THE KYSTENDIL WRITER GEORGI DIMITROV AND HIS OBSERVATIONS FROM THE LATE 19th CENTURY ON THE EASTERN BULGARIAN DIALECTS

Abstract

In the first volume of “Principality of Bulgaria in terms of history, geography and ethnography” (1894) the Kyustendil writer and teacher Georgi Dimitrov into the texture of the narrative about Bulgarian history, traditions and customs, also weaves a description of the dialects of the regions, towns and villages about which he collected information during his many years of touring the Bulgarian lands. Along with the description of certain western and especially north-western Bulgarian dialects he grants a special place of attention to the eastern Bulgarian dialects. The dialectological notes he prepared are rich with numerous phonetical, morphological and lexical peculiarities including examples and characteristics from Balkan dialects as the ones of Erkech, Teteven, Koprivshtitsa, Kotel, Tarnovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa; Moesian dialects as ones of Shumen, Razgrad, Byala, Russe; and some Rup (mostly Thracian and Rhodope) dialects.The dialectological observations and notes of G. Dimitrov on the Eastern Bulgarian dialects, published before the major works on Bulgarian dialectology by Benyo Tsonev and Lyubomir Miletich, are not only evidence of the living Bulgarian spoken language of the second half of the 19th century, but also a valuable contribution to the history of Bulgarian dialectology.