Babyak Dialect - Phonological and Morphological Characteristics

Phonological and Morphological Characteristics

• Broad e (æ) for Old Church Slavonic yat in all positions and regardless of the word stress and the character of the following syllable: бæл/бæли vs. formal Bulgarian бял/бели (white), гол'æм/гол'æми vs. formal Bulgarian голям/големи (big). This is a feature the Babyak dialect shares with the Rhodopean dialects, and especially with the Smolyan and Hvoyna dialects
• Vowel a for Old Church Slavonic big yus ѫ and little yus ѧ (as in the neighbouring Samokov and Ihtiman dialects to the north and the Dorkovo subdialect of the Rhodopean Chepino dialect to the east): зап vs. Standard Bulgarian зъп (tooth), даж'до vs. Standard Bulgarian дъж'дът (the rain)
• ɛ for Old Church Slavonic little yus (ѧ) - as in Standard Bulgarian
• Single masculine definite article -o (as in the neighbouring Samokov dialect to the north): гар'бо vs. Standard Bulgarian гър'бът (the back).

For other phonological and morphological characteristics typical for all Rup or Rhodopean dialects, cf. Rup dialects.