Page from „Ἀρχὴ ἐν βουλγαρίοις ριμάτον εἰς κῑνῆ γλότα ἐρχομένη”, a Bulgarian-Greek dictionary from the 16th century written in Kostur dialect."Slavomacedonian voice" newspaper from March 25, 1944. The newspaper was published in non-standardized Kostur dialect by theSlavomacedonian National Liberation Front during the WWII.
This dialect is mainly spoken in and around the town ofKastoria, known locally in Macedonian asKostur, and in the surrounding Korešta region, (Macedonian:Корешта; in the Kostur dialect: Korèshcha/Корèшча) which encompasses most of the area to the northwest of the town. The Kostur dialect is also partially spoken inAlbania, most notably inBilisht and the village ofVërnik (Vrabnik).[2] The dialect is partially preserved among the ″people of Bulgarian origin in Mustafapaşa and Cemilköy,Turkey, descending from the village ofAgios Antonios (Zhèrveni) in Kostur (Kastoria) region (Greek Macedonia)″.[3] The Kostur dialect shares strong similarities with theNestram-Kostenar dialect and theKorča dialect.Bulgarian linguistStoyko Stoykov regarded the Nestram dialect as a subgroup of the Kostur dialect, part ofBulgarian dialects.[4] Other Bulgarian linguists also regard the dialect as a Bulgarian dialect.[5][6]
The dialect is commonly viewed as one of the most divergent forms of theMacedoniandialect continuum. Today it is primarily restricted to oral communication among native speakers; however, in the past the dialect was frequently used in its written form. As late as theGreek Civil War the dialect was being used in newspapers and other print. TheNova Makedonka (Macedonian:Нова Македонка,New Macedonian Woman) newspaper published in the period 1948–1949, was published both in the Kostur dialect and inGreek.[9] TheEdinstvo newspaper published from 1947 to 1949 also solely made use of the Kostur dialect.[10]
In 2011 a memoir book in the Kostur dialect using a Bulgarian orthography was published in Sofia, Bulgaria.[11]
In theVatican Apostolic Archive is preserved a dictionary called in Greek: Ἀρχὴ ἐν βουλγαρίοις ριμάτον εἰς κῑνῆ γλότα ἐρχομένη from the 16th century, written in Kostur dialect with Greek letters.[12] This title was translated by the linguist Aleksandar Nichev in Bulgarian as "Начални думи у българите, които се отнасят към народния език", i.e. "Simple Bulgarian words, that refer to the common language".[13][14] The dictionary was published firstly in 1958 in Paris, under the title "Macedonian lexicon from the XVI сentury" (in French: Un lexique Macedonien du XVIe siecle).[15] The dictionary reflects features of the Kostur dialect in its old form, the most specific characteristic of which is the presence of theEast Bulgarian dialectal Yat vowel, which gave Ivan Kochev reason to assume that theYat border in the Middle Ages reached as far east as Kostur andKorcha.
The first modern written materials in the Kostur dialect were of different types of folklore texts, such as songs and folk tales, which were collected in the 19th century. TheBulgarian folkloristsMiladinov brothers published 13 folk songs from region of Kostur in their important collection calledBulgarian Folk Songs.[16] InWestern EuropeanSlavic studies relevant to the research of the dialect is the book by André Mazon about theSlavic songs and the dialects from southwestern Macedonia, published in 1923.[17]
The most complete study of the Kostur dialect was written by the Bulgarian linguistBlagoy Shklifov, himself a native of the Kostur region.[18] The first complete dictionary of the Kostur dialect was published by Blagoy Shklifov in 1977.[19] Afterwards, Shklifov analyzed his native Kostur dialect, comparing it and standardBulgarian withOld Church Slavonic, and explained the development of many sounds in Bulgarian language, notablyѫ.[20]
^Македонските дијалекти во Егејска Македонија: (Обид за класификација). Македонските дијалекти во Егејска Македонија: научен собир, Скопје 23-24 декември 1991. Скопје: МАНУ, 1994, стр. 23-60.
^abcdefСтойков, Стойко (2002). "Българските диалекти във Вардарска и Егейска Македония" [The Bulgarian Dialects of Vardar and Aegean Macedonia].Българска диалектология [Bulgarian Dialectology] (in Bulgarian). Акад. изд. "Проф. Марин Дринов". pp. 180–181.ISBN978-954-430-846-9.
^Kocheva, Ana; Choleva-Dimitrova, Anna; Micheva, Vanya; Nikolov, Georgi; Vasileva, Lilyana; Antonova-Vasileva, Luchia; Kaytchev Naoum; Pavlov, Plamen; Barlieva, Slavia; Keremidchieva, Slavka; Tashev, Spas; Aleksandrova, Tatyana.On the Official Language of The Republic of North Macedonia, Sofia, Prof. Marin Drinov Publishing House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2020, р. 51, 52, 55, ISBN 978-619-245-081-6
^Mihaljević, M (2002).Slavenska poredbena gramatika [Slavic Comparative Grammar] (in Serbo-Croatian). Školska knjiga. p. 212.
^Boro Mokrov, Tome Gruevski, Overview of Macedonian Print (1885–1992), Skopje, 1993, pp. 150–151
^Risto Kirjazovski, Macedonian print in the Aegean Part of Macedonia during the Greek Civil War, Skopje, 1971, "History" 8(2), pp. 93–119
^Шклифов, Благой. На кол вода пиехме. Записки за Христовите мъки на българите в Егейска Македония през ХХ век, София 2011, 399 с. [Shklifov, Blagoy. At stake drinking water, Notes on Christ's passion of Bulgarians in Aegean Macedonia during the twentieth century, Sofia 2011] (in Bulgarian)
^Шклифов, Благой. Речник на костурския говор, Българска диалектология, София 1977, с. кн. VIII, с. 201–328 (Shklifov, Blagoy. The dictionary of Kostur dialect, Sofia 1977, Bulgarian Dialectology, Sofia 1977, vol. VIII, p. 201-328)
^Тот, Имре. Предговор към Шклифов, Благой. Проблеми на българската диалектна и историческа фонетика с оглед на македонските говори, София 1995, с. 7–8 (Thoth, Imre. Preface, in: Shklifov, Blagoy. Problems of the Bulgarian dialectal phonology from the point of view of the Macedonian dialects, Sofia 1995, p. 7-8)
Ничев, Александър. Костурският българо-гръцки речник от XVI век. С., 1987, 82 с. (Nichev, Alexander.The Bulgarian-Greek Dictionary from Kostur From the 16th Century, Sofia 1987, 82 p.)
Матов, Д. Остатъци от звуковете ън, ъм, ен, ем в Костурския говор. – Книжици, 1889, No. 1, 17 – 26.
Видоески, Божидар – Фонолошки опис на говорот на село Тиолишча (Костурско). Прилози МАНУ, 4, 1979, No.2, 5–16.
Королов, Лари-Лабро (Канада) Развоят на праславянските *tj/ktj и *dj/gdj в диалектите на четири села в Югозападна Македония, Македонски преглед, 2018, кн. 4 с. 109 – 116
Королов, Лари-Лабро Бележка за формите на лексемата „български“ в диалектите на Югозападна и Южна Централна Македония Македонски преглед, 2020, кн. 1 c. 145 – 148
Королов, Лари-Лабро (Канада). Диалектен текст от село Въмбел, Костурско. Свидетелство за миналото на българите в южна Македония през първата половина на XX век. // Македонски преглед XLV (3). 2022. с. 68 - 79.
Королов, Лари –Лабро. „Два диалектни текста с исторически свидетелства от селата Габреш и Дреновени, Костурско“, Македонски преглед, година XLVI/2, 2023, стр. 143 - 154
Шклифов, Благой. Глаголната система на костурския говор. – Език и литература, 1967, No. 3, 82 – 91.
Шклифов, Благой. Фразеологичен речник на село Черешница, Костурско, София, 2016 (Shklifov, Blagoy. Phraseological Dictionary of the Dialect of the Village of Chereshnitsa, Kostur District. Sofia, 2016)
Шклифов, Благой.Речник на костурския говор, Българска диалектология, Българска диалектология, София 1977, с. кн. VIII, с. 201 – 328. (Shklifov, Blagoy. Dictionary of the Kostur Dialect, Bulgarian Dialectology, Sofia, 1977.
Шклифов, Благой. Български диалектни текстове от Егейска Македония, София 2003, 287 с., в съавторство с Екатерина Шклифова (Shklifov, Blagoy, Shklifova, Ekaterina. Bulgarian Dialect Texts from Aegean Macedonia, Sofia, 2003.
Шклифов, Благой. Глаголната система на костурския говор. – Език и литература, 1967, No. 3, 82 – 91.
1 Also considered a dialect ofBulgarian.2 Considered to be a part of the transitionalTorlak dialect and as a subdialect of Bulgarian, Macedonian, andSerbo-Croatian.
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