NEW RESEARCH ON ROMANI IN EASTERN NORTH MACEDONIA: THE MALESHEVO DIALECT
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Published:
Jun 23, 2025
Keywords:
Romani, Macedonian, dialectology, language contact
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Abstract
This article presents new data on previously undescribed Romani varieties spoken in the eastern part of the Republic of North Macedonia, specifically in the geographical region of Maleshevo. We show that this is a South Balkan dialect that differs from other South Balkan dialects spoken in North Macedonia (especially in Skopje), while sharing several features with the Romani dialects of southwestern Bulgaria. This pattern corresponds to the geographical distribution of South Slavic dialects. Following South Slavic terminology, these Romani varieties can be referred to as Maleshevo-Pirin Romani. In addition to describing typical dialectal features, this study pays special attention to borrowings from local Macedonian dialects.
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How to Cite
Kozhanov , Kirill, and Victor A. Friedman. 2025. “NEW RESEARCH ON ROMANI IN EASTERN NORTH MACEDONIA: THE MALESHEVO DIALECT ”. Journal of Contemporary Philology 8 (1), 25-40. https://doi.org/10.37834/JCP258125k.
Section
Special Issue -Dedicated to the study of the Balkan languages
Copyright © 2014 Blaže Koneski Faculty of Philology, Skopje
Journal of Contemporary Philology (JCP)
Современа филологија
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Linguistische Studien, 51: 99–129.
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https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486791
Matras, Y. (2005). The classification of Romani dialects: A geographic-historical perspective. In D. W.
Halwachs, B. Schrammel and G. Ambrosch (eds.), General and applied Romani linguistics, 7–26.
Munich: Lincom Europa.
Matras, Y., and A. Tenser (eds.). (2020). The Palgrave handbook of Romani language and linguistics.
Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Oslon, M. and Kožanov. K. (in prep.). Ėtimologičeskij slovarʼ cyganskogo jazyka (obščecyganskaja
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Romani Language and Linguistics. Palgrave Macmillan: Cham.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030
28105-2_4
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Romani language and linguistics, 119–153. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28105-2_5
Beníšek, M. (2020). The historical origins of Romani. In Y. Matras and A. Tenser (eds.). The Palgrave
handbook of Romani language and linguistics, 13–47. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28105-2_2
Boretzky, N. (1993). Bugurdži: Deskriptiver und historischer Abriss eines Romani-Dialekts. Berlin:
Harrassowitz.
Boretzky, N. (1996). Arli: Materialien zu einem südbalkanischen Romani-Dialekt. Grazer
Linguistische Studien, 46: 1–31.
Boretzky, N. (1999). Die Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen den südbalkanischen Romani
Dialekten: Mit einem Kartenanhang. Frankfurt am Main: Lang.
Boretzky, N. (2000). South Balkan II as a Romani dialect branch: Bugurdži, Drindari, and Kalajdži.
Romani Studies 10(2): 105–183. https://doi.org/10.3828/rs.2000.5
Boretzky, N. (2013). Lexikalische Slavismen im Romani. Zeitschrift für Balkanologie, 49: 10–46.
Boretzky, N., Cech, P., and Igla, B. (2008). Die südbalkanischen Dialekte (SB I) und ihre innere
Gliederung: Analyse und Karten. Graz: Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, Universität Graz.
Boretzky, N. and Cech, P. (2016). Der Romani-Dialekt von Prilep/Makedonien. Graz: Karl-Franzens
Universität Graz.
Cech, P., Heinschink, M. F., and Halwachs, D. W. (eds.). (2009). Kerzen und Limonen. Momelja hem
limonja. Märchen der Arlije. Klagenfurt/Celovec: Drava Verlag.
Demir, L. M. and Demir, F. (2009a). Gramatika e romane čhibakiri. Skopje: Romano kulturakoro thaj
edukativakoro centro “Darhia”.
Demir, L. M. and Demir, F. (2009b). Gramatika na romskiot jazik. Skopje: Romski kulturen i
eduktativen centar “Darhia”.
Demir, L. M., Djurić, R. and Demir, F. (2010a). Lavustik romani-makedonikani. Skopje: Romano
kulturakoro thaj edukativakoro centro “Darhia”.
Demir, L. M., Djurić, R. and Demir, F. (2010b). Rečnik makedonsko-Romani. Skopje: Romski kulturen
i eduktativen centar “Darhia”.
language
Elšík, V. (2020). Romani morphology. In Y. Matras and A. Tenser (eds.). The Palgrave handbook of
Romani
and
linguistics, 155–186. Cham:
Palgrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28105-2_6
Elšík, V. and M. Beníšek. (2020). Romani dialectology. In Y. Matras and A. Tenser (eds.). The Palgrave
handbook of Romani language and linguistics, 389–427. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28105-2_13
Fennesz-Juhasz, C. (1996). Tondokumente europäischer Roma. Die „Sammlung Heinschink“ im
Phonogrammarchiv der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. In J. S. Hohmann (ed.),
Handbuch zur Tsiganologie, 311–320. Frankfurt: Lang.
Friedman, V. A. (1985). Balkan Romani modality and other Balkan languages. Folia Slavica, 7: 381
389.
Friedman, V. A. (1993). Macedonian. In B. Comrie and G. G. Corbett (eds.). The Slavonic languages,
249–305. London/New York: Routledge.
Friedman, V. A. (1999). The Romani language in the Republic of Macedonia: Status, usage, and
sociolinguistic perspectives. Acta Linguistica Hungarica, 46(3–4): 317–339.
Friedman, V. A. (2000). Romani in the Balkan Linguistic League—Synchrony and diachrony. In Ch.
Tzitzilis and Ch. Symeonides (eds.). Valkanikē Glossologia: Synkhronia kai diakhronia.
Balkanlinguistik: Synchronie und Diachronie, 95–105. Thessaloniki: University of Thessaloniki.
Friedman, V. A. (2017a). Seven varieties of Arli: Skopje as a center of convergence and divergence of
Romani dialects. Romani Studies, 5(27): 29–45. https://doi.org/10.3828/rs.20172
Friedman, V. A. (2017b). The Arli of Skopje: A perceptual dialectological approach. In K. Kozhanov,
M. Oslon and D. W. Halwachs (eds.). Das amen godi pala Lev Čerenkov. Romani historija, čhib
taj kultura, 210–220. Graz: treffpunkt sprachen – Forschungsbereich Plurilingualismus.
Igla, B. (2019). Balkanski paraleli pri zaemane ot romski: гàдже < gadžó i γκόμενα < gomí.
Săpostavitelno Ezikoznanie, 44(1): 37–44.
Kepeski, K. and Jusuf, Š. (1980). Romani gramatika – Romska gramatika. Skopje: Naša knjiga.
Kozhanov, K. and Oslon, M. (2020). Romani and Slavic contact. In M. L. Greenberg (ed.).
Encyclopedia of Slavic languages and linguistics online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2589
6229_ESLO_COM_032594
Marushiakova, E. and Popov, V. (2001). Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire: A contribution to the history
of the Balkans. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press.
Matras, Y. (1994). Structural Balkanisms in Romani. In N. Reiter (ed.). Sprachlicher Standard und
Substandard in Südosteuropa und Osteuropa, 195–210. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Matras, Y. (1999). s/h alternation in Romani: An historical and functional interpretation. Grazer
Linguistische Studien, 51: 99–129.
Matras, Y. (2002). Romani: A linguistic introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486791
Matras, Y. (2005). The classification of Romani dialects: A geographic-historical perspective. In D. W.
Halwachs, B. Schrammel and G. Ambrosch (eds.), General and applied Romani linguistics, 7–26.
Munich: Lincom Europa.
Matras, Y., and A. Tenser (eds.). (2020). The Palgrave handbook of Romani language and linguistics.
Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Oslon, M. and Kožanov. K. (in prep.). Ėtimologičeskij slovarʼ cyganskogo jazyka (obščecyganskaja
leksika). https://rromanes.org/pub/ЭСЦЯ.pdf (last access on 25 March 2025).
Petrovski, T. and Veličkovski, B. (1999). Makedonsko-romski i romsko-makedonski rečnik. Skopje:
Vorldbuk.
Scala, A. (2020). Romani Lexicon. In Y. Matras and A. Tenser (eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of
Romani Language and Linguistics. Palgrave Macmillan: Cham.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030
28105-2_4
Sechidou, I. (2011). Balkan Romani: The dialect of Ajios Athanasios/Greece. Munich: Lincom Europa.