Teteven dialect
Encyclopedia
The Teteven dialect is a Bulgarian
dialect, which is part of the Balkan
group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. It is spoken in the town of Teteven
and several neighbouring villages and is almost completely surrounded by the Central Balkan dialect
, except on the west where it borders on the Western Bulgarian Botevgrad dialect
. The most significant feature of the dialect, as in all Balkan dialects
, is the pronunciation of Old Church Slavonic (yat) as ʲa or ɛ, depending on the character of the following syllable.
Most of the other phonological and morphological characteristics of the Erkech dialect are similar to the general features typical for all Balkan dialects
, cf. article for details.
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
dialect, which is part of the Balkan
Balkan dialects
The Balkan dialects are the most extensive group of dialects of the Bulgarian language, covering almost half of the present-day territory of Bulgaria and slightly less than a third of the territory on the Balkans where Bulgarian is spoken. Their range includes north-central Bulgaria and most of the...
group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. It is spoken in the town of Teteven
Teteven
Teteven is a town on the banks of the Vit river, at the foot of Stara Planina mountain in north central Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Teteven Municipality which is a part of Lovech Province. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 10,613 inhabitants.The town...
and several neighbouring villages and is almost completely surrounded by the Central Balkan dialect
Central Balkan dialect
The Central Balkan dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, which is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes most of north-central Bulgaria , as well as the regions of Karlovo, Kazanlak and Plovdiv in southern Bulgaria, all the way down to the northernmost ridges of...
, except on the west where it borders on the Western Bulgarian Botevgrad dialect
Botevgrad dialect
The Botevgrad dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, member of the Southwestern Bulgarian dialects, which is spoken in the region of Botevgrad and Etropole in northwestern Bulgaria...
. The most significant feature of the dialect, as in all Balkan dialects
Balkan dialects
The Balkan dialects are the most extensive group of dialects of the Bulgarian language, covering almost half of the present-day territory of Bulgaria and slightly less than a third of the territory on the Balkans where Bulgarian is spoken. Their range includes north-central Bulgaria and most of the...
, is the pronunciation of Old Church Slavonic (yat) as ʲa or ɛ, depending on the character of the following syllable.
Phonological and morphological characteristics
- The articulation of yat generally follows the Central Balkan dialectCentral Balkan dialectThe Central Balkan dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, which is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes most of north-central Bulgaria , as well as the regions of Karlovo, Kazanlak and Plovdiv in southern Bulgaria, all the way down to the northernmost ridges of...
. However, the Teteven dialect features a much greater number of cases of articulation of ʲa than either the Balkan dialectsBalkan dialectsThe Balkan dialects are the most extensive group of dialects of the Bulgarian language, covering almost half of the present-day territory of Bulgaria and slightly less than a third of the territory on the Balkans where Bulgarian is spoken. Their range includes north-central Bulgaria and most of the...
or Standard Bulgarian, e.g. before ж /ʒ/, ш /ʃ/, ч /tʃ/, in one-syllable words and in certain verbs. This brings the Teteven dialect closer to certain Rup dialectsRup dialectsThe Rup dialects, or the Southeastern dialects, are a group of Bulgarian dialects located east of the yat boundary, thus being part of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. The range of the Rup dialects includes the southern part of Thrace, i.e. Strandzha, the region of Haskovo, the Rhodopes and the...
: черʲaша vs. formal Bulgarian череша (cherry), мʲaт vs. formal Bulgarian мет (honey)
- Articulation of Old Church Slavonic (yus) and ъ as broad е (æ) in a stressed syllable and as a slightly reduced a in an unstressed syllable, as in the Erkech dialectErkech dialectThe Erkech dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, which is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. It originates from two villages in the eastern parts of the Balkan Mountains, Kozichino near Pomorie and Golitsa south of Varna...
: зæп vs. formal зъп, даждæ vs. formal дъждът - ɛ for Old Church Slavonic little yusYusLittle Yus and Big Yus , or Jus, are letters of the Cyrillic script, representing two Common Slavonic nasal vowels in the early Cyrillic and Glagolitic alphabets. Each can occur in iotified form , formed as ligatures with the letter Decimal I...
() with palatalisation of the preceding consonant: vs. formal Bulgarian клетва (oath) - Transition of a into e only after a soft (palatal) consonant and ч /tʃ/ but not before ж /ʒ/ and ш /ʃ/ (cf. Balkan dialectsBalkan dialectsThe Balkan dialects are the most extensive group of dialects of the Bulgarian language, covering almost half of the present-day territory of Bulgaria and slightly less than a third of the territory on the Balkans where Bulgarian is spoken. Their range includes north-central Bulgaria and most of the...
- Vocalic r and l for Old Church Slavonic ръ/рь and лъ/ль as in the Northwestern Bulgarian dialectsNorthwestern Bulgarian dialectsThe Northwestern Bulgarian dialects are two closely related dialects of the Bulgarian language, which are located west of the yat boundary and thus are part of the Western Bulgarian dialects. The range of the dialects includes most of northwestern Bulgaria, to the west of the line between Nikopol,...
instead of the combinations ръ/ър (rə~ər) and лъ/ъл (lə~əl) in Standard Bulgarian - дрво, слза instead of дърво, сълза (tree, tear) - The masculine definite article is broad е (æ) in a stressed syllable and as a slightly reduced a in an unstressed syllable: даж'дæ vs. formal Bulgarian дъж'дът
- Ending e instead of formal Bulgarian i for plural past active aorist participles (биле instead of били), as in the Northwestern Bulgarian dialectsNorthwestern Bulgarian dialectsThe Northwestern Bulgarian dialects are two closely related dialects of the Bulgarian language, which are located west of the yat boundary and thus are part of the Western Bulgarian dialects. The range of the dialects includes most of northwestern Bulgaria, to the west of the line between Nikopol,...
- Ending e instead of formal Bulgarian i for multi-syllable masculine nouns (българе instead of българи)
Most of the other phonological and morphological characteristics of the Erkech dialect are similar to the general features typical for all Balkan dialects
Balkan dialects
The Balkan dialects are the most extensive group of dialects of the Bulgarian language, covering almost half of the present-day territory of Bulgaria and slightly less than a third of the territory on the Balkans where Bulgarian is spoken. Their range includes north-central Bulgaria and most of the...
, cf. article for details.