Gramostyanskie dialects

The area of ​​Gramostyan dialects on the map of the distribution of the Arumian and Meglenorumian languages ^[1]

Gramostyansky dialects (also a Gramostian dialect ) are the dialects of the Arumian language , widespread in Greece (in the vicinity of Mount Gramos and in various regions of Greek Macedonia ), in the Republic of Macedonia (in the southwestern, central and eastern regions) and in Bulgaria (in the southwest country). Together with the Pindic and Olympic dialects, they enter the South Romanian dialect zone , which is opposed to the North Romanian zone , including the Farsherot , Moscopol and Museker dialects , as well as the dialects of Gopesh, Mulovishte, Byala de Sus and Byala de Jos ^{[1] [2]} .

The initial range of Gramostan dialects is located in the northern part of the Pind massif in the vicinity of Mount Gramos in the territory of modern Greece near the border with Albania. After the Turks destroyed the Aromanian city of Gramoste at the end of the 18th century, the carriers of Gramostan dialects settled in the vast territory of Macedonia and southwestern Bulgaria.

The modern area of ​​Gramostan dialects is scattered “islands” in different regions of Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria. The speakers of Gramostan dialects make up the majority of the speakers of other Arumian dialects in the Republic of Macedonia - they live in the south-west of the country (in the vicinity of the village of Bitola ) and not adjacent to the speakers of Moscopil and Farsherot dialects, as well as separate dialects of Gopesh, Muloviste, Byala de Susa and Byala de Jos. In the central and eastern regions of Macedonia, on the border with Bulgaria (in the vicinity of the settlements Titov Veles , Shtip , Kochani ), speakers of Gramostan dialects make up the vast majority of the Arumian population. Also, Gramostan dialects are the only Arumian dialects prevalent in Bulgaria in the mountainous regions in the south-west of the country. The Bulgarian area is adjacent to the Gramostyan area in Greece (between the rivers Struma and Mesta ). In the Greek part of Macedonia, Gramostan dialects are common along with Pindic dialects and partly with Moscopilian and Farsherotic dialects. There are no clear dialectic boundaries of the Gramostian dialects with other Arumian dialects ^[3] .

Mount Gramos , the vicinity of which was the original habitat of the speakers of Gramostan dialects

Carriers of Gramostan dialects form a special group of Arumians , the so-called “tribal branch” of Gramostians. The ethnonym Gramostyans ( grămosteni ) is quite common among the Arumans themselves. At the same time, the Arumians have a poorly developed national identity and a complete lack of awareness of linguistic unity, being subjected to the processes of Greekization and Slavization, some Arumians believe that they speak a dialect of Greek or languages ​​of other peoples, in whose environment or in the neighborhood with which the Arumans live ^{[1] [4]} .

According to the classification of the Arumian language proposed by K. Mariotsyan, Gramostian dialects are included in the group of non-Farsherotic dialects (A-dialects), combining all Arumian dialects except Farsherotic (F-dialects). According to the dialect differentiation developed by T. Kapidan, Gramostian dialects are included in the South Romanian dialect zone ^[2] .

Gramostyansky dialects share all the dialectic phenomena characteristic of the South Romanian area, including such as ^[2] :

• contrast of phonemes / ǝ / and / ɨ /;
• preservation of diphthongs e̯a , o̯a ;
• preservation of non-syllable end vowels [ ⁱ ] and [ ^u ].