Macedonian language. Official languages of Macedonia What is the capital of Macedonia
Macedonian is spoken as a primary language by about 2-3 million people. It is the official language of the Republic of Macedonia and has minority language status in Albania, Romania and Serbia. Standard Macedonian became the official language of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia in 1945. At the same time, the main codification of the Macedonian language took place, after which literature in it began to appear. According to 1964 data, about 30% of Macedonians (approximately 580 thousand people) live outside the Republic of Macedonia - mainly in Australia, the USA and Canada.
The Macedonian language is part of the Indo-European family and belongs to the eastern subgroup of South Slavic languages. Its closest relative is the Bulgarian language, with which the Macedonian language has a high degree of mutual understanding. Macedonia has long been part of Bulgaria, and although Bulgaria was the first country to recognize Macedonian independence in 1945, most Bulgarian scholars still consider the Macedonian language to be a dialect of Bulgarian.
The language spoken by the Slavic population of northern Greece is today classified as a dialect of Macedonian. True, Bulgarian linguists consider it a Bulgarian dialect - like the Macedonian language as a whole - but this point of view is rather politically motivated. Unlike the Republic of Macedonia, many speakers of Macedonian in Greece identify themselves as Slavic-speaking Greeks.
The Macedonian language was declared the official language of the Republic of Macedonia at the first meeting of the National Liberation Assembly of Macedonia, held on August 2, 1944. The author of the first official Macedonian grammar was Krume Kepeski, and Blaze Koneski played a leading role in standardizing the literary language. The first document in the literary standard Macedonian language was the first issue of the newspaper Nova Makedonija (1944), and in 1946 the first issue of the newspaper of the Macedonian diaspora, Makedonska Iskra, was published in the Australian city of Melbourne.
In terms of phonetics, the Macedonian language is practically no different from Bulgarian. One of the few differences is the devoicing of final plosives. Another difference is the emphasis. In the Macedonian language it is placed strictly on the antepenultim, i.e. penultimate syllable (except for recent borrowings), and in Bulgarian it can stand on any syllable.
Compared to other Slavic languages, Macedonian stands out for its frankly analytical grammatical structure: it does not have a case system. Literary Macedonian is the only South Slavic literary language to have three forms of the definite article, based on the degree of proximity to the speaker, as well as a past tense form formed by combining the auxiliary verb "to have" and the neuter passive past participle. Like Bulgarian, Macedonian uses double objects and mediatives.
Since the Macedonian language is a close relative of the Bulgarian and Serbian languages, their lexicon has many common words. The Macedonian language has quite a lot of borrowings from Turkish, English and Russian, because at different periods of its history Macedonia was occupied by Turkey, the USA and the Soviet Union.
After 1945, Macedonian linguists began an active struggle to cleanse the language of Serbian, Russian and Bulgarian borrowings. To do this, they took Church Slavonic words from ancient written monuments as a basis and designed them in accordance with the rules of modern Macedonian morphology. True, this struggle was not crowned with particular success, and now in the Macedonian language a wide layer of vocabulary is presented in two versions - archaic (based on the Old Church Slavonic language) and modern (based on the Bulgarian and Serbian languages): deјtsie/deјtvo (“action”), convincing /persuasive (“convincing”), winner/winner (“winner”), etc.
Attracts foreign tourists with inexpensive ski and balneological resorts. The Russian traveler does not lag behind others, and more and more often our compatriots descend onto Macedonian soil via the airstrip. The only official language of Macedonia belongs to the South Slavic language group. Macedonian is spoken by the majority of the republic's two million population.
Some statistics and facts
- In addition to Macedonians, who make up more than 64% of the population, the country is home to half a million Albanians (25%) and 77 thousand Turks (almost 4%). Each nationality has its own language of communication.
- The official language of Macedonia is spoken by at least 1.4 million people in the world. In addition to the republic itself, Macedonians live in and some other countries of the world.
- Macedonian writing is based on the Cyrillic alphabet.
- The largest number of Macedonian speakers abroad can be found in Australia. Almost 70 thousand people speak Macedonian on the “green” continent.
In the footsteps of Old Church Slavonic
The history of the official language of Macedonia began in ancient times with the settlement of Slavic tribes in the Balkans. Linguistic features draw the attention of researchers to written monuments of Old Church Slavonic, preserved from the 10th century. However, the lexical fund of Macedonian consists not only of Slavic words, but also of many borrowings from Turkish, Greek, Serbo-Croatian and other Balkan languages.
Modern Macedonian has three dialects - northern, western and eastern, and the literary language is based on the dialects of the western part of the country.
Note to tourists
The people of Macedonia are hospitable and welcoming and, as elsewhere in the Balkans, there is enough basic English to understand people at a comfortable enough level to communicate. Many words in Macedonian sound similar to Russian and are intuitive even without a translator.
In tourist areas, ski and balneological resorts and in the capital, a significant part of the necessary tourist information has been translated into English. You can make an order at a restaurant using a menu in English, and check into a hotel with the help of an English-speaking receptionist. Not too many residents speak Russian in Macedonia, but some similarity between our two languages will help even those tourists who do not speak foreign dialects get the most out of their vacation.
Macedonian is the official language of the Republic of Macedonia. It belongs to the eastern branch of the South Slavic languages and is very closely related to Bulgarian. Before codification in 1945, the dialects of the Macedonian language were classified mostly as Bulgarian, and some linguists still consider them as such, but this is politically incorrect. Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian are also closely related to the Macedonian language.
Macedonia is located on the Balkan Peninsula. The Macedonian language originated from the language of the Slavic people who settled on the Balkan Peninsula in the 6th-7th centuries AD. e. In the 9th century, the Slavic enlighteners, the brothers Cyril and Methodius, whose homeland was the Byzantine city of Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki) - at that time the cultural center of Macedonia, developed the first writing system for the Slavic languages.
The Slavic dialects were so close to each other that it was possible to create a written language based on the dialect of one region. There is disagreement regarding the establishment of this region, but most likely it was Thessalonica. In the 14th century, the Turks invaded the Balkans and conquered most of it, incorporating Macedonia into the Ottoman Empire. Due to the dominance of the Turkish language, the development of the written language (now called ancient Church Slavonic) of the Slavic population stopped, which cannot be said about the spoken dialects that existed separately from it. As the national consciousness of the Balkan Slavs grew, standards were created for the Slovenian, Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian languages. When the influence of the Turkish language in Macedonia began to weaken, schools began to open in areas where the Bulgarian population predominated, in which literary Bulgarian was studied. The version of defining Macedonian dialects as Bulgarian is confirmed in early texts from Macedonia, written in the local dialect. The authors of these works of the 18th - early 19th centuries considered their language Bulgarian.
Despite the fact that works of literature in the Macedonian language date back to the 18th century, the Macedonian language was only codified in 1945, when it became the official language of the People's Republic of Macedonia within Yugoslavia. Today, approximately 2 million people speak Macedonian. It is the native language of a large part of the Macedonian population and a second language for numerous national minorities in the country. The Macedonians themselves, as ethnic minorities, live in neighboring states: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia. Some Macedonians settled outside the Balkan region: in Australia, Canada and the USA. The Macedonian language is studied at universities in Australia, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, Russia, Serbia, the USA, and Croatia.
The dialects of the Macedonian language are divided into three main groups: Western, Eastern and Northern. The Northern dialect, spoken north of Skopje and Kumanovo, as well as in Dalni Polog, is close to the Serbo-Croatian language. The southern dialect is quite heterogeneous. The Western Macedonian dialect, or rather its central dialects, widespread in the cities of Bitola, Prilep, Veles, Kichevo, where the influence of the Serbian and Bulgarian languages was relatively weaker, is taken as the basis of the literary language.
Additional information about the Macedonian language:
The main lexical fund of the literary Macedonian language, like other Slavic languages, is the common Slavic vocabulary. A significant amount of vocabulary in Macedonian belongs to the Bulgarian and Serbian languages. In political and scientific terminology, the main source and mediator is the Serbo-Croatian language. Since 1991, when Macedonia became an independent state, a language policy has been pursued to replace words of Serbian origin. As a result of the centuries-long mutual influence of the peoples living in the Balkans, numerous Balkanisms - borrowings from Greek, Romanian, Turkish, etc. - joined the vocabulary of Macedonian dialects.
The modern Macedonian alphabet was developed by linguists after World War II. Before this, the Macedonian written language used the Old Slavic alphabet (Cyrillic), and later the Cyrillic alphabet with local adaptation from the Serbian or Bulgarian alphabets. The stress in the Macedonian literary language always falls on the third syllable from the end of the word (with the exception of gerunds, where the stress is placed on the penultimate syllable, as well as borrowings); In phrases, more complex rules for stress placement apply.
Unlike other Slavic languages, the grammar of the Macedonian language is analytical, having lost the case system common to Slavic languages. The Macedonian language has some special and even unique characteristics due to the country's location in the central Balkans. Literary Macedonian is the only South Slavic literary language in which the definite article has three forms depending on the degree of proximity to the speaker, and the past tense is formed by the auxiliary verb "to have" followed by the neuter passive participle in the past tense.
The orthography of the Macedonian language in practice is quite consistent and phonemic and is close to the principle of “one grapheme per phoneme” - a principle expressed in the saying of the German thinker, linguist and translator of the Enlightenment I. K. Adelung: “Write as you speak, and read as you speak.” as it is written."
The terms "Macedonia" and "Macedonian" have been criticized by Greek citizens who have openly opposed their use in relation to the former Yugoslav republic, its language and people. The Greeks even consider the current situation offensive. For Greeks, Macedonian is the ancient Macedonian language, a dialect of ancient Greek. In addition, the majority of the Greek population associates the term "Macedonian" with the northern dialect of modern Greek. Claims by Greek citizens that Macedonia is a historically Greek name and should remain an exclusively Greek term have caused significant problems for Macedonia. For example, in 1994, Greece imposed an economic blockade on the new state, and Greek objections to its entry into the European Union made this task much more difficult for Macedonia.
The legendary Alexander the Great, king of the Macedonian kingdom, forever brought the word “Macedonia” into world history. Now Macedonia is not as large as it was during the empire of Alexander the Great, but, nevertheless, its very name speaks of the great history of this country. Even if Greece disputes Macedonia’s right to bear such a name... Modern Macedonia surprises tourists with its nature, mountains, lakes, and culture. This Balkan country has several thermal and ski resorts.
Geography of Macedonia
Macedonia is located in the center of the Balkan Peninsula, in Southeastern Europe. Macedonia borders on Bulgaria in the east, Serbia in the north, Kosovo in the northwest, Greece in the south, and Albania in the west. The total area of this Balkan country is 25,333 square meters. km, and the total length of the state border is 748 km.
Macedonia is located in the valley of the Vardar River, and yet most of this country is occupied by mountains (Skopska Crna Gora, Pindus and Pirin). The highest peak in Macedonia is Mount Korab, whose height reaches 2764 m. In general, this country has 16 mountains with a height of more than 2,000 meters.
The largest lakes in Macedonia are Ohrid, Prespa and Dojran.
Capital
The capital of Macedonia is Skopje, which is now home to more than 870 thousand people. Archaeologists believe that the first human settlement on the territory of modern Skopje appeared in the 3rd century BC.
Official language
In Macedonia, the official language is Macedonian (it belongs to the eastern subgroup of South Slavic languages).
Religion
About 67% of the population of Macedonia are Orthodox Christians (Macedonian Orthodox Church). Another 15% of Macedonians are Sunni Muslims.
State structure
According to the 1991 Constitution, Macedonia is a parliamentary republic. The head of state is the President, elected for a 5-year term.
Legislative power belongs to the unicameral Parliament - the Assembly (120 deputies).
Climate and weather
Macedonia has a transitional climate from Mediterranean to continental. Summers in this Balkan country are hot and dry, and winters are not very cold. Macedonia has three climatic zones - moderate Mediterranean, mountainous and moderate continental.
The highest average air temperature in Macedonia is observed in July and August - +31C, and the lowest in January and February (-3C).
Rivers and lakes
There are about 50 lakes in Macedonia. The largest of them are Ohrid, Prespa and Dojran. By the way, Lake Ohrid was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in the 1980s.
As for the rivers of Macedonia, the Vardar River flows through the entire territory of this country, the length of which is 388 km.
Story
In ancient times, Thracian and Illyrian tribes lived on the territory of modern Macedonia.
In 356 BC Philip II of Macedon expands the Macedonian kingdom, capturing adjacent lands. The Macedonian kingdom reached the peak of its greatness under Alexander the Great.
During the early Middle Ages, Macedonia was under the rule of the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Kingdom. At the beginning of the 14th century, Macedonia became part of the Serbian state, and then the Ottoman Empire conquered the country. Macedonia was part of the Ottoman Empire for five centuries.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Macedonia belonged to Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria. Then Macedonia, under the name Vardar Banovina, was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
After World War II, Macedonia became one of the republics in socialist Yugoslavia.
Macedonia became independent in 1991. In 1993, Macedonia was admitted to the UN.
Culture
In all Macedonian cities and villages, residents carefully preserve their folk traditions. An example of this is the medieval city of Krusevo, where the traditions of the Macedonians are probably most clearly expressed.
The most popular holidays among Macedonians are New Year, Orthodox Christmas, Great Day, Independence Day, and Ramadan Bayram.
Cuisine of Macedonia
Macedonian cuisine has absorbed many culinary traditions of the Balkans. Macedonian cuisine is noticeably influenced by Greek, Turkish, Middle Eastern and Hungarian culinary traditions. Macedonians eat Shopska salad almost every day - diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and cheese.
Macedonia produces excellent wine, which is no worse than in Greece. Other traditional Macedonian alcoholic drinks are rakia and Mastic liqueur.
Sights of Macedonia
Ancient Macedonia will arouse great interest among any inquisitive tourist. This country has many interesting attractions. The top ten best Macedonian attractions, in our opinion, include the following:
Cities and resorts
The largest cities in Macedonia are Bitola, Kumanovo, Prilep, and, of course, the capital - Skopje.
Macedonia can be called a mountainous country, so it is not surprising that there are ski resorts there. The most popular of them are Krushevo, Mavrovo, Kozuf, and Popova Shapka.
There are many thermal springs in Macedonia; the Turks of the Ottoman Empire knew about their healing properties and built baths in their places. Now there are excellent spa resorts operating at the Macedonian thermal springs - Banište, Banja Bansko, Katlanovo, Kežovica, Kosovrasti, Istibanja, Banja Kočani.
