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I did this for a small assignment for Intermediate Macedonian I at Macquarie University earlier this year and decided that it would serve a good purpose here. I welcome any questions or comments.
Development of the Macedonian Language
The Macedonian literary language has been developed over the last two centuries in a way that has brought it to its current contemporary form in which it is known as Macedonian. From its beginnings in the departure from the Old Church Slavonic language (Comrie, Nelm 1987) to the form it holds today, the Macedonian literary language has proceeded through three stages, each of which have left an everlasting effect on the language (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980).
The centuries pre the aforementioned stages can be catogorised as the period were Old Church Slavonic, as codified by Saints Kiril and Metodi as well as their disciples Saints Kliment and Naum (Ugrinova 1959) was predominant, however, during its decline in the 14th century as well as the use of Greek by the Patriarch run churches in the years succeeding the mid 18th century (Ugrinova 1959) its affect was dampened on the Macedonian people, and gave way for a tangent language. According to Ugrinova (1959), the Macedonian language was first printed in 1794 by Daniil of Moskopolje in the ‘Lexicon Tetragloson’, which had the translation of Macedonian words into Greek, Albanian and Wallachain. This was the first major step for the Macedonian language, specifically the Ohrid dialect, as it gave the speakers of non-Slavic Balkan languages an opportunity to learn the language.
The first stage of the Macedonian literary language can be catogorised by the years between the beginning of the 19th century and year 1913 (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). During this period, there was a substantial effort from external factors, mainly on behalf of foreign nationalism and expansion, in trying to mold the Macedonian literary language in a way that it would resemble one of the languages of the either autonomous or completely independent neighboring nations (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). However, during this period was also the national awakening of the Macedonians, which was said by Temko Popv (as cited in Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980) in 1888 to be so strong, that even if Jesus was to come down and tell the Macedonians they were anything other than Macedonians, that he would not be believed. This strong mentality on behalf of the Macedonians is one of the major reasons that when other nations attempted to establish centers of their own language in Macedonia, they were met with a heavy resistance (Korubin 1959). In this time, as Old Church Slavonic had moved from popular use to almost strictly religious usage, there was still a remnant of the language left in Macedonia and Bulgaria, as well as an ever increasing use of Greek through Patriarch churches; there was a struggle undertaken by the bourgeoisie of both nations to eradicate their use by the general populace, and pave the way for the popular language to become the literary language (Friedman 1985). This ultimately led to the wanting of a middle language between Macedonian and Bulgarian that would become the literary language of both states, as proposed by Zografski (as cited in Koneski 1959). This was however not accepted by the Bulgarians, who would not allow for Macedonian features to be incorporated into the Bulgarian language. Another attempt to incorporate the Macedonian language with another was Stojan Novakovic’s endeavor to create a Macedonian Serbian symbiosis, in which his first and only step was to create a two thirds Macedonian one third Serbian primer 1989, however, after 7000 copies were made, he realised that his idea would not take hold in Macedonia, and rid himself of the idea (as cited in Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). Other than attempts to unify the Macedonian language, there were also authors who decided that the use of popular language was paramount for the Macedonians as a people; these authors include Joakim Krcovski, Kiril Pejcinovik and Krst Misirkov, who used the central western dialects for their works (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980).
The next period of the Macedonian literary language was that of the years between 1913 and 1945 (the years between the Balkan Wars and World War II) (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). According to Schenker and Stankiewicz (1980), this period was the hardest for the Macedonian literary language to develop, as its use was forbidden by the nations that annexed its territories. Stefou (2005) states that, whilst partitioned between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, there were harsh penalties dealt to individuals who spoke the Macedonian language, specifically in Greece were there are known cases of imprisonment, public humiliation and physical abuse for users of the Macedonian language. This period of annexation and suppression also gave rise to a sense of nationalism, not unlike that what was had under the Ottomans (Stefou 2005); with this came a resolution by the Comintern in 1934 to recognise the Macedonian language and distinguished the Macedonians from the neighboring ethnicities. During the period of the Second World War, there was a chance for the Macedonians to again create a Macedonian state under the auspice of Yugoslavia; this was accomplished by the Anti-fascist Assembly for the Peoples Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) who created the Peoples Republic of Macedonia (Stefou 2005). Even before Macedonia’s autonomy was guaranteed, the popular language was being published by various ASNOM organs as a means to keep the Macedonian literature distinct from the Serbian (Koneski 1959).
The final stage of the Macedonian literary language can be attributed to the time of the autonomous state of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia and the independent Republic of Macedonia, currently spanning the 64 year period from 1945 to present (2009) (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). Other than in Yugoslavia, the Macedonian language also flourished in Bulgaria in the Pirin (Blagoevgrad) region between the years of 1945-1948, up until the date of the Tito-Stalin split (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). In the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, ASNOM had decided that the popular language was to become the literary language, however, they used the central western dialects as the base for the language as it had the largest population, largest area, other dialect speakers would be able to adapt to the change with ease, and the most important factor, that it was the most diverse from the neighboring languages of Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek and Albanian (Friedman 1985). The literary language then went through numerous stages of codification, starting from two commissions appointed by the presidium of ASNOM to formulate the alphabet and basic orthographical and grammatical rules which became the first 20 page Pravopis. Two years after, Blaze Koneski and Krume Tosev wrote the second edition with 75 pages dedicated to rules and a 6000 word orthographic dictionary (Friedman 1985). Horace Lunt then created the first scholarly grammar of the Macedonian language in Macedonian and English and the third Pravopis was created in 1970 by Krume Tosev, which had a 148 page rule section, a 30000 word dictionary and an additional 33 page section on the proper transcription of words from foreign languages (Friedman 1985). The Macedonian literary language currently has 31 letters and sounds and is considered a
Great accomplishment in the intellectual field … [as the]… literary language
[has been] developed and perfected to such a degree that is it capable of
expressing even the most complex though and the most delicate sentiment
(Dimitrovski 1959, p.32).
In conclusion, the Macedonian literary language has moved through four stages since the times of Old Church Slavonic to its final destination as the language of the Macedonians. It has endeavored the usage of Old Church Slavonic and Greek on the religious fronts, and Serbian and Bulgarian on the propaganda fronts and currently is considered a separate language by most if not all international organisations.
Reference List
Comrie, B, Nelm, C 1987, The World’s Major Languages, London.
Dimitrovski, T 1959, ‘The Macedonian Literary Language Today’, The Macedonian Literary Language, Belgrade
Friedman, A 1985, The Sociolinguistics of the Literary Macedonian, Amsterdam
Koneski, B 1959, ‘The Problems of the Macedonian Literary Language During the Ninteenth and Early Tweentieth Centuries,The Macedonian Literary Language, Belgrade
Korubin, B 1959, ‘The Macedonian Literary Language in its Definitive form’, The Macedonian Liteary Language, Belgrade.
Schenker, AM, Stankiewicz, E 1980, ‘The Slavic Literary Languages: Formation and Development’, Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies, New Haven.
Stefou, C 2005, History of the Macedonian people from the ancient times to the present, Webcom, Toronto
Ugrinova, R 1959, ‘Medieval Literature in Macedonian’, The Macedonian Literary Language, Belgrade.
Development of the Macedonian Language
The Macedonian literary language has been developed over the last two centuries in a way that has brought it to its current contemporary form in which it is known as Macedonian. From its beginnings in the departure from the Old Church Slavonic language (Comrie, Nelm 1987) to the form it holds today, the Macedonian literary language has proceeded through three stages, each of which have left an everlasting effect on the language (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980).
The centuries pre the aforementioned stages can be catogorised as the period were Old Church Slavonic, as codified by Saints Kiril and Metodi as well as their disciples Saints Kliment and Naum (Ugrinova 1959) was predominant, however, during its decline in the 14th century as well as the use of Greek by the Patriarch run churches in the years succeeding the mid 18th century (Ugrinova 1959) its affect was dampened on the Macedonian people, and gave way for a tangent language. According to Ugrinova (1959), the Macedonian language was first printed in 1794 by Daniil of Moskopolje in the ‘Lexicon Tetragloson’, which had the translation of Macedonian words into Greek, Albanian and Wallachain. This was the first major step for the Macedonian language, specifically the Ohrid dialect, as it gave the speakers of non-Slavic Balkan languages an opportunity to learn the language.
The first stage of the Macedonian literary language can be catogorised by the years between the beginning of the 19th century and year 1913 (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). During this period, there was a substantial effort from external factors, mainly on behalf of foreign nationalism and expansion, in trying to mold the Macedonian literary language in a way that it would resemble one of the languages of the either autonomous or completely independent neighboring nations (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). However, during this period was also the national awakening of the Macedonians, which was said by Temko Popv (as cited in Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980) in 1888 to be so strong, that even if Jesus was to come down and tell the Macedonians they were anything other than Macedonians, that he would not be believed. This strong mentality on behalf of the Macedonians is one of the major reasons that when other nations attempted to establish centers of their own language in Macedonia, they were met with a heavy resistance (Korubin 1959). In this time, as Old Church Slavonic had moved from popular use to almost strictly religious usage, there was still a remnant of the language left in Macedonia and Bulgaria, as well as an ever increasing use of Greek through Patriarch churches; there was a struggle undertaken by the bourgeoisie of both nations to eradicate their use by the general populace, and pave the way for the popular language to become the literary language (Friedman 1985). This ultimately led to the wanting of a middle language between Macedonian and Bulgarian that would become the literary language of both states, as proposed by Zografski (as cited in Koneski 1959). This was however not accepted by the Bulgarians, who would not allow for Macedonian features to be incorporated into the Bulgarian language. Another attempt to incorporate the Macedonian language with another was Stojan Novakovic’s endeavor to create a Macedonian Serbian symbiosis, in which his first and only step was to create a two thirds Macedonian one third Serbian primer 1989, however, after 7000 copies were made, he realised that his idea would not take hold in Macedonia, and rid himself of the idea (as cited in Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). Other than attempts to unify the Macedonian language, there were also authors who decided that the use of popular language was paramount for the Macedonians as a people; these authors include Joakim Krcovski, Kiril Pejcinovik and Krst Misirkov, who used the central western dialects for their works (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980).
The next period of the Macedonian literary language was that of the years between 1913 and 1945 (the years between the Balkan Wars and World War II) (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). According to Schenker and Stankiewicz (1980), this period was the hardest for the Macedonian literary language to develop, as its use was forbidden by the nations that annexed its territories. Stefou (2005) states that, whilst partitioned between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, there were harsh penalties dealt to individuals who spoke the Macedonian language, specifically in Greece were there are known cases of imprisonment, public humiliation and physical abuse for users of the Macedonian language. This period of annexation and suppression also gave rise to a sense of nationalism, not unlike that what was had under the Ottomans (Stefou 2005); with this came a resolution by the Comintern in 1934 to recognise the Macedonian language and distinguished the Macedonians from the neighboring ethnicities. During the period of the Second World War, there was a chance for the Macedonians to again create a Macedonian state under the auspice of Yugoslavia; this was accomplished by the Anti-fascist Assembly for the Peoples Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) who created the Peoples Republic of Macedonia (Stefou 2005). Even before Macedonia’s autonomy was guaranteed, the popular language was being published by various ASNOM organs as a means to keep the Macedonian literature distinct from the Serbian (Koneski 1959).
The final stage of the Macedonian literary language can be attributed to the time of the autonomous state of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia and the independent Republic of Macedonia, currently spanning the 64 year period from 1945 to present (2009) (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). Other than in Yugoslavia, the Macedonian language also flourished in Bulgaria in the Pirin (Blagoevgrad) region between the years of 1945-1948, up until the date of the Tito-Stalin split (Schenker, Stankiewicz 1980). In the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, ASNOM had decided that the popular language was to become the literary language, however, they used the central western dialects as the base for the language as it had the largest population, largest area, other dialect speakers would be able to adapt to the change with ease, and the most important factor, that it was the most diverse from the neighboring languages of Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek and Albanian (Friedman 1985). The literary language then went through numerous stages of codification, starting from two commissions appointed by the presidium of ASNOM to formulate the alphabet and basic orthographical and grammatical rules which became the first 20 page Pravopis. Two years after, Blaze Koneski and Krume Tosev wrote the second edition with 75 pages dedicated to rules and a 6000 word orthographic dictionary (Friedman 1985). Horace Lunt then created the first scholarly grammar of the Macedonian language in Macedonian and English and the third Pravopis was created in 1970 by Krume Tosev, which had a 148 page rule section, a 30000 word dictionary and an additional 33 page section on the proper transcription of words from foreign languages (Friedman 1985). The Macedonian literary language currently has 31 letters and sounds and is considered a
Great accomplishment in the intellectual field … [as the]… literary language
[has been] developed and perfected to such a degree that is it capable of
expressing even the most complex though and the most delicate sentiment
(Dimitrovski 1959, p.32).
In conclusion, the Macedonian literary language has moved through four stages since the times of Old Church Slavonic to its final destination as the language of the Macedonians. It has endeavored the usage of Old Church Slavonic and Greek on the religious fronts, and Serbian and Bulgarian on the propaganda fronts and currently is considered a separate language by most if not all international organisations.
Reference List
Comrie, B, Nelm, C 1987, The World’s Major Languages, London.
Dimitrovski, T 1959, ‘The Macedonian Literary Language Today’, The Macedonian Literary Language, Belgrade
Friedman, A 1985, The Sociolinguistics of the Literary Macedonian, Amsterdam
Koneski, B 1959, ‘The Problems of the Macedonian Literary Language During the Ninteenth and Early Tweentieth Centuries,The Macedonian Literary Language, Belgrade
Korubin, B 1959, ‘The Macedonian Literary Language in its Definitive form’, The Macedonian Liteary Language, Belgrade.
Schenker, AM, Stankiewicz, E 1980, ‘The Slavic Literary Languages: Formation and Development’, Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies, New Haven.
Stefou, C 2005, History of the Macedonian people from the ancient times to the present, Webcom, Toronto
Ugrinova, R 1959, ‘Medieval Literature in Macedonian’, The Macedonian Literary Language, Belgrade.
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