The yat border
The most famous border in the Bulgarian language is not political but phonetic. It runs roughly from Nikopol on the Danube through Pleven and Pazardzhik to Thessaloniki. East of it the old sound ѣ (yat) is pronounced “я” (ya), and west of it as “е” (e).
- East: бял – бели (white, singular and plural), хляб – хлебове (bread, loaves) (as in the standard language)
- West: бел, леб – and so on throughout the whole western half
The standard language took the eastern pronunciation because many of the writers of the National Revival were from Eastern Bulgaria. Westerners have not forgotten yet.
Some colourful features
- Shopski (around Sofia): „Ние сме си шопи – ако не сме ние, кой ще ни разбере?“ (“We are Shopi – if not us, who will understand us?”) The article is formed with -о: човеко, лебо.
- Rhodope: preserved old nasal vowels and words from the Middle Ages. Plus “ут” instead of “от” (from) and lots of melody.
- Thracian: a broad “е” and long “а”s. Sounds calm and sure of itself.
- Strandzha: archaic and beautiful, almost vanished.
- Moesian (Northern Bulgaria): with the typical eastern “ъ” and vowel reduction.
Between us
Every Bulgarian is convinced that his own town speaks most correctly and all the others speak funnily. Sofians think the people of Plovdiv are slow, the people of Plovdiv think Sofians are nervy, and the people of Varna simply go to the beach.