The Erkech dialect is a

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

dialect, which is part of the

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. It originates from two villages in the eastern parts of the

Balkan Mountains The Balkan mountain range (, , known locally also as Stara planina) is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The range is conventionally taken to begin at the peak of Vrashka Chuka on the border betw ...

, Kozichino (formerly Erkech) near

Pomorie Pomorie ( bg, Поморие ), historically known as Anchialos (Greek: Αγχίαλος), is a town and seaside resort in southeastern Bulgaria, located on a narrow rocky peninsula in Burgas Bay on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is si ...

and Golitsa south of

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. As a result of the mass population movements that affected eastern Bulgaria during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, speakers of the dialect have established numerous colonies in the regions of

Provadia Provadia ( bg, Провадия ) is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Varna Province, located in a deep karst gorge (Provadia syncline) along the Provadiya River not far from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is the administrative centre o ...

Novi Pazar Novi Pazar ( sr-cyr, Нови Пазар, lit. "New Bazaar"; ) is a city located in the Raška District of southwestern Serbia. As of the 2011 census, the urban area has 66,527 inhabitants, while the city administrative area has 100,410 inhabita ...

Balchik Balchik ( bg, Балчик ; ro, Balcic) is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is in Dobrich Province, 35 km southeast of Dobrich and 42 km northeast of Varna. It spra ...

Silistra Silistra ( bg, Силистра ; tr, Silistre; ro, Silistra) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Sil ...

and

, thus significantly expanding the range of the dialect. The most significant feature of the dialect, as in all

Balkan dialects The Balkan dialects are the most extensive group of dialects of the Bulgarian language, covering almost half of the present-day territory of Bulgaria. Their range includes north-central Bulgaria and most of the Bulgarian part of Thrace, excluding ...

, is the pronunciation of Old Church Slavonic ѣ (yat) as or , depending on the character of the following syllable.

Phonological and morphological characteristics

Due to the relative isolation of the two villages in the past, the Erkech dialect has a number of idiosyncratic features that separate it from the other

: * long vowels under stress, i.e. stressed i is pronounced as (''дубиитък'' vs. formal ''добитък'') and stressed o is pronounced as (''коон'' vs. formal ''кон'') * Pronunciation of Old Church Slavonic ѫ (yus) and ъ as long broad е () in a stressed syllable and as a slightly reduced a in an unstressed syllable - ''зп'' vs. formal ''зъп'', ''дажд'' vs. formal ''дъждът''. The

Teteven dialect The Teteven dialect is a Bulgarian dialect, which is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. It is spoken in the town of Teteven and several neighbouring villages and is almost completely surrounded by the Central Balkan diale ...

has a similar feature, although without long vowels * Lack of consonant f which is replaced in all positions by - ''кухар'' vs. formal ''куфар'' (suitcase), ''хурна'' vs. formal ''фурна'' (oven) Most of the other phonological and morphological characteristics of the Erkech dialect are similar to the general features typical for all

, cf. article for details.

Sources

Стойков, Стойко: Българска диалектология, Акад. изд. "Проф. Марин Дринов", 200

{{Bulgarian dialects Dialects of the Bulgarian language