The Kotel-Elena-Dryanovo 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 The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

, 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. Its range includes 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 ...

, i.e. the regions of

Dryanovo Dryanovo ( bg, Дряново, ) is a Bulgarian town situated at the northern foot of the Balkan Mountains in Gabrovo Province; amphitheatrically along the two banks of Dryanovo River, a tributary to the Yantra River. The town is a centre of t ...

, Kotel and

Elena Elena may refer to: People * Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician * Francine Elena (born 1986), British poet Geography * Elena (town), a town in Veliko ...

). 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 also moved south towards

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a popu ...

and north towards

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

and

Targovishte Targovishte ( bg, Търговище, also transliterated ''Tǎrgovište'', , tr, Eski Cuma) is a city in Bulgaria, the administrative and economic capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the low mountain of Pr ...

. 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. The Kotel-Elena-Dryanovo dialect can be divided into three subdialects, i.e. Kotel, Elena and Dryanovo etc. which share many common features and yet have some differences.

Phonological and morphological characteristics

The Kotel-Elena-Dryanovo dialect is very similar to the

Central Balkan dialect The Central Balkan dialect is a Bulgarian dialect that is part of the Balkan group of the Eastern Bulgarian dialects. Its range includes most of north-central Bulgaria (without the regions of Dryanovo and Elena), as well as the regions of Karlov ...

and especially to the Gabrovo subdialect. The distinguishing features of the Kotel-Elena-Dryanovo dialect are, as follows: * Pronunciation of t and d as soft k and g - ''гʲаду'' instead of ''дʲaдо'' (grandfather), ''кʲах'' instead of ''тʲaх'' (them), ''кʲесто'' instead of ''тесто'' (dough) * Specific articulation of the plural definite article -те: as -ти in the Kotel subdialect (''уфсети''), as -кʲе in the Elena subdialect (''уфсекʲе'') and as тʲе in the Dryanovo subdialect (''уфсетʲе'') vs. Standard Bulgarian ''офцете'' (the sheep) Most other phonological and morphological characteristics of the Kotel-Elena-Dryanovo dialect are the same as the characteristics of the

and the general features typical for all

, cf. respective articles for details.

Sources

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

{{Bulgarian dialects Dialects of the Bulgarian language