Macedonian language
Videos
Page
Macedonian is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around 1.6 million people, it serves as the official language of North Macedonia. Most speakers can be found in the country and its diaspora, with a smaller number of speakers throughout the transnational region of Macedonia. Macedonian is also a recognized minority language in parts of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Serbia and it is spoken by emigrant communities predominantly in Australia, Canada and the United States.
Krste Petkov Misirkov (pictured) was the first to outline the distinctiveness of the Macedonian language in his book Za makedonckite raboti (On the Macedonian Matters), published in 1903.
Macedonian police car, with the Macedonian word Полиција (Policija), for "police".
Eastern South Slavic
Videos
Page
The Eastern South Slavic dialects form the eastern subgroup of the South Slavic languages. They are spoken mostly in Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and adjacent areas in the neighbouring countries. They form the so-called Balkan Slavic linguistic area, which encompasses the southeastern part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic.
Front cover of the first grammar book of the modern Bulgarian language published by Neofit Rilski in 1835. Rilski was born in Bansko, easternmost Ottoman Macedonia, a town lying exactly on the Yat border. His grammar was based on the dialect of his hometown and included a lot of admixture from Church Slavonic.
The first complete edition of the Bible in modern Bulgarian, translated by Petko Slaveykov and printed in Istanbul in 1871. The Bible was published primarily in the Eastern dialect. Slaveykov was from Veliko Tarnovo, but his family hailed from Bansko or Yakoruda in Pirin Macedonia.
Front cover of On the Macedonian Matters published in 1903 by Krste Misirkov, in which he laid down the principles of modern Macedonian. Misirkov was from the village of Postol in Ottoman Central Macedonia.
Decision about the proclamation of the Macedonian as an official language on 2 August 1944 by ASNOM.