I'd like to open this topic so that we can discuss the differences the Macedonian language has with others, mainly Balkan, Slavic languages? What sets it aside from others? And it doesn't have to be the standard Macedonian language. It can also be a Macedonian dialect which has some separate features you don't see in the modern language, neighbouring languages?

Well, I'll start I guess. I think I read somewhere that the Republic of Macedonia has over 220 dialects of the Macedonian language within it. Compare this to the whole of Russia, which as I remember it, has less than 90 dialects in total and is 100xs Macedonia's size (or more). Remember, however, that 220 Macedonian dialects in the Republic of Macedonia does not include Aegean Macedonia and Pirin Macedonia. Something to think about. Maybe someone with a more specialized knowledge of Macedonian dialects can take it from here......

Mak Master,

I hope you won't mind if I correct your numbers a little bit.

Macedonian language (including dialects in Aegean, Pirin, Albania and Gora) has 27 dialects. Russian has 22. It still puts Macedonian on the top of the slavic langauges by the dialectal diversity. Bulgarian has 4, Serbian 6 dialects, Slovenian has 12 (note that both Slovenian and Macedonian are both bordering languages, and the geography is similar, many valeys, surrounded with high mountains).

You may have confused the numbers with the number of dialectal punkts (440) that were included in the study that is an ongoing process since 1946, where an enormous amount of material is collected about our dialects. I was involved briefly in this study, creating a computer program for data storage and reports.

Filip M, are you sure such dialectical diversity in Macedonians and Slovenians is connected with geography only? What if its connected with the age of the people and the language. If Slovenians (or big part of them) are really ancestors from Veneti it would mean their language is not spoken from 6 C.AD but is much older. They are the only ones who kept the dual and in macedonian some remnants are still present.

I just can't accept that only geography is the main reason of so many dialects...

Interesting. Slovak has 30 dialects in Slovakia proper, not counting those here in Serbia or those in Hungary, Poland and Romania.

Great stuff guys. What about words? Are there any words in the Macedonian langauge that have no similarity with other languages? I know i've heard that there is but never the words? Actually i think i know one, 'ech' in the Skopska Crna Gora region means to help yourself.

From what I know, slovenians have about 40-50 dialects put together in 6 major groups.....


zrinski

http://nl.ijs.si/~stermole/Ramovs/

map of dialects

I knew I remember reading somthing with "22" and something in the hundreds....

Just a few words off the top of my head, which don't exist in other Balkan languages:

Мраз - "Ice"
Serbian: Лед
Bulgarian: Лед

Барај - the verb "to search"
Serbian: Тражи
Bulgarian: Търси

Збор - "Word"
Serbian: Реч
Bulgarian: Дума

There are many more. I suggest looking at Bulgarian websites that host old Macedonian poetry ... even though Macedonian and Bulgarian are the same language (haha, not!) they still have sections explaining these "dialectal" words.

Thanks!

A few more ...

Мисирка - "Turkey" (animal)
Serbian: Ђурка
Bulgarian: Пуйка

Прашање - "Question"
Serbian: Питање
Bulgarian: Въпрос

Цицач - "Mammal"
Serbian: Сисар
Bulgarian: Бозайник

Карпа - "Rock"
Serbian: Стена
Bulgarian: Скала

Стаорец - "Rat"
Serbian: Штакор
Bulgarian: Плъх

Rock is Kamen

bulgarian Skala isnt that ladder po nashe ? ? ?

Karpa also means rock in Macedonian, more like a larger or stronger rock.

Камен is "stone". The difference (in meaning) between the two words in English is the same in Macedonian.



Yes, it is. "Стълба" in Bulgarian.

Perhaps I misunderstand you pneumonickorda but the word mraz do exsist in slovenian but perhaps not in the meaning of ice. We call Santa Clause Dedek Mraz..I suppose it means something like father cold? Mrzlo je cold in slovenian.
Question in slovenian is uprashanje. Rather similar to prashanje.

Sorry if this was only to be a comparison between macedonian,serbian and bulgarian

Zrinski,

I tought myself slovenien (a while ago) just by reading newspapers. And I found many instances where Slovenian and Macedonian have the same word, or the old Slavonic vowels evolved in the same way, but they both differ from Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian.

Jabolko - in both Slovenian and Macedonian (Jabuka in Serbian, Jab'lka in Bulgarian).

Exp western Macedonian dialects have many phonetic characteristics shared with the Slovenian language. They say, for example:

roka (same in Slovenian)
mozh (same in Slovenian)

I'm wondering if Veneti relation played any role here.

Well..I for one believe that. But it is not mainstream at all, still, to believe that the veneti were our common forefathers.
One language that is very easy to understand for a slovenian seems to be ruthenian. And also slovakian.


Zrinski

It's just that I only speak Serbian and Bulgarian (along with Macedonian, of course).

when i was young, my mother used to call me mrzlo(lazy) because i wouldnt get out of bed to go to school
btw is mraz winter in slovenian?