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Dialects of the Macedonian language

Macedonian Slavic dialects.png
Dialect divisions of Macedonian
Northern
  Lower Polog
  Upper Polog
  Crna Gora
  Kumanovo / Kratovo
Western/Northwestern
  Central
  Reka
  Mala Reka / Galičnik
  Debar
  Drimkol / Golo Brdo
  Vevčani / Radοžda
  Upper Prespa / Ohrid
Eastern
  Mariovo / Tikveš
  Štip / Strumica
  Maleševo / Pirin
Southeastern
  Solun / Voden
  Ser / Drama
Southwestern
  Lower Prespa
  Korča
  Kostur
  Nestram

The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of Macedonia as well as some varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia. They are part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic languages that joins the Macedonian language with Bulgarian to the east and Serbo-Croatian to the north. The precise delimitation between these languages is fleeting and controversial.

Macedonian authors tend to treat all dialects spoken in the geographical region of Macedonia as Macedonian, including those spoken in the westernmost part of Bulgaria (so-called Pirin Macedonia), whereas Bulgarian authors treat all Macedonian dialects as part of the Bulgarian language. Prior to the codification of Standard Macedonian in 1945, the dialects of Macedonia were for the most part classified as Bulgarian. In Greece, the identification of the dialects spoken by the local Slavophone minority with either Bulgarian or Macedonian is often avoided, and these dialects are instead described simply as "Slavic",Dopia ('Local'), Stariski (old) or Našinski (ours).

Linguistically, the dialects of Macedonia in the wider sense can be divided into Eastern and Western groups (the boundary runs approximately from Skopje and Skopska Crna Gora along the rivers Vardar and Crna) based on a large group of features. In addition, a more detailed classification can be based on the modern reflexes of the Proto-Slavonic reduced vowels ("yers"), vocalic sonorants and the back nasal (o). That classification distinguishes between the following 3 major groups:

Northern dialects

Western Dialects:


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