Macedonian/Special/Lessons/2

In this lesson, we learn about the way people speak Macedonian in Bitola, as well as the grammatical features of the Bitola dialect. Conversation After spending one and a half hour riding in a bus from Ohrid, passing over mountains and lakes, John finally arrives in Bitola where he meets Sarah and Pece. Bus driver: Стасавне! Ај са слегвајте! И покроце! John: (to himself) What does that even mean!? John: (approaches the bus driver) Извинете, пристигнавме во Битола? Bus driver: Да бе бато, шо реков са пред малце? John: Благодарам! (gets off the bus, and enters the bus station) John: Hi, Sarah! Am I glad to see you! How are you? Or should I say: "Како ојт работана?" Sarah: What? Nevermind! Say hi to Pece, and please speak in Macedonian, he's not very good with English. John: Здраво Пеце! Како ојт работана? Pece: Здраво брат! Морам да ти кажам оти се пули оддалеку дека идиш од Охрид. John: Како мислиш? По говорот? Pece: Еми така, одма те чактисав оти поднауче нешто таму. Ај да ве носам. (they enter the taxi, and drive to Shirok Sokak) John: Oh my God Sarah, these people all speak a different language! Sarah: Oh John, your ear is just not used to it! John: Well it was just getting used to охридски, and now it's listening to битолски all of a sudden. No wonder! Pece: Еве сне! Sarah: OK, here we are. Pece is going to show us around a bit, until the bus that will take us to Prilep arrives. (they walk down the street to buy some pumpkin seeds) Pece: Шосторе денес сонце, убајна! Чупина колку сакаш! John: Чупиња? Што е тоа? Sarah: Девојчиња! Pece: Да бе, чупина, чупчина колку сакаш! Ама има и прчој! Cashier: 20 денари, Ве молам! John: Имам само илјадарка, се надевам дека не е проблем!? Pece: Шо прајш со толку пари бе, да не си несалам? Ај јас ќе му платам да не раситнуваш! John: (to himself) Му?! But the cashier was a lady! John: (blushes) Ах, ти благодарам! Cashier: Во ред е, фала ви! Еве, вас ќе ви дам и тро отпојќе семки. (after finishing the seeds they get in the taxi and arrive at the bus station again) Pece: Еми еве, се надевам убо си поминавте! Sarah: Да Пеце, ти благодариме. Се надевам ќе се видиме повторно наскоро. John: Ти благодариме Пеце! Извини што плати ти! Pece: Нема на шо. Ај са ојте со здравје! Чао чао! John and Sarah: Чао! Grammatical features The Bitola dialect has many grammatical features, and we will cover only a few of them. Verb conjugation Some verbs are conjugated in a different way. The irregular forms are in italics. To be The verb to be in first person plural is quite often pronounced as сне, but mostly by people from the villages surrounding Bitola. The rest is conjugated in a regular way. singular plural 1st јас сум ние сне 2nd ти си вие сте 3rd (m) тој е тие се 3rd (f) та е тие се 3rd (n) то е тие се To give The verb to give in the future tense is conjugated somewhat differently, in an abbreviated way, and is often hard to understand to outsiders. Similarly conjugated verbs include to eat, to put, to do, to know and others. singular plural 1st ќе дам ќе дајме 2nd ќе дајш ќе дајте 3rd ќе дај ќе дат To go The verb to go in the future tense is conjugated seemingly differently, in an extremely abbreviated way, and is often very hard to understand to outsiders. singular plural 1st ќом ќојме 2nd ќојш ќојте 3rd ќој ќе одат To write The verb to write and other verbs containing -увам are shortened to -(в)ам singular plural 1st пишам пишиме 2nd пишиш пишите 3rd пиши пишат Examples Ќом да јам, па ќом да му дам пари на Драги, па ќе си дом дома. Ние што сне од село, не знајме добро да пишиме, ама зато децата на школо си ги запишваме. Plural In Bitola, the plural is made in a different way than standard Macedonian. Masculine nouns form the plural by adding an -ој instead of -ови or -еви, whereas neuter nouns add a -на instead of -ња. For example, instead of дечиња, one would say дечина. Or instead of цареви, one would say царој. Examples Тука има многу дечина, ама и постари прчој. Pronouns Some pronouns are quite different in comparison to standard Macedonian. The irregular forms are in italics. Personal pronouns Pronouns are pretty much regular, with the exception of таа, which is replaced with та, and тоа which is replaced with то. singular plural 1st јас ние 2nd ти вие 3rd (m) тој тие 3rd (f) та тие 3rd (n) то тие Indirect object The feminine indirect object in third person singular, as well as the indirect object in third person plural are simply shortened to му, and not only. There are quite many irregularities, and other Macedonians are to known to look a person from Bitola in a strange way when they use the pronouns in such a manner. This is a table of how the indirect object is formed. singular plural 1st мене ми нас ни 2nd тебе ти вас ви 3rd (m) него му нив му 3rd (f) неа му нив му Examples Му дадовме пари неа, а та нас не ни врати. Му реков на мајка ми дека ќе се вратам до пет. Vocabulary стаса - to arrive (from Greek φτάνω - έφτασα, through Aromanian) кроце - slowly, easy чупе - a girl чактисва - to understand, to realize одма - right away, in an instant (from Serbian odmah - одмах) несалам - not normal, insane раситнува - to give change in exchange for a note појќе - more кај? - where? шо? - what? са - now пули - to see Next lesson In the next lesson, Sarah and John both go to Prilep. 2