Lerin dialect (Лерински говор)

Lerin dialect is spoken in and around the town of Lerin (Φλώρινα) in northwestern Greece. Its territory is north and northeast from the mountain wreath composed by the Nered Mountain with Vich and Bigla Mountain. To the east its border with the Kaylyar-Voden subdialect goes to the direction from Rudnik to Ostrovo Lake. To the north its border with Bitola-Mariovo dialects goes approximately along the today state border between North Macedonia and Greece. It is divided in four subdialects.

The first is used in the town of Lerin and in the villages to its immediate south: Nevòlyani (Σκοπιά), Nèred (Πολυπόταμο), Gòrno and Dòlno Kòtori ( Άνω, Κάτω Υδρούσσα), Krepèshina (Ατραπός) etc.

The second is used in the villages in the Lerin Field: Popъ̀lzhane (Παππαγιάννης), Vъ̀rbeni (Ιτέα), Voshchàreni (Μελίτη), Sètina (Σκοπός), which is on the place of the 10-11 century tsar Samuil fortress of the same name, Ròsen (Σιταριά), Pesòchnitsa (Αμμοχώρι), Gorno Kalenik (Άνω Καλλινίκη), Dolno Kalenik (Κάτω Καλλινίκη) etc.

The third subdialect is spoken in the so-called Gorni sela (Upper villages) – to the north and northwest of Lerin: Armènsko (Άλωνα), Buf (Ακρίτας), Ràkovo (Κρατερό), Klàbuchishcha (Πολυπλάτανο), Nègochani (Νίκη) etc.

The fourth subdialect is spoken along the southeastern periphery on the axis between Bànitsa (Βεύη) and Gornìchevo (Κέλλη) to the north, through Ekshi su (Ξινό Νερό), Pъ̀tele (Άγιος Παντελεήμονας), Pètъrsko (Πέτρες), to Zelenìche (Σκλήθρο) and Prekopàna (Περικόπη) to the south. This dialect differs most from the rest because it is transitional to the Voden and Kaylyar dialects and shares many common features with them.

Phonetic features

Development of vowels

The development of the Old Bulgarian nasals ѫ, ѧ, and the vocal лъ, ръ contributed the most to the internal differentiation of Lerin dialect in the area of vocalism.

Old Bulgarian ѫ

Instead of the nasal ѫ in root morphemes, two basic reflexes occur on the Lerin terrain - а and ъ.

1. In all subdialects except the Southeastern Periphery and more specifically in the northern and central part of the area in the south and southeast to the line Nered - Babchor - Gorno Kotori - Setina - Popadia ѫ → a predominates: ма̀ш ‘man’, ра̀ка/ра̀ци ‘hand/hands’, за̀би ‘teeth’, на̀тре ‘inside’, сабо̀та ‘Saturday’, га̀ба, гна̀сен, дaп, забѝца, ка̀тник, капѝна, лачѝ, ма̀дро, пат, ра̀бой, cкaп, стапа̀ло, ста̀пица, стра̀га, ста̀пка, сат (Sakulevo), ка̀тници, гра̀ди, газо̀, я̀жица (Lerin), я̀глен, па̀то, cкàпo (Setina), да̀бово дъ̀рво (Gorno Kotori), ма̀ка (Неред), длабо̀ко, ка̀клица, кранк, стра̀нга, кадѐля (Zhelevo), рака̀ф (Krushoradi), гасѐница, ма̀теница (Hasanovo), вна̀тре (Popadia), я̀дица 'fishing rod', я̀глен (Boreshnitsa)

Inside this territory, however, ѫ → ъ is found regularly: гъ̀с ‘butt’, гъсенѝца ‘caterpillar’, къ̀сни ‘take a bite’, къ̀шей ‘piece of bread’, пъ̀рчка (with metathesis from пръчка), къ̀рклица (Gorno Kotori, Armensko, Gorno Nevolyani), гъ̀ска, пръ̀т, гъ̀с, гнъ̀сно, гъза̀р, стръ̀га, пръ̀чка, о̀бръч, къ̀са, покъ̀сок 'brunch' (Popadia, Popъlzhanе). In most of these last examples, the reflex ъ is found behind the velar consonants к, г and behind р.

On the Lerin dialect territory one can distinguish rarely the admixed reflex ѫ → у: гу̀ска (Obsireno) but гъ̀ска (Sakulevo, Popъlzhanе, Banitsa, Gorno Kotori, Pъtele, Zeleniche), гну̀с, гну̀сен (Zeleniche), гъ̀сто (Sakulevo, Banitsa) and гу̀сто, гъ̀лъп (Banitsa) and гу̀лап (Armensko, Sakulevo). Regularly with reflex ѫ → у in this region are used the lexemes: су̀да ‘judge’, су̀дя, судѐлище, ку̀йкя ‘house’, пу̀пче (in Gorni sela пу̀па̄ле) ‘bagel’, пу̀пка, гу̀жва (Popъlzhanе), ку̀с ‘piece’, по̀пок ‘navel’ and only in Zeleniche is found the form съдѝя;

2. In the villages of the Southeastern Periphery, to the south and east of the abovementioned line the principal reflex of ѫ in the root morphemes is ъ: мъ̀ш ‘man’, ръ̀ци ‘hands’, зъ̀би ‘teeth’, (о)нъ̀тре ‘inside’, събо̀та ‘Saturday’, гъ̀с ‘butt’, къ̀сни ‘take a bite’, въ̀глен, въжѝца, гъ̀ска, гъ̀cтo (Banitsa); зъ̀би, къ̀тник, пъ̀тeц, гърдѝ (with metathesis from гръдѝ), пъпỳк, ръ̀ци, мъ̀ш (Gornichevo, Zeleniche), гъ̀би, pъ̀кa, пъ̀т, скъ̀пo (Ekshi su), гъ̀зер, дъ̀п, гнъ̀c, къ̀са, къдѐля, нъ̀тре, пъ̀т (Pъtele).

Old Bulgarian ѧ

Usually ѧ reflects in e with a loss of the old nasalism: рѐт ‘order’, грѐда ‘beam’, чѐдо ‘child’, ѐчмен ‘barley’, етъ̀рва ‘sister-in-law’, ѐзик ‘tongue’, but in the Gorni sela subdialect there is: я̀чмен, я̀търва, я̀зик, as in Bitola dialect, while in Dolno Kotori, Popъlzhane and the surrounding villages they use я̀търва, but ѐзик.

An interesting phenomenon in the Lerin dialect are some lexemes, in which instead of ѫ or ѭ, the successors of diphthong ѩ are found: ѐглен, ежѝчка, едѝца (Бабчор), еток (Gorno Kotori), ѐглен, еглена̀р, едѝца, ежѝчка (Krushoradi), еток, едѝца (Popъlzhane). The variants еглен, едѝца, еток are found also in the peripheral Bitola villages in the direction Zhivojno - Skochivir. In connection with this phenomenon, Vidoeski makes the following conclusions: first, the substitution ѭ → ѩ is not found in all cases, hence this substitution is not automatic. In the same places, one finds examples of substitutions ѫ → e and ѫ → я: еток: ядѝца (Gorno Kotori), едѝца : яжѝца (Popъlzhane). Second, such reflex ѫ (ѭ) → ѩ appears only at the border between the а and ъ subdialects in the direction Babchor – Gorni Kotori – Krushoradi – Popadia. Third, in this same border belt there is no homogeneity in the ѩ substitution: ечмен, заек, паек, паежѝна (Babchor), език, ечмен, ечмено̀ф, за̀ечко, па̀ек, паежѝна : ятъ̀рва, ангу̀ля (Gorno Kotori), език, ечмен, едар : ятъ̀рва (Pъtele). The north isogloss of the variants заек, паек crosses the dialects border and goes deep inside the Bitola territory.

On the Lerin territory one can distinguish prothetic consonants before the continuity of the initial ѫ and ѧ. In the southern part examples with в predominate and in the north – examples with й. The isoglosses in this position do not overlap in all examples: еток, едѝца : яжѝца : ватор (Popъlzhane), яток : ваглен (Gornichevo), въглен : ядѝца (Ekshi su), ватор (Popъlzhane), ватар (Gorno Kotori), въ̀глен, въжѝца (Banitsa, Pъtele).

Traces of the old nasalism are preserved in the lexemes: въндѝца, мъ̀ндро, чомбрѝца, ангу̀ля, тръмба, енчѝ, кло̀мче (Zeleniche), янгу̀ля (Sakulevo), тръмба (Banitsa), трамба, ендрец (Gorno Kotori). As it can be seen, most of the examples are observed on the southern part of Lerin region.

Old Bulgarian Ers (ъ, ь)

The Big Er ъ as a rule has developed in о: со̀н ‘dream’, до̀ш ‘rain’, во̀шка ‘louse’, пѐток ‘Friday’, собѐра ‘to gather’, со (су in the Southeastern periphery) ‘with’. In this, Lerin dialect is similar to other Bulgarian dialects, like Pirdop, Dupnitsa, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad, etc. However, in some words, ъ is preserved: мъ̀ска ‘mule’ (everywherе) – OBg. мъскъ.

The Little Er ь has developed in e: дѐн ‘day’, тѐмен ‘dark’, о̀стен ‘prod’, лѐсен ‘easy’, ста̀рец ‘old man’, цъ̀рвец ‘worm’, as in many words from Standard Bulgarian and from other Bulgarian dialects like the Eastern Rup dialects. However, it is known (Stoykov) that the development of ь is highly variable and Lerin dialect has also ма̀гла / мъ̀гла (in the Eastern periphery) ‘fog’ ← OBg. мьгла, with a preserved secondary Er as in Standard Bulgarian and other Bulgarian dialects like Hvoyna dialect and the transitional (Bulgarian-Serbian) dialects.

For the Lerin dialect, Vidoeski gives some more examples for something that he calls secondary Er and denotes as ъ₂; however, for some unknown reason, he thinks that this ъ₂ can be any vowel like а, е, or even у. From the examples given by him, it is evident that he mixes up several unrelated things.

Starting with the observation that in places where ѫ has developed to а, "the sec. ъ₂ regularly has а: бадник, лага, лажѝца, магла (Sakulevo, Popъlzhane)" and in the villages where ѫ has developed to ъ "the sec. ъ₂ regularly has the same value: бъдна вечер, лъга, лъже, лъжѝчка (Zeleniche), лъжѝца (Banitsa), мъгла, мъска (Banitsa, Zeleniche)", Vidoeski tries to make a parallel between the development of ѫ and the development of ъ₂ (which by definition is Big Er ъ obtained from Little Er ь, see Stoykov). However, from the examples given only мъгла has a secondary ъ per se. Бъдник/бадник and бъдна вечер (бъдни вечер) are not a secondary ъ (development of ь) but a development of ѫ from OBg. бѫдꙑ/бѫди 'something to happen, imminent, future'. For comparison, OBg. бъдѣти – бъждѫ – бъдиши means 'to watch, to be watchful' and is not a secondary but primary ъ. In the latter, ъ is in a weak position before ѣ and has been omitted in the Modern Bulgarian in words like бдя, бдение, бдителен, etc. (see, eg. Mirchev). The other examples given by Vidoeski: лага, лажѝца, лъга, лъже, лъжѝчка, лъжѝца, мъска, are just developments of the primary ъ from OBg. лъгати – лъжѫ – лъжеши 'to lie', лъжа 'a lie', лъжица 'spoon', and мъска ‘mule’. Further examples of Vidoeski are just developments of ь without passing through secondary ъ (or ъ₂ as implied in his text): тонок comes directly as a development of ь from OBg. тьнъкъ (ь is in a strong position before ъ), and does not come from тенок by assimilation as Vidoeski suggests; also а in òган comes as a direct development of the end ь in OBg. огн͡ь, a in добар, ендар, итар, остар are developments of the end primary (not secondary) ъ in OBg. добръ 'good', ѩдръ 'quick, agile', хъɪтръ 'cunning, skilful, experienced', остръ 'sharp'. The same is true for е before р in ветер, итер, остер in the Southeastern Periphery villages Banitsa, Pъtele and Zeleniche coming from ОВg. вѣтръ 'wind', хъɪтръ, остръ. Further, the forms седум, осум are ь developed in у from OBg. седмь, осмь while седъ̀мдесе, осъ̀мдесе (Zeleniche) are at last a secondary ъ developed from the middle ь in OBg. седмьдесѧть, осмьдесѧть. All these heterogeneous examples (except мъгла, седъ̀мдесе, осъ̀мдесе) are erroneously assigned by Vidoeski to ъ₂.

Old Bulgarian Yat (ѣ)

The Yat ѣ has completely developed in е on the whole territory of Lerin dialect which is the fact for all western Bulgarian dialects: бѐло ‘white’, млѐко ‘milk’, стрѐда ‘Wednesday’, бѐгам ‘to run’. Unlike Kostur dialect, in Lerin dialect there are no written documents that evidence an old reflex ѣ → я in Middle Ages.

Vidoeski gives examples of mostly the OBg. ꙗ developing in e stressing that they are limited in number: естелѝт (Popъlzhane), езòвец (Gorno Kotori), èсен, есèново дърво (Popъlzhane), еноàри (Pъtele), ерѝчка (Zeleniche), еловѝца (Banitsa), къшей (Zeleniche), бързей (Popъlzhane), чеша (on the whole territory), чекѝя (Banitsa, Gorno Kotori, Popъlzhane), бучèва (Zeleniche), печèли (Banitsa), баничèни (Banitsa), шаек (Zeleniche, Popъlzhane), together with шеяк (Gorno Kotori), кошèре (Popъlzhane, Nevolyani, Gorno Kotori), синек ← синàк (Banitsa). From these, only чеша is a ѣ development coming from OBg. чѣша (or чаша) and developing in the trivial e characteristic for the dialect.

Vidoeski is not sure if in the above group (ꙗ and ѣ reflexes) need to include ѫ that has developed in e like: еток, еглен, егленàр, едѝца, ежѝчка, ежѝца which geographically are located in the areal where ѫ has reflected in a which could be an example for the reflex я → e. He thinks that this is the same as the reflex a → e without even mentioning the obvious 100% ѣ → e reflex. In fact, the reflex to e is more than 100% because the above examples include also ꙗ → e reflexes. The confusion is complete when in the mix are included ѭ → я and ѭ → ѩ reflexes. The main transition to e is the ѣ → e reflex in the western part of the Bulgarian dialect territory resulting in the large Yat (ѣ) dialect division of Bulgarian language. All other transitions to e are on top of ѣ → e.

Old Bulgarian лъ/ль

It has two reflexes:

1. лъ/ль → ъ in the northern part including Lerin Field, Lerin villages and Gorni sela but excluding Lerin town: жъ̀т ‘yellow’, дъ̀ги ‘long’, къ̀к ‘thigh’, мъ̀чи ‘shut up’, съ̀нце ‘sun’, бъa, вък, мъчи, cъзa, гътъ, жъто but вълна, пълнo (Obsireno), дъгo, жъ̀чка, я̀бъка, къве, пъфeц, сънце but вълк, кълк, пълнеш (Gorno Kotori), вък, въ̀нен, гъте, жътнѝца, я̀бъка, пъфец, съза (Sakulevo, Popъlzhane, Boreshnitsa), мъчѐше, вък (Gorno Nevolyani), жъчка, съза, мъчи, гъта, жътѝца, бъва, вък but кълк, кълни, пълн, дълга (Armensko). But л is preserved before н: къ̀лна ‘to swear’, пъ̀лно ‘full’, въ̀лна ‘wool’ (Shklifovi 2003:20), лъ̀ска ‘to shine’ (in Nevolyani), but бога̀ри ‘Bulgarians’.

2. лъ/ль → ъл in the Southeastern Periphery and in the Lerin town: жъ̀лт, дъ̀лги, къ̀лк, мъ̀лчи, бълва, вълк, вълна, гълтаме, сълза (Banitsa, Gornichevo), кълкови, мълче, гъте, вълк, бъла, ябълко, жълт, дъ̀лгo, пъ̀лн but пъф (Zeleniche), кълкои, жълчка, сълза, мълчи, гълтa (Lerin), бълви, вълна, вълк, мълзиме, дълго, сълза, тълчук, кълк, but яболко and Бòгари (Zhelevo which has Gorna Koreshcha Kostur dialect with reflex лъ/ль → ъл).

Other very rare reflexes are лъ/ль → лъ: слъ̀нце (съ̀нце in the town of Lerin) ‘sun’, лъ/ль → о or у: буга̀рцки (← бога̀рцки) / (бога̀рцки in the town of Lerin, Lerin villages (Babchor)), лъ/ль → ол: яболко, болгарцки. Vidoeski writes about some isolated reflex лъ/ль → ^ъл which he sees as a transition to vocal л only in some lexemes in the Lerin villages Babchor and Gorno Nevolyani: б^ълва, б^ълска, в^ълк, д^ълго, м^ълза, с^ълнце, ж^ълт. However, as a person whose alphabet has been unpossessed of the letter ъ, it is hard to expect his recognition of the different appearances of this letter and the sounds that it represents.

Old Bulgarian ръ/рь

This reflex is ър on the whole dialect territory: дъ̀рво ‘tree’, свекъ̀рва ‘mother-in-law’, пъ̀рсти ‘fingers’, сърце, сърп, вър, гъ̀рсти (Zeleniche, Banitsa). In the villages where ѫ → a, B. Vidoeski records a syllable-forming р̥ (Vidoeski 1999: 134). However for Borèshnitsa, Armenòvo and Dolno Kòtori Shklifovi have recorded ър (Shklifovi 2003: 114-170) and it is possible that this reflex is better approximated by ър or ръ: връ, пръсти.

There is frequent metathesis in the sequence ръ ↔ ър: пъ̀рт, пъ̀рчка, cтъ̀pгa, о̀бърч, гърдѝ (Zeleniche), грътла̀н (Popъlzhane), гъртла̀н (Zeleniche), мръдо̀вец (мрътовец) (Banitsa). As concerns metathesis, it occurs with other sequences in some places with the lexemes: ко̀деле (коледе) (Popъlzhane), пояр (порай ← порой), по̀йлак (поляк), бълда (блъда) (Obsireno).

Vowel reductions

The reduction о → у in unaccented syllables is common in the dialect, especially in the Southeastern periphery: кулèра, пуздèрка, ругузѝна, суàлка, ру̀чук, убèтки, у̀руф, удва̀й, òтруф, нàдур (надвор), Нѝкуль, сòбур, гулèм, in first person singular of the aorist: отѝдуф/отѝду, рèку, дòйду (Banitsa, Popъlzhane, Gorno Nevolyani). In the villages bordering with the Voden and Kaylyar dialects, this reduction is the norm: въ̀тук, вѝсук, мо̀зук, and also мозу̀ци, по̀лук, пỳпyк, свѝук, ко̀нуп, чувѐче (Zeleniche). Cases lie ду̀ри, у̀шче (Armensko, Gorno Nevolyani, Sakulevo, Popъlzhane) but о̀шче (Pъtele, Gorno Kotori, Zeleniche), бу̀мба, пу̀мпа, пу̀здер, кума̀нда, ỳгy (у̀гул), ступа̀нка ‘housewife’, пустѐля ‘bed’, are known in this phonetic form in wider areal of Bulgarian dialects. In the prepositions о → у is readily found too: далèку, блѝзу, ко̀ку, то̀ку, но̀гу, etc.

е → и reduction: вичѐра ‘dinner’, нидѐля ‘Sunday, week’, as in the neighbouring Kailyar and Voden villages.

There are some examples of the reflex a → ъ in accented position which is in the same region as the reflex ѫ → ъ: гъ̀шчи, къ̀пa, мъ̀чка (Gorno Kotori), гъ̀зи (Gorno Nevolyani, Gorno Kotori), мъ̀че (Armensko), бъ̀лда from блада (Obsireno), стъ̀по (Gorno Nevolyani), вѝкъм ‘to call’. Such a → ъ reduction is frequently observed in some eastern Bulgarian dialects (Rodopa, Thrace, and Balkan dialects) and shows the unity of the Bulgarian dialect continuum in that many eastern dialect features transit to western dialects and vice versa, i.e. the Yat border is not an inpenetrble fence.

Omission of vowels is rare, and as far as it exists, it is limited to few examples. In the initial position the vowel о is omitted in the lexemes пашка (опашка), пинци (опинци) and in the substitutional forms вой, ваа, воа, виа. There is some cases with omitted end vowels: Залей вода да с (да се) напия (Gorno Nevolyani), не мож (може) да ида. In the Southeastern subdialect the end vowel of nouns is omitted when the article is affixed: чу̀пта ‘the girl’, рабо̀тта ‘the work’, ядѐйнто ‘the meal’.

At the end of this section, I'd like to give some examples of vowel reduction that are not a reduction (Vidoeski): котъ̀л, opъ̀л, пèпъл, стѐжър, гъзър, ко̀рън, остъ̀н (Zeleniche). It's immediately recognizable that this is the secondary ъ (this time the true one) derived from OBg. ь in a strong position in OBg. words like котьлъ 'cauldron' (ь is in a strong position before end ъ), орьл͡ь 'eagle' (ь is in a strong position before end ь), остьнъ 'prod' (ь is in a strong position before end ъ), корень 'root' (the end ь). In the ѫ → а regions (Lerin Field, Lerin villages) there is a second reflex ъ → а which is characteristic for other Bulgarian dialects like the Smolyan, Teteven and Erkech dialects where the secondary ъ transits to ô and ê (wide o and e).

Development of consonants

Old Bulgarian ть/дь

With the exception of the Southeastern Periphery their successors are шч and ждж: свѐшча ‘candle’ (Gorno Nevolyani, Popъlzhane), свешчо (Sakulevo), свешчарник (Babchor), га̀шчи ‘underpants’, гашчар, разгашчен (Sakulevo, Babchor), лѐшча ‘lentils’ (Babchor, Sakulevo), мàшчеа (Obsireno), машчèа (Sakulevo), плѐшчи, пашчѐрка (Babchor, Popъlzhane), пра̀шча (Sakulevo), врѐшче (Babchor), фа̀шчам ‘to hold’, пла̀шчам ‘to pay’, вѐжджи ‘brows’ (Armensko), мѐжджа ‘border, hedge’, чужджѝна ‘foreign land’, гра̀жджани, са̀жджи, мрѐжджа (Sakulevo, Armensko, Popъlzhane). The verbs of the type фа̀шчам – фа̀штам occur in the Lerin Field and the extreme Southeastern periphery but not in Zeleniche. Elsewhere these forms are фа̀твам, пла̀твам – as in the Kostur and the Dolna Prespa dialects.

In the subdialect of the Southeastern Periphery, their successors are щ и жд as in Standard Bulgarian: свѐща ‘candle’, снощи, га̀щи ‘underpants’, мащѐа (Gornichevo), лѐща ‘lentils’, нощви (Armensko), ма̀щеа, плещи, вреще (Zeleniche), фа̀щам ‘to hold’, пла̀щам ‘to pay’ (Banitsa), вѐжди ‘brows’, мѐжда ‘hedge’, наожда, сажди, чуждѝна ‘foreign land’ (Zeleniche, Gornichevo), чужди (Gorno Nevolyani), чуждинец (Banitsa).

In a few cases, the successors are ш and ж: га̀шник, мо̀шне, но̀шви, но̀шен, нѐмошен, пѐшник, по̀лнош, по̀мош, помо̀шник, плѐшки, са̀нош, свѐшник, межа, са̀жи, чу̀жо, чужѝна (Sakulevo, Banitsa, Gorno Kotori), вежи (Babchor).

Exceptions: кѐрка ‘daughter’, ку̀йкя ‘house’, ке/ки ‘particle for future tense’, а̀ргя ‘rust’ (in most villages), ръ̀гя (in Zeleniche), мѝго (Banitsa) / мѝгу (Popъlzhane) /мѐгю ‘between’ everywhere (Korolov 2018:112). That these exceptions are newer is evident by the fact that thes lexemes have doublets: ку̀йкя – къ̀шча, врѐйкя (Gornichevo, Popъlzhane) – врѐще (Zeleniche) – врѐшче (Babchor); нокя (Gorno Nevolyani) – ношкя, ношя (Babchor); ръгя (Armensko, Gornichane, Popъlzhane, Gorno Kotori) – ръжа (Babchor).

Old Bulgarian чрь/чрѣ

A specific for the Lerin region is the reflex чрь/чрѣ → цър/цере: църно ‘black’, цървѐно ‘red', цѐрепна ‘clay baking plate’, церѐо ‘intestine’ (Babchor, Gorno Kotori), цирево (Zeleniche) but црево (Hasanovo), црепна (Armensko) and чрео (Gorno Nevolyani). However, the older sequence чере- is preserved in черѐша ‘cherry’ (Babchor, Zeleniche), черешар (Babchor), череши (Popъlzhane) or is modified to стре- : стреша (Sakulevo, Pъtele, Banitsa) by dissimilation through цреша → среша → стреша (the group -ср- is completed with т). Obviously for the case with цере- there is a crossing with the group цре-, which is characteristic for the neighbouring Bitola and Voden dialects, and чере-. That this is a cross-dialect phenomenon is also shown by the geographical distribution of the цере- group. It is found on the entire border between Bitola and Lerin-Kostur area, and on the Bitola area up to the line Bareshani – Bukovo – Dihovo – Gjavato.

Loss of softness

It concerns mainly the sounds нь, кь, зь which transit to the respective hard sounds н, к, з either by simple hardening or by anticipation of й: бра̀йкя ‘brothers’, сва̀йкя ‘inlaws’, ко̀йн/ко̀йни ‘horse/horses’, одѐйне ‘going’, ядѐйне ‘eating’, вика̀йне ‘shouting’. Hardening of нь occurs especially often: кон, бана, Баница, – койн, койнцко, байна (Popъlzhane), дейна, ядейне (Gorno Kotori), сирейне, дуйна, койн (Zeleniche), койнар, камейна, ядейне, пилийня – пилина, дечина (Sakulevo), дейна, орайне, телийна (Gornichevo), койн, дечина (Pъtele). In some places sometimes й is not anticipated but remains after н creating soft end vowel: мъня, тиня, тръня, but байна, сайна (Popъlzhane), телиня, теминя but ядейне (Gorno Kotori), синяк, търня, but койн, байна (Zeleniche), тръня (Pъtele). It is probably a tendency in this type of formation to make the suffix -я (трън: трън-я) independent.

Taking the phenomenon of й anticipation into a historical aspect, it is jumping of iota (ı) over the respective consonant. Old Bulgarian has several sounds that denote softness: ь that gives softness to consonants, and the soft (ioted) vowels: ꙗ, ѥ, ѩ, ѭ. To these one can add ѣ when it reflects in я. In the dialect, ь or some of the iotas from the vowels jumps over the preceding consonant making a vowel diphtong and leaving (usually) a hard end vowel. For example, OBg. кон͡ь ь jumps over н and it becomes койн; OBg. кон҄ꙗ ı jumps over н and becomes койна. The example with лойзе (Sakulene, Gorno Kotori) ← лозье (Zeleniche) is a little harder to figure out because in OBg. лоӡьѥ one cannot say if ь or ı jumps in front of ӡ. geographical distribution of the цере- group. It is found on the entire border between Bitola and Lerin-Kostur area, and on the Bitola area up to the line Bareshani – Bukovo – Dihovo – Gjavato.

Loss or substitution of х

The sound х has been found only in the lexemes: стомах (Banitsa), духо̀вден (Zeleniche), хазната (Gorno Nevolyani). In other cases, it is lost or is substituted with another phoneme. x was lost completely in all cases in initial position. In intervocalic position only in the sequences with у as the first member, x is replaced by в: глуво, мува, сувар, паз̀ува, руво, уво, but уше (Babchor, Armensko). In other cases х is lost too: снаа, стреа, ойдо̀а, etc. One finds a greater variety in connection with this sound in final position and before a consonant. In the northern part of the dialect, especially on the border with the Bitola dialect, at the end place x usually is substituted by ф: меф, Влаф, граф, праф, моф, буф, рекуф, викаф, змеф, ореф, очуф, пердуф, суф and only in some examples х is omitted: връ̀, стра̀ (Armensko), стра̀, сирома̀, нѝ (Sakulovo). In the southern part of the area x → ф regularly when it is behind the vowel у: буф – буфови, глуф, суф, кожуф, пердуф (Babchor), глуф, кожуф (Banitsa), суф, очуф (Zeleniche). After а, in most cases x was completely lost, while the vowel а got a little longer: Вла:, вра:, cтpa:, сирома: (Gorno Nevolyani, Gorno Kotori, Banitsa, Zeleniche). It is the same after и and р: връ̀:, въ̀р. After е in separate examples in different places different results can be found: грей, орей : меф (Banitsa), ме: (Zeleniche), орей : гре: : змеф (Gorno Kotori), ореф 'the fruit': орай/орей 'the tree' (Zeleniche). In the first person single in the past definite tense in Gorni sela and Lerinsko ф is found: викна̀ф, дойду̀ф (Armensko), пулѐф (Lerin), има̀ф (Gorno Kotori), and in the eastern part this form is with deleted х: викна, реку (Hasanovo), дойду (Popъlzhane), изгоре, дойду (Zeleniche), бе (Pъtele). In the dialect of the village of Babchor, in this separated form, x is replaced by к: викна̀к, падна̀к, умрѐк, собра̀к, напииса̀к, напра̀вик, о̀йдук, рѐкук but ойду, реку (aorist), сѐдек, я̀дек, у̀чек, спѝек, пѐек, вѝкек, са̀кек, less often вике, саке (for verbs from the a-group).

Even before a consonant, in the largest number of cases, x was completely lost in most of the Lerin area. Cf. дуна, здина, ма:на, оглу̀на, нино, мула (Sakulevo), чели (Armensko), мулия, мульосан (Popъlzhane). Also x is regularly lost in first and second tense plural in the past definite time in the whole territory: бѐ:ме – бѐ:те, седна̀:ме, рѐко:ме – рѐко:те (Babchor), викна̀:ме, викна̀:те, дойдо̀:ме (Zeleniche), видо̀:ме – видо̀:те (Hasanovo), згрешѝ:ме – згрешѝ:те (Gorno Kotori), отидо̀:ме (Gorno Nevolyani). In this position x is replaced by ф in the lexemes: о̀фтика, нофти (← нохти ← нокти), пифтѝа, тофтабѝта (in the whole territory), and in some examples in Gorni sela and northern villages: буфна, пафна, крефко, пофтѝ (Sakulevo). In several examples x → й: мейлем, чейли (on a larger area), in addition to чели (Zeleniche, Eshki su), нийно (Popъlzhane).

дз and джь

The old дз is in thе same positions where it alternates with г, e.g. нодзи, полодзи, беледзи (:нога, полог, белег), бладзе (: благ). In паядзи (Zeleniche) this is by analogy. In a number of cases, a new дз from з was obtained phonetically on the Lerin terrain with the sonants л, р and with в: cълдза (Gorno Kotori), дзвезда, дзвонец, дзвиска (Gorno Nevolyani, Gorno Kotori), then in одзгора (Obsireno), and in some other lexemes: дзевгар (Popъlzhane, Goreshnitsa), будза (Zeleniche), будзи (Gorno Nevolyani).

The affricate джь is new from a historical point of view. Except in foreign lexemes, it also occurs in place of ж before the diminutive suffix -e in nouns where ж alternates with г: ноджье, бреджье, полоджье, стоджье, роджье (: нога, брег, стог). So in this position the old correlation г : ж changed to г : джь. Apart from that, in a wider area, джь also occurs in the sequence жджь: вежджьи, сажджьи, etc., or without ж in глуджьо (Zeleniche); also стеджьер (Babchor, Gorno Kotori, Sakulevo).

Consonant changes

The consonant changes relevant to the dialect differentiation of Lerin dialects:

• the replacement of the groups бн and вн into мн: демне - демни, земни - гламница, огламник, одамна, племна (Sakulevo) but плевна in Popъlzhane, мнук (Obsirene) but внук (Sakulevo) and фнук in Gorno Kotori, Zeleniche, Pъtele;
• the affrication of с into ц in the пс group: пцовиса Gornichevo, пцоиса Popъlzhane but also стипса Pъtele, стипс (Sakulevo), тепсиа (Gornichevo, Zeleniche), as well as in sequences of consonant + ск(и): волцко, леринцки, etc.;
• the affrication of ш into ч in the sequence пч: пченица, пченка (Gornichevo) but ченка, ченица;
• the assimilation of ш in the sequence сч: мошче, фешче, пояшче.
• In most places к, г, л spontaneously are slightly softened before front vowels. In the Lerin Field, in the dialects of some villages, a middle (alveolar) l has developed (Shklifov, Shklifova 2003: 23).
• In Nevolyani the middle velar l has become ў: гўа̀ата ме бо̀ли ‘I have a headache’; this is similar to the Graovo dialect in Pernik and a small neighbourhood around that town.

The other smaller changes that occur in individual lexemes are marked through the examples: врапец (: врапци) Zelenichevo, обрасо (: обрас) Pъtele; грътлан Popъlzhane, гъртлан Zelenichevo; доцкна Pъtele; лувеница (лубеница) Armensko, чежма (чешма) Zelenichevo, Pъtele, шлифкова ракиа Gorno Kotori.

The consonant alternations more characteristic in the Lerin area are the following: г: дз in nouns and adjectives: нодзе/нодзи, белего: беледзи, полого: полодзите, пaeгo: паядзите, благо: бладзи, also благи; г : джь before the diminutive suffix -e in nouns: нога : ноджье, брего: бреджье and рого : роджьина; ш : с and ж : з for verbs in the present and past definite tense forms: пиши : (на)писа, кажи : каза, etc.

Dropping consonants

Cases in which individual consonants were lost are common. In the intervocalic position, the consonants в, й, д are often omitted in Lerin dialect, and in a more limited number of examples, also г, к, з, м.

The loss of the consonants в, й, д is a living process in Lerin dialect as well. The process of losing в is the most advanced. This sound is lost under the same phonetic conditions as in western Bulgarian dialects: /ови/ блюдои, носои, цоиса (пцовиса), сливоица, суроица, пасоишче, /ове/ поесмо, пойке (повеке), чоек - чойек, Кучкоини (Кучковени), пoйли (повели), /ова/ тоа, тоар, коално, негоата, вуйкоа, осноа, /ово/ дедо: (дедово), буко: (буково), него: (негово), /иво/ биолица, лиот, жиот, /ево/Неолани, налеок, пилeo месо, чрео, /аво/ крастао - красто: (краставо), убо: (убаво), /ави/ валаица (валавица), ракаи, капаица, праиш (правиш) Sakulevo, /ава/ пpaям (праам ← правам), гла: (глава), уба: (убава), /аве/ лепаец, тегаец Popъlzhane, Sakulevo, Armensko.

The loss of the consonant в as an active process took hold where ѫ → а. Further in the Southeastern Periphery the cases with lost в become more limited. The cases with lost в in the plural suffix /ovi/ have penetrated the most: уба̀й ‘beautiful’, лѐо ‘left’, воло̀й ‘oxen’, гла̀а ‘head’, ножои, лебои Zeleniche, but столови, волови, върови.

The sonant й is lost in the group /oйa/ in verbs of the type броам - броат, стоат, кроат, very often it is absent from the group ия: пиан, спиат, приател Sakulevo, in separate lexemes and in other groups: одаата, toponym Осоо (: ocoй), Одаата Sakulevo.

The consonant д is lost in an intervocalic position in some verbs, e.g. яйш (ядиш), грейш (гредиш), а зе (зеде) чупата, then in decimal numbers: двайсе, пеесе Sakulevo.

The sounds м, г, к, з, х are dropped in several lexemes, e.g.: зеам (земам) Popъlzhane, иям (имам) Armensko, Popъlzhane; лайца (лажица); Нереище (Нерезище) Banitsa; коа, сеа, нео о but него го, друите (другите) Sakulevo; туа Gorno Nevolyani, деа беше (дека) Sakulevo, Armensko.

In consonant groups, the following are omitted: в before д in the lexemes доец Obsirene, довец Gorno Kotori, довица Popъlzhane, надур (надвор) Gorno Nevolyani, before н in натре (in a wider area) and before ч in чера. Very often в is omitted in the preposition 'во': Пикни се там о кофчего Armensko. д is dropped in the group дн in the lexemes ено (едно), зайно (заедно) Zeleniche, and before л in сфърле Ekshi su, Zeleniche. м was lost in the adverb ного Armensko, ногу Obsirene, Sakulevo, Gorno Kotori. п is dropped in the initial sequences пц, пч: ци (пци) Sakulevo, цоиса Gorno Nevolyani, цоисан Sakulevo, ченица, ченка, ченкен Gorno Kotori, but not everywhere: пцовиса, пченица, пченка Gorichane.

Almost in all Lerin dialect areas, т is dropped at the end in the groups ст, щ: гръс, пръс, лис, приш. In numerous cases т is dropped at the end of word forms and after a vowel: госпо, in addition to госп, папра, креве (кревет), лако Ekshi su, наза (назат), напре, понапре Gorno Nevolyani, Gorno Kotori, regularly in decimal numbers: двайсе, триесе, седумдесе, деведесе, четирдесе Zeleniche, as well as in the article morpheme for masculine: лебо, камено.

In initial position, except for в in the preposition 'во' and г in the short pronoun 'го', й is omitted in the accusative form of the pronoun 'таа': А виде жената, а зе сабята Gorno Nevolyani; also: абалкото Pъtele, астелит Zeleniche.

The sound й in an intervocalic position when it is not in a grammatical function is pronounced very weak especially in the neighborhood of front vowels, it is often omitted, but sometimes it is inserted to fill the gap, especially when there is a need to avoid various assimilations. Such hiatic й can be found in the examples: сме(й)а, стре(й)а, машче(й)а, сна(й)а Bapchor, и(й)ам, пра(й)ам, чо(й)ек, Кучко(й)ени, се(й)а (сега), дру(й)и (други) Sakulevo, що ке ми я(й)иш на мене Gorno Nevolyani, попа(й)ата, sometimes also in third person plural of the past definite tense: има(й)а едно дете Gorno Nevolyani, ке бега(й)е.

Vowel quantity

Phonetic lengths in the Lerin dialect occur only sporadically in individual lexemes and they arose in three ways: a) by contraction of two identical vowels, ва: (ваа), та: (таа) Armensko, Gorno Nevolyani, ви:ме (видиме), гла: (глава), сна: (снаа) Gorno Kotori, мина:, лита: (литаа) Gorno Nevolyani, ода: (одаа), сна: Zhelevo; b) with compensation after the loss of x in first and second person plural in the past definite tense in the Southeastern periphery, вика̀:ме, носѝ:ме, вика̀:те, and in some other separate lexemes, e.g. стра:, гpe:, вр:, че:ли Zhelevo; and c) in the sequences [o:и, a:и] which are obtained by dеsyllabizing the vowel и, гро̀бо:ите, була̀:ица, о̀здра:и (оздрави) Gorno Nevolyani.

Accent

In Lerin dialect the accent is free within limits with a tendency to keep to the penultimate and antepenultimate syllable, as is the case in Tikveshko-Mariovo and the Kostur dialects. An accent on a closed ultima can only be encountered in separate lexemes.

The accent fulfills a phonological function only in the morphological differentiation of the present and past definite imperfect tenses in some villages, (present) вѝкате, ко̀пате : (imperfect) вика̀те, копа̀те Pъtele, Hasanovo, Gorno Kotori, Popъlzhane.

For the whole Lerin dialect, except for the subdialect of Gorni sela to the west and north, the accent usually falls on the penultimate syllable, like in the Kostur, Mariovo, and Tikvesh dialects: чо̀ек – чоѐци, во̀л – воло̀й, жѐна, рабо̀та, дѐте, детѐнце. But the addition of definite article and present verb suffixes does not change the place of the accent: чо̀ек –чо̀еко, чоѐци – чоѐците, воло̀й – воло̀йте, дѐте – дѐтето, нѝйа вѝкаме , вѝйа ка̀жвате.

In the extreme Southeastern Periphery, some words have an accent on the last syllable: едѐн ‘one’ (Prekopana, Ekshi su), една̀ ‘one (feminine gender)’, еднѝ ‘ones, some’, заграбèй, покосèй (Zeleniche), наро̀т ‘people’, егленя̀р (Krushorobi). An accent on a closed ultima can be encountered also in polysyllabic adjectival formations of -ав, -лив, -ит: козиня̀ф, горчелѝф, естелѝт / астелѝт (Zeleniche), in some compound nouns of the type: белоглàф, твърдоглàф, църноòк, белолѝк, глувонèм, петопръ̀с, листопàт, грозьобèр, водопàт (Popъlzhane), Скочивѝр (Nevolyane), and in Turkish loan words: изѝн, сургỳн, бучỳк, милèт, демèк, катрàн, филàн (Nevolyane). In the subdialect of Gorni sela the accent falls on the first syllable like in the southern Bitola villages (Dragosh, Lazhets), and part of Dolna Prespa and Gorna Koreshcha north of Kostur: свѐкърва ‘mother-in-law’, йа̀тървите ‘the sisters-in-law’, ра̀ботниците ‘the workers’.

In the vast majority of examples, and in all cases in Gorni sela, the old emphasis from the closed ultima has given way to the penultima: чòвек, òфчар, воденѝчар, for adjectives: зèлен, бòгат, for verbs: пàднат, ѝмал, etc. In the forms with open ultima from the same lexemes the accent kept the old place. In that way, a new model was obtained with a new type of shifting accent stabilized on the penultima in paradigmatic words: чòвек — човèци, òфчар — офчàри, воденѝчар — воденичàри, зèлен — зелèна / зелèни, бòгат — бoгàта / богàти, пàднат — паднàти, ѝмал — имàла / имàле. By analogy with these formations, there was a change in accent place in the plural forms and those words that had an accent on the penultima. Thus, the old paradigmatic model for words of the type дèвер — дèвери, кàмен — кàменье, я̀вор — я̀вори, вѝсок — вѝсоки broke and became the same as the previous one, so the model became: дèвер — девèри, кàмен — камèнье, я̀вор — явòри, with adjectives: вѝсок — висòки, бòгат — богàти, etc. The new model (with stabilized accent on the penultimate) included those nouns which form the plural with polysyllabic suffixes: лèп — лебòви / лебòи, сѝн — синòви / синòи, сòн — сонѝща / сонѝшча, рѝт — ридѝшча, and with nouns of neuter gender, such as: пòле — полѝня / полѝйна. The new accent shift in this phase did not extend to the vocative, the counted plural and the definite forms for nouns. Thus the new shifting accent model has the following form:

In Buf, Rakovo and partly in other Gorni sela the second syllable from the end is elongated: свѐкъ̄рва, йа̀тървӣте, ра̀ботницӣте. This feature is shared with the village Nivitsi in Dolna Prespa. The brother-in-law and family of Labro Korolov are from Buf and he could follow the dialect of this village for years. Among the first generation Canada-born refugees from Aegean Macedonia the lengthening of the penultimate vowel is known as "Buf dragging". Vidoeski adds that the elongated penulimate vowel simultaneously plays the role of a second accent to which Shklifovi decisively disagree (Shklifovi 2003: 16-17).

Morphology

There is only one definite article for masculine singular: ма̀жо ‘the man’, ко̀йно ‘the horse’. The article for other forms: сѐстрата ‘the sister’, детѐнцето ‘the boy’, даска̀лите ‘the teachers’, лу̀йгята (to the east)/лу̀гето (to the west) ‘the people’.

The plural neutral gender in nouns ending in -и forms with the suffix -ѝна: пупчѝна ‘bagels’ (← пу̀пче), магарѝна ‘donkeys’, чупѝна ‘girls’ (singular чỳпе); to the west the variant -иня is used along with -ина: ма̀гариня;

The suffix for first person singular present and future tenses is -a: о̀да ‘I go’, сѐда ‘I sit’, пра̀а ‘I do’, йа̀да ‘I eat’, кье па̀дна ‘I'll fall’, but in Zeleniche the suffix is -ъм: о̀дъм ‘I go’, да до̀йдъм ‘to come’, кьи кла̀дъм ‘I'll put’, similar to the neighbouring villages in the Kailyar region.

In the Lerin Field and to the Southeast the suffix for third person singular for the second conjugation is always -e: òн о̀де ‘he goes’, гово̀ре ‘he speaks’, пра̀е ‘he does’, вѐле ‘he says’, кье вѝде ‘he'll see’, while in Lerin town and to the west the forms for the third person singular for the first conjugation is always -и, то̀й мо̀жи ‘he can’, та̀а пѐчи ‘she bakes’, кра̀ди ‘he steals’;

The suffix for first person plural for present and future tenses for all conjugations is -ме: вѐлиме (to the west and to the southeast)/вѐлеме (in Lerin Field) ‘we talk’, кье сто̀риме/сто̀реме ‘we'll do’, мѝлваме ‘we like’.

The plural suffixes for third person in all conjugations are -ат (in the most part of the dialect region). But the suffixes for third conjugaation are -ае (in Armensko, Nevolyani), -аа (in Buf and Rakovo: вѝкат/вѝкае/вѝка̄а ‘they shout’;

Past indefinite tense is formed with the auxiliary verb ѝмам and the neutral gender form of the past passive participle: ѝмам одѐно ‘I have gone’, ѝмаме напраѐно ‘we've done’, ѝмат видѐно ‘they've seen’;

Personal pronouns are: йа̀с ‘I’, тѝ ‘you’, то̀й ‘he’, та̀а ‘she’, то̀/то̀а ‘it’, нùйа/нùе ‘we’, вѝйа/вѝе ‘you’, тѝйа/тѝе ‘they’. In the Southeastern subdialect the pronouns for third person are: òн, о̀на, о̀но, о̀ни.

Additional pronouns are put before the verb and are doubled: му го сва̀ри ка̀фето на ба̀бата . ‘she prepared coffee for the old woman’, ни го да̀де лѐбо ‘he gave us bread’.

The short dative pronoun му is used for the three genders in singular and plural: му да̀де на съ̀ти ста̀ри. ‘he gave to all old men’, му вѝкна на ма̀йка ми ‘he shouted to my mother’.

Lexical features

More interesting lexemes: обѝскам ‘taste’ , чѐнка ‘maize’ , па̀лам ‘to look for’ – but ба̀рам in Gorni sela, съ̀ти ‘all’ – but сѐте in Gorni sela, ба̀йко ‘uncle’ (Southeastern Periphery), стрѝко, чѝче in the middle and west, бърбу̀йна ‘green beans’, ла̀фа ‘to talk’, лѝчен/лѝчна ‘handsome, beautiful’, прѝче̄сна (Buf)/пречѐска (Banitsa) ‘Holy Communion’, грѐда ‘to come’, ну̀нко/ну̀мко ‘godfather’, къ̀шей ‘a bite’, чу̀па ‘girl, maiden’, пу̀пче ‘bagel’, къ̀рша/скъ̀рша ‘to break’, пъ̀фец ‘snail’ (plural пъ̀фци) – the last word is from Popъlzhane, вия̀лник ‘wound banitsa’ (Buf).

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