa, pupka.
- Vowel ɔ replaces Old Church Slavonic ъ: bɔtʃva, vɔpka, vɔʃka, dɔʃ, zɔlva, sɔn, takɔf, vətɔk, vɔsɔk.
- A very important characteristic is the reduction of the wide vowels. This occurs most often in the middle or the beginning of words: ɔ reduces to u — udinitsa, mutuvilka, tutʃilo, usnɔva, uftʃar, usten, utset ; ɛ reduces to i — zilɛn, pitɛl, nɛbitɔ, dɛvir, ʒɛnin, molits; a reduces to ə — pəzartʃin, pəspal, kɔmər, kɔkəl, tʃɤrgəta, mandrəta. In some morphological categories this reduction develops further into absorption of the unstressed wide vowels: ɔktɔ, litstɔ, duvitsta, grədinta, tuvarmɛ, tuvartɛ, katʃmɛ.
- Generally, the consonant x is retained: in the end of words — vlax, grax, urɛx, strax, sux, vərnax, kəʒax, nusix; in the middle of words — muxlɛsinu, təxtəbita, boxtʃa, sɛdɛxa, bixa, tərtʃaxa. However, in the beginning of words /x/ is often omitted: arnɔ, arman, iʎada, itʃ, ɔrɔ, lɛp.
- The palatals c, jc, ɟ, jɟ predominate over the Old Church Slavonic diphthongs ʃt and ʒd : nɔc, cɛrka, prifacum, nejcum, lɛjca, sfɛjca, plajcaʃɛ ; vɛɟi, mɛɟa, saɟa, miɟu, mɛjɟa, sajɟi. In some cases, however, the diphthongs ʃt, ʒd are retained: gaʃti, lɛʃta, guvɛʒdo, prɛʒda.
- Relatively unpredictable stress. Often the stress is on the penult, but there are words which have stress placed on different syllables.
Morphological characteristic
- Definite article -ut, -u for masculine gender: vratut, dɛput, zɛtut, sɔnut, sinut, krumidut, nərodut, ubrazut; ɔginu, guʃtəru, vɛtɛru.
- Definite article -to for plural: bugərɛto, kamənɛto, tsigajnɛto, vulɔvɛto, kojnɛto.
- A single common suffix -um for all three verb present tense conjugations: ɔrum, tsɛpum, pasum, vikum, glɛdum, brɔjum.
- Suffix -m for 1st person singular present tense: pijum, stojum, jadum, ɔdum.
Other specific characteristics
- Enclitic at the beginning of the sentence: Mu gɔ klava petʃatut. Si ja goreʃe furnata.
- Single short form mu for masculine, neutral, feminine, and plural pronouns: Na baba ce mu nɔsum da jədɛ. Na starite mu ɛ mɤtʃnɔ. Na nih mu davum jadɛjne.
- Use of the preposition u instead of the preposition vo :vo selo → u selo
- Use of the preposition ut instead of ot : ut Solun → od Solun. This is because ɔ in ɔt when combined with the next word becomes a wide vowel which undergoes reduction.
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Typical Words
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