Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Conflicting Nationalist Discourses in the Balkan Slavic Language Area

  • Chapter
The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders

Abstract

See More

The Balkan Slavic language area forms the south-eastern part of the South Slavic dialect continuum. This area consists of the Bulgarian and Macedonian languages and the south-eastern dialects of Serbian (the Torlak or Prizren-Timok dialects). As all the Balkan Slavic dialects are part of the Balkan linguistic area,1 the external boundaries of the Balkan Slavic area can be defined in terms of certain structural features, which are referred to as Balkanisms. The important Balkanisms in Balkan Slavic are the loss of the infinitive, the loss of case declension, and the use of enclitic definite articles. In addition to the Balkan Slavic languages, the Balkan linguistic area encompasses the Balkan Romance languages, Greek, Albanian, and the Vlax and Balkan dialects of Romani (Lindstedt 2000; Asenova 2002).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

') var buybox = document.querySelector("[data-id=id_"+ timestamp +"]").parentNode var buyingOptions = buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option") ;[].slice.call(buyingOptions).forEach(initCollapsibles) var buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth = 480 function initCollapsibles(subscription, index) { var toggle = subscription.querySelector(".buying-option-price") subscription.classList.remove("expanded") var form = subscription.querySelector(".buying-option-form") var priceInfo = subscription.querySelector(".price-info") var buyingOption = toggle.parentElement if (toggle && form && priceInfo) { toggle.setAttribute("role", "button") toggle.setAttribute("tabindex", "0") toggle.addEventListener("click", function (event) { var expandedBuyingOptions = buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option.expanded") var buyboxWidth = buybox.offsetWidth ;[].slice.call(expandedBuyingOptions).forEach(function(option) { if (buyboxWidth <= buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth && option != buyingOption) { hideBuyingOption(option) } }) var expanded = toggle.getAttribute("aria-expanded") === "true" || false toggle.setAttribute("aria-expanded", !expanded) form.hidden = expanded if (!expanded) { buyingOption.classList.add("expanded") } else { buyingOption.classList.remove("expanded") } priceInfo.hidden = expanded }, false) } } function hideBuyingOption(buyingOption) { var toggle = buyingOption.querySelector(".buying-option-price") var form = buyingOption.querySelector(".buying-option-form") var priceInfo = buyingOption.querySelector(".price-info") toggle.setAttribute("aria-expanded", false) form.hidden = true buyingOption.classList.remove("expanded") priceInfo.hidden = true } function initKeyControls() { document.addEventListener("keydown", function (event) { if (document.activeElement.classList.contains("buying-option-price") && (event.code === "Space" || event.code === "Enter")) { if (document.activeElement) { event.preventDefault() document.activeElement.click() } } }, false) } function initialStateOpen() { var buyboxWidth = buybox.offsetWidth ;[].slice.call(buybox.querySelectorAll(".buying-option")).forEach(function (option, index) { var toggle = option.querySelector(".buying-option-price") var form = option.querySelector(".buying-option-form") var priceInfo = option.querySelector(".price-info") if (buyboxWidth > buyboxMaxSingleColumnWidth) { toggle.click() } else { if (index === 0) { toggle.click() } else { toggle.setAttribute("aria-expanded", "false") form.hidden = "hidden" priceInfo.hidden = "hidden" } } }) } initialStateOpen() if (window.buyboxInitialised) return window.buyboxInitialised = true initKeyControls() })()

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adamou, Evangelia. 2012. Social Networks in Greek Thrace: Language Shift and Language Maintenance (pp. 7–32). In: Lindstedt, Jouko and Wahlström, Max, eds. Balkan Encounters–Old and New Identities in South-Eastern Europe (Ser: Slavica Helsingiensia, Vol. 41). Helsinki: Department of Modern Languages, University of Helsinki. Also available at http://www.helsinki.fi/slavicahelsingiensia/preview/sh41/pdf/1.pdf, 24 January 2014.

  • Anderson, Benedict. 2006 [1983]. Imagined Communities. Revised edition. London; New York: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asenova, Petja. 2002. Balkansko ezikoznanie: Osnovni problemi na balkanskiia ezikov sŭjuz [Balkan Linguistics: Basic Problems of the Balkan Sprachbund, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Veliko Tŭrnovo: Faber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asenova, Petja, Likomanova, Iskra, Tisheva, Jovka and Dzhonova, Marina, eds. 2007. Bŭlgarskite ostrovi na Balkanite [The Bulgarian Enclaves in the Balkans, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia: Figura.

    Google Scholar 

  • BDA 2002 = Bŭlgarski dialekten atlas: Obobshtavasht tom [Bulgarian Dialect Atlas: A General Survey Volume, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia: Trud.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belić, Aleksandar. 1905. Dijalekti istočne i južne Srbije [The Dialects of Eastern and Southern Serbia, {in Serbian}, {in Serbian Cyrillic}] (Ser: Srpski dijalektološki zbornik, Vol. 1 ). Beograd: Srpska Kraljevska Akademija.

    Google Scholar 

  • BHC 2005 = Bulgarian Helsinki Committee: Two ECHR Judgments Find Bulgaria Violated Freedom of Assembly and Association. http://www.bghelsinki.org/press/2005/10_20e.htm, 17 February 2011.

  • Brunnbauer, Ulf. 2005. Ancient Nationhood and the Struggle for Statehood: Historiographic Myths in the Republic of Macedonia (pp. 262–296 ). In: Pål Kolstø, ed. Myths and Boundaries in South-Eastern Europe. London: Hurst and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bulgarians in Albania. In: Wikipedia in English. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarians_in_Albania, 24 January 2014.

  • Detrez, Raymond. 2008. Ezik i literatura v ‘romejskata’ obshtnost [Language and literature in the ‘Romaic’ community, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}] (pp. 151–175 ). In: Stanisław Gajda, ed. Tożsamość a język w perspektywe slawistycznej [Identity and Language from the Perspective of Slavic Studies, {in Polish}]. Opole: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Opolskiego.

    Google Scholar 

  • Detrez, Raymond. 2009. Po otnoshenie na Makedoniia bŭlgarite oshte sa mahmurlii [In Relation to Macedonia, the Bulgarians Still Suffer a Hangover, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Kultura. No 10 (2537). Also available at http://www.kultura.bg/bg/print_article/view/15366, 28 January 2014.

  • Dokle, Naziv. 2007. Reçnik goranski (nashinski)–allbanski. Fjalor gorançe (nashke)– shqip [Goran–Albanian Dictionary, {in Goran and in Albanian}]. Sofia: Bŭlgarska akademiia na naukite.

    Google Scholar 

  • ECHR decisions: application numbers 44079/98, 59489/00, 34960/04 and 37586/04. 2011a. http://www.echr.coe.int/echr/en/hudoc/, 25 November 2011.

  • ECHR decisions: application number 74651/01. 201 1b. http://www.echr.coe.int/echr/en/hudoc/, 25 November 2011.

  • ECHR decisions: application number 74989/01. 2011c. http://www.echr.coe.int/echr/en/hudoc/, 25 November 2011.

  • Friedman, Victor A. 2003. Language in Macedonia as an Identity Construction Site (pp. 257–295). In: Brian Joseph et al., eds. When Languages Collide: Perspectives on Language Conflict, Language Competition, and Language Coexistence. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press. Also avalable at http://mahimahi.uchicago.edu/media/faculty/vfriedm/172Friedman03.pdf, 28 January 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Georgiev, Vladimir et al. (eds.). 1986. Uvod v izuchavaneto na juzhnoslavianskite ezitsi [Introduction to the Study of South Slavic Languages, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia: Bŭlgarska akademiia na naukite.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorani people. In: Wikipedia in English. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorani_people, 24 January 2014.

  • Hranova, Albena. 2005. Historical Myths: The Bulgarian Case of Pride and Prejudice (pp. 297–323 ). In: Pål Kolstø, ed. Myths and Boundaries in South-Eastern Europe. London: Hurst and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hupchick, Dennis P. 2002. The Balkans: From Constantinople to Communism. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • IB6 = Istoriia na Bŭlgariia, VI: Bŭlgarsko Vŭzrazhdane 1856–1878 [A History of Bulgaria. Vol. 6: The Bulgarian National Revival 1856–1878, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia 1987: Izdatelstvo na Bŭlgarskata akademiia na naukite.

    Google Scholar 

  • Istoriia 2004 = Istoriia na bŭlgarite, II:Kŭsno srednovekovie i Vŭzrazhdaneto [A History of the Bulgarians. Vol. 2: The Late Middle Ages and the National Revival, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia 2004: Znanie–Trud.

    Google Scholar 

  • Istoriia 2009 = Istoriia na bŭlgarite, III: Ot Osvobozhdenieto (1878) do kraja na Studenata vojna (1989) [A History of the Bulgarians. Vol. 3: From the Liberation (1878) to the End of the Cold War (1989), {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia 2009: Znanie–Trud.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karakasidou, Anastasia. 1997. Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood: Passages to Nationhood in Greek Macedonia, 1870–1990. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Karakasidou, Anastasia. 2002. Cultural Illegitimacy in Greece: The Slavo-Macedonian ‘Non-Minority’ (pp. 122–164 ). In: Clogg, Richard, ed. Minorities in Greece: Aspects of a Plural Society. London: Hurst.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koneski, Blaže. 1968. Makedonskiot jazik vo razvojot na slovenskite literaturni jazici [The Macedonian Language in the Context of the Development of Slavic Literary Languages, {in Macedonian}, {in Macedonian Cyrillic}]. Skopje: Kultura.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koneski, Blaže. 1983. A Historical Phonology of the Macedonian Language (Ser: Historical Phonology of the Slavic Languages, Vol. 12 ). Heidelberg: C. Winter, Universitätsverlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindstedt, Jouko. 2000. Linguistic Balkanization: Contact-Induced Change by Mutual Reinforcement (pp. 231–246 ). In: D. G. Bilgers, ed. Languages in Contact. Amsterdam; Atlanta: Rodopi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindstedt, Jouko. 2008a. The Road to Konikovo: Thoughts on the Context and Ethics of Philology (pp. 168–182). In: Jouko Lindstedt et al, eds. S liubov’iu k slovu [With Love to the Word, {in Russian}, {in Russian Cyrillic}]. Festschrift to Arto Mustajoki (Ser: Slavica Helsingiensia, Vol. 35). Helsinki: Department of Slavonic and Baltic Languages and Literatures. Also available at http://www.helsinki.fi/slavicahelsingiensia/preview/sh35/15.pdf, 28 January 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindstedt, Jouko. 2008b. The Translator and the Editor in Their Historical Settings (pp. 393–402). In: Lindstedt et al., eds. The Konikovo Gospel–Konikovsko Evangelie [{in Macedonian}, {in Macedonian Cyrillic}]: Bibl. Patr. Alex. 268 (Ser: Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum, Vol. 125 ). Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindstedt, Jouko. 2012. When in the Balkans, Do as the Romans Do–or Why the Present is the Wrong Key to the Past (pp. 110–123). In: Lindstedt, Jouko and Wahlström, Max, eds. Balkan Encounters–Old and New Identities in South-Eastern Europe (Ser: Slavica Helsingiensia, Vol. 41). Helsinki: Department of Modern Languages, University of Helsinki. Also available at http://www.helsinki.fi/slavicahelsingiensia/preview/sh41/pdf/5.pdf, 24 January 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindstedt, Jouko, Spasov, Ljudmil and Nuorluoto, Juhani, eds. 2008. The Konikovo Gospel–Konikovsko Evangelie [{in Macedonian}, {in Macedonian Cyrillic}]:Bibl. Patr. Alex. 268 (Ser: Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum, Vol. 125 ). Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lory, Bernard. 2005. The Bulgarian-Macedonian Divergence: An Attempted Elucidation (pp. 165–193 ). In: Raymond Detrez and Pieter Plas, eds. Developing Cultural Identity in the Balkans. Brussels: P.I.E.-Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macedonian Alliance–Aleanca Maqedonasë. 2014. http://www.macedoniansinalbania.org/, 24 January 2014.

  • Macedonians of Albania. In: Wikipedia in English. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonians_of_Albania, 24 January 2014.

  • Magocsi, Robert Paul. 2002. Historical Atlas of Central Europe (Ser: A History of East Central Europe, Vol. 1 ). Seattle WA: University of Washington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marinov, Chavdar. 2009. Ot ‘internatsionalizüm’ kŭm natsionalizŭm. Komunisticheskiiat rezhim, makedonskiiat vŭpros i politikata kŭm etnicheskite i religioznite obshtnosti [From ‘Internationalism’ to Nationalism. The Communist Regime, the Macedonian Question, and Policy towards Ethnic and Religious Communities {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrllic}] (pp. 479–529 ). In: Ivailo Znepolski, ed., Istoriia na Narodna Republika Bŭlgariia: Rezhimŭt i obshtestvoto [A History of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria: the Regime and Society, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia: Institut za izsledvane na blizkoto minalo–Ciela.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marutei Tsurunen. 2014. In: Wikipedia in English.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marutei_Tsurunen, 24 January 2014.

  • Micheva, Tsvetana. 2009. On the History of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (1928–1934) (pp. 80–97). Bulgarian Historical Review. Vol. 37. No 1–2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miloradović, Sofija and Greenberg, Robert D. 2001. The Border between South Slavic and Balkan Slavic: Key Morphological Features in Serbian Transitional Dialects (pp. 309–322 ). In: Victor A. Friedman and Donald L. Dyer, eds. Of All the Slavs My Favorites: In Honor of Howard I. Aronson on the Occasion of His 66th Birthday (Ser: Indiana Slavic Studies, Vol. 12). S.l.: Indiana University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mladenov, Stefan. 1929. Geschichte der bulgarischen Sprache. Berlin; Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narodna volja [The People’s Will, {in Macedonian}, {in Macedonian Cyrillic}]. 2014. http://www.narodnavolja.com/, 24 January 2014.

  • Nikov, Petŭr. 1971 [1929]. Vŭzrazhdane na bŭlgarskiia narod: Tsŭrkovno-natsionalni borbi i postizheniia [The Revival of the Bulgarian Nation: Ecclesiastical-National Struggles and Achievements, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novik, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich. 2013. Voprosy identichnosti. [Questions of Idenetity, {in Russian}, {in Russian Cyrillic}] (pp. 177–182 ). In: Sobolev, Andrej N. and Novik, Aleksandr A., eds. Golo Bordo (Gollobordë), Albaniia. Iz materialov balkanskoj eskpedicii RAN i SPbGU 2008–2010 gg [Golo Brdo (Gollobordë), Albania. From the materials of the Balkan expedition of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the State University of St. Petersburg in 2008–2010 {in Russian}, {in Russian Cyrillic except for the Albanian place-name}]. Sankt-Peterburg: Nauka; München: Otto Sagner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nova zora [A New Dawn, {in Macedonian}, {in Macedonian Cyrillic}]. 2014. http://novazora.gr/, 24 January 2014.

  • OLA = Obshcheslavjanskij lingvisticheskij atlas (The Slavic Linguistic Atlas). 2011. http://www.slavatlas.org/, 24 January 2014.

  • OMO = OMO ‘Ilinden’–PIRIN. 2014. http://www.omoilindenpirin.org/, 24 January 2014.

  • Pomatsi. In: Wikipedia in Bulgarian. 2014. http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8, 24 January 2014.

  • Protokol 2005 = Protokol Zasedaniia Mezhdunarodnoj komissii i mezhdunarodnoj gruppy OLA pri MKS v Krakove (15–21 sentabrja 2005 g.) [The Minutes of the Meeting of the International Commission and International Group of the Slavic Linguistic Atlas at the International Committee of Slavists, Kraków (15–21 September 2005), {in Russian}, {in Russian Cyrillic}]. 2005. http://www.slavatlas.org/files/reports/protokol_2005.pdf, 24 January 2014.

  • RADKO = Asotsiatsiia Radko [{in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. 2014. http://www.radkomk.com/, 24 January 2014.

  • Rainbow = European Free Alliance–Rainbow. Political Party of Macedonian Minority in Greece. 2014. http://www.florina.org/, 24 January 2014.

  • Rainbow (political party). In: Wikipedia in English. 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_(political_party), 24 January 2014.

  • Rajchevski, Stojan. 2008. Sanstefanskiiat miren dogovor 3 mart 1887 g.: Bŭlgariia se zavrŭshta na politicheskata karta na Evropa [The San Stefano Peace Treaty of 3 March 1887: Bulgaria Returns to the Political Map of Europe, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia: Bŭlgarski bestselŭr–Natsionalen muzej na bŭlgarskata kniga i poligrafiia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampimon, Janette. 2006. Becoming Bulgarian: The Articulation of Bulgarian Identity in the Nineteenth Century in its International Context: An Intellectual History (Ser: Pegasus OostEuropese Studies, Vol. 5 ). Pegasus: Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinke, Klaus. 2007. The Linguistic Situation of the Pomaks in Greece (pp. 69–75 ). In: Petja Asenova, Iskra Likomanova, Jovka Tisheva, and Marina Dzhonova, eds. Bŭlgarskite ostrovi na Balkanite [The Bulgarian Enclaves in the Balkans, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia: Figura.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinke, Klaus and Ylli, Xhelal. 2007. Die slavischen Minderheiten in Albanien (SMA), 1: Prespa, Vërnik, Boboshtica (Ser: Slavistische Beiträge, Vol. 458). Munich: Otto Sagner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinke, Klaus and Ylli, Xhelal. 2008. Die slavischen Minderheiten in Albanien (SMA), 2: Golloborda, Herbel, Kërçishti i Epërm (Ser: Slavistische Beiträge, Vol. 462 ). Munich: Otto Sagner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinke, Klaus and Ylli, Xhelal. 2010. Die slavischen Minderheiten in Albanien (SMA), 3: Gora (Ser: Slavistische Beiträge, Vol. 474 ): Munich: Otto Sagner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stojkov, Stojko. 2002 [1968]. Bŭlgarska dialektologiia [Bulgarian Dialectology {in Bulgarian} {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia: ‘Prof. Marin Drinov’.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trubetzkoy, N. S. 1928. [Proposition 16.] (pp. 17–18) In: Actes du Premier Congrès International des Linguistes à La Haye, du 10–15 avril 1928. Leiden: A. W. Sijthoffs Uitgeversmaatschappij.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidoeski, Božidar. 1998. Dijalektite na makedonskiot jazik [The Dialects of the Macedonian Language {in Macedonian}, {in Macedonian Cyrillic}] (Vol. 1 ). Skopje: Makedonska akademija na naukite i umetnostite.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, Christian. 2007. Language and Ethnicity Among the Pomaks in Western Thrace (pp. 76–86 ). In: Petja Asenova, Iskra Likomanova, Jovka Tisheva, and Marina Dzhonova, eds., Bŭlgarskite ostrovi na Balkanite [The Bulgarian Enclaves in the Balkans, {in Bulgarian}, {in Bulgarian Cyrillic}]. Sofia: Figura.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wardle, Diana. 2003. Five Faces–One People: The Sarakatsani in the Balkans (pp. 127–140 ). In: Dēmētrēs Tziovas, ed., Greece and the Balkans: Identities, Perceptions and Cultural Enncounters since the Enlightenment. Hants: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Jouko Lindstedt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of St Andrews, UK

    Tomasz Kamusella

  2. Hokkaido University, Japan

    Motoki Nomachi

  3. European University Institute, Italy

    Catherine Gibson

Copyright information

© 2016 Jouko Lindstedt

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Lindstedt, J. (2016). Conflicting Nationalist Discourses in the Balkan Slavic Language Area. In: Kamusella, T., Nomachi, M., Gibson, C. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-34839-5_21

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-34839-5_21

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-57703-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-34839-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics