Maleševo-Pirin dialect

The term Maleševo-Pirin dialect (also spelt Maleshevo) is used in South Slavic linguistics to refer to a group of related varieties that are spoken on both sides of the border of Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia. Some linguists treat them as dialects of the Bulgarian language, while Victor Friedman views them as part of the Macedonian language. According to some authors, they are linguistically transitional between the two national languages, Bulgarian and Macedonian and form part of the larger dialect continuum between them. The dialect group is named after the mountain ranges of Pirin in Bulgaria and Maleševo in Macedonia. When referring specifically to the dialects on the Bulgarian side, the term Petrich-Blagoevgrad dialect, after the two major towns in the area, is also used.

Some Macedonian linguists tend to treat the whole group as part of the Macedonian language, classifying it as part of a southeastern group of Macedonian dialects; others, like Krume Kepeski do not classify it as part of Macedonian, whereas from the perspective of Bulgarian linguistics, the varieties in Bulgaria are classified as parts of the eastern subgroup of the southwestern group of Bulgarian. This dialect is spoken in the towns of Delčevo, Pehčevo, Berovo and the surrounding villages in the east of the Republic of Macedonia, and in the regions of Blagoevgrad, Petrich and Sandanski in Bulgaria.

The Blagoevgrad-Petric dialect is also closely related to the neighbouring Kyustendil and Samokov dialects, and especially to the Dupnitsa dialect, whereas the Maleshevo dialect is closely related especially with the Štip-Strumica dialect.

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