Megleno-Romanian | |
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Vlăhește | |
Native to | Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Turkey |
Native speakers
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5,000 (2002) |
Indo-European
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Early form
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
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Glottolog | megl1237 |
Linguasphere | 51-AAD-bb |
Megleno-Romanian (known as Vlăhește by speakers, and Megleno-Romanian or Meglenitic and sometimes Moglenitic or Meglinitic by linguists) is a Romance language, similar to Aromanian and Romanian, or a dialect of the Romanian language. It is spoken by the Megleno-Romanians in a few villages in the Moglena region that spans the border between the Greek region of Macedonia and the Republic of Macedonia. It is also spoken by emigrants from these villages and their descendants in Romania and by a small Muslim group in Turkey. It is considered an endangered language.
Megleno-Romanian is a member of the Italic branch of the Indo-European language family. More specifically, it is an Eastern Romance language, a language formed after the retreat of the Roman Empire from Southeastern Europe. Some linguists consider it to be an intermediary between Romanian and Aromanian, often being considered either a dialect of Romanian, a dialect of Aromanian, or an independent language. It is much closer to standard Romanian than the Aromanian language, suggesting that it split from Proto-Romanian later than Aromanian. Megleno-Romanian has been strongly influenced by the neighbouring South Slavic varieties.