Македонски
English
The Macedonian language is the official language of Republic of Macedonia. Due to some historical circumstances (the Balkan Wars), there are native Macedonians in Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania. After World War II, some native Macedonians resettled in Vojvodina (Serbia). Macedonian emigrants also live in Australia, Canada, the USA, and Europe. The insistence on full assimilation into the new societies and cultures made the second, and especially the third generation of Macedonian emigrants lose their native language, i.e. reduce their knowledge to several basic words and phrases. The beginning of literacy and literary creation in Macedonian language is linked to the beginning of literacy of all Slavic nations. The first Slavic texts, written/translated by SS Кiril and Metodij as a basis have the dialect of the Macedonian Slavs who lived in the Thessaloniki area. It is the Old Church Slavonic language, which later on develops into several regional variants, depending on the area. The literacy and the literary work in the Macedonian region continued to spread thanks to St. Clement and St. Naum. Following World War II, the Republic of Macedonia became a federal republic within the Yugoslav federation, and the Macedonian language was recognized as the official language of the Republic Macedonia. One of the first decisions of ASNOM was the recognition of the Macedonian language in the Republic of Macedonia, and it should not be interpreted as political interference in language matters, but as a correction of an old injustice inflicted upon the Macedonian nation. In his Guide to the Slavonic Languages (1951:243), Reginald de Bray writes: By an irony of history the people whose ancestors gave to the Slavs their first literary language, were the last to have their modern language recognized as a separate Slavonic language, distinct from the neighboring Serbian and Bulgarian. It is estimated that Macedonian language is spoken by approximately two million speakers.
by Liljana Minova–Gjurkova
University "SS. KIril and Metodij" – Skopje
Faculty of Philology "Blazje Koneski"
Department of Macedonian Language and South Slavic Languages
For the Standard Macedonian Language
Grammar of the Standard Macedonian Language for foreign speakers