Rup Dialects - Phonological and Morphological Characteristics of The Rhodopean Dialects

Phonological and Morphological Characteristics of The Rhodopean Dialects

The Rhodopean dialects occupy the middle part of the Rup dialects, i.e. the central and western Rhodopes. Due to the mountainous terrain and the relative isolation the speakers which lasted well into the beginning of the 20th century, the Rhodopean dialects are both very well preserved and extremely idiosyncratic with regard to the other Bulgarian dialects. The Rhodopean dialects have the following common phonological and morphological properties:

• 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), голʲæм/голʲæми vs. formal Bulgarian голям/големи (big). This makes the Rhodopean dialects extremely archaic as the broad e is considered to be the original pronunciation of Old Church Slavonic yat
• Full transition of a into broad e (æ) after a soft (palatal) consonant: жʲæбa (frog), чʲæшa (cup)
• Merger of Old Church Slavonic big yus ѫ, little yus ѧ, ь and ъ into one vowel which is different, depending on the individual dialect
• Lack of consonants дж /dʒ/ and дз /dz/ - ж /ʒ/ and з /z/ are pronounced instead: жʲам vs. Standard Bulgarian джам (windowpane)