Shopi

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Shopi (шопи, scientific transliteration šopi; singular шоп, šop, with various regional names also existing) is a regional term referring to the inhabitants of the region of Shopluk (Шоплук, Šopluk) located in central Western Bulgaria (around Sofia and the adjacent areas), but also to similar groups in central eastern Serbia (around Pirot) and the Republic of Macedonia (around Štip, Gevgelija and Strumica). In each country the members of the group are considered and self-declare as Bulgarians, Serbs and Macedonians respectively. This article is primarily about the Shopi of Bulgaria.

1 Dialect
2 Culture
3 The Shopi in literature and anecdotes
- 3.1 Anecdotes and proverbs
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Dialect

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Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.

In Bulgaria, the Shop dialect (known as Шопски/Shopski) belongs to the "et" (western) group of Bulgarian dialects. Its location makes it one of two continuous transitional dialects which separate the eastern branch of south Slavic languages (Bulgarian and Macedonian) with the western branch (the modern forms of Serbo-Croat, and Slovenian). The adjoining dialect situated in Northern Macedonia and Southern Serbia is called Torlakian. Shopski differs from Bulgaria's standard language through a number of characteristic features.

[edit] Phonology

The variable /ja/-diphthong (променливо я) is always pronounced /e/.

Shop: пресно млеко; standard Bulgarian language: прясно мляко (fresh milk)

In other cases the /ja/-diphthong is pronounced /ə/.

Shop: седъ; standard Bulgarian: седя (to sit)

In most cases there is no stressed "ъ" (/ɤ/) sound as in standard Bulgarian. It is substituted with /a/ or /o/.

Shop: моя/мойо маж ме лаже (moja/mojo maž me laže), че одим навонка (če odim navonka); standard Bulgarian: моят мъж ме лъже, ще ходя навън/ка) (mojat mǎz me lǎže, šte hodja navǎn/ka), (my husband is lying to me, I'll be going out)

The /x/-sound is often omitted.

Shop: леб (leb), одиа (odia); standard Bulgarian: хляб (hljab), ходиха (hodiha) (bread, they went)

Palatal /n/ and /l/ ("нь", "ль") can stand at the end of a word or before /e/.

Shop: тигань /tiganj/, конье (konje); standard Bulgarian: тиган (tigan, "frying pan"), коне (kone, "horses")

In the past tenses (aorist and imperfect) and in the past participle the stress falls always on the ending and not on the stem.

Shop: гле'дах ([gle'dax]), гле'дал ([gle'dal]); standard Bulgarian: 'гледах (['gledəx]), 'гледал (['gledəl]) ([I] was watching; [he, she, it] watched)

Iotated /k/ occurs in some cases.

Shop: макя (makja); standard Bulgarian: майка (majka) (mother), Банкя (Bankja, a town near Sofia, derived from Бань-ка, Ban'-ka, with a transfer of the palatal sound from N to K)

In most places, the /l/ sound is pronounced labialized (more like /w/) before front vowels (e, и), as well as back vowels (a, ъ, o, у). This is in contrast to standard Bulgarian where /l/ is labialized only before back vowels, consonants and in the end of the word.

Shop: лале /lwalwe/; standard Bulgarian: лале /lwale/ (tulip)

[edit] Morphology

Most often the definite article for masculine nouns is -о or -от (-ot) instead of -а or -ът (-ǎt).

Shop: отивам у градо (otivam u grado); standard Bulgarian: отивам в града (otivam v grada) (I am going in town)

There are some characteristic plurals.
The forms for the relative and the interrogative pronouns and adverbs are the same.

Shop: че ме видиш, кога ме нема (če me vidiš, koga me nema); standard Bulgarian: ще ме видиш, когато ме няма (šte me vidiš, kogato me njama) (idiom: you'll never see/catch me)

Most often the particle for the forming of the future tense is "че" (če), or "ше" (še) in more urbanized areas and in the eastern part of the region, instead of standard "ще" (šte).

Shop: че одим/че (ше) ода {če odim/če (še) oda}, standard Bulgarian: ще ходя (šte hodja) (I will be going)

In the present tense for the first and second conjugation, the ending for the fisrt person singular is -м (-m) and for plural is -ме (-me) instead of -а/я (-a/ja) and -м (-m), respectively, as in standard Bulgarian.

Shop: я седим, ние седиме (ja sedim, nie sedime); standart Bulgarian: аз седя, ние седим (az sedja, nie sedim) (I am sitting, we are sitting)

The past passive participles ending in -т/-t in standard Bulgarian have an -ен, -йен/-en, -jen ending in the Shop dialect:

Shop: умийен ( umijen, "washed"); убийен (ubijen, "killed"); открийен (otkrijen, "opened" or "discovered"), etc, compare standard Bulgarian: умит (umit), убит (ubit), открит (otkrit)

[edit] Vocabulary

The personal pronoun for the first person singular is "я" ("ja") instead of "аз" ("az").
The personal pronouns for the third person are as follows:
- Nominative case: masc. он (on), fem. она (ona), neut. оно (ono), pl. они (oni)
- Accusative case, long form (after prepositions): masc. него/ньега (nego/njega), fem. нея (neja), neut. него/ньега (nego/njega) , pl. них (nih)
The possessive pronoun for the third person plural is нихния (nihnija) or нихнио, ни'нио (nihnio, ni'nio), нихната, ни'ната (nihnata, ni'nata), etc.
The interrogative word "що" ("što") is used more often than the standard "какво" ("kakvo").

Shop: Що сакаш? (Što sakaš?); standard Bulgarian: Какво искаш? (Kakvo iskaš?) (What do you want?)

The preposition "у" ("u") is used instead of "в" ("v").

Shop: у градо (u grado); standard Bulgarian: в града (v grada) (in town)

There are plenty of typical words for the Shop dialect in particular, as well as for other western dialects in general.

Some examples are:

Shop	standard Bulgarian	translation
сакам (sakam)	искам (iskam)	to want
чиним (činim)	правя (pravja)	to do/make
прашам (prašam)	питам (pitam)	to ask
чувам (čuvam)	пазя (pazja)	to keep, to upbring, raise (a child)
спийем (spijem)	спя (spja)	to sleep
тражим (tražim)	търся (tǎrsja)	to search
оти? (oti?)	защо? (zašto?)	why?
окам (okam)	викам (vikam)	to shout
кошуля (košulja)	риза (riza)	shirt
рипам (ripam)	скачам (skačam)	to jump
мачка (mačka)	котка (kotka)	cat

[edit] Culture

The Shopi have a very original and characteristic folklore. The traditional male costume of the Shopi is white, while the famale costumes are diverse. The embroidery is well developed as an art and is very conservative. The agriculture is the traditional main occupation, with cattle breeding coming second.

In terms of music, the Shopi have a complex folklore with the heroic epic playing an important part. The Shopi are also known for playing particularly fast and itense versions of Bulgarian dances. The rebec, kaval and bagpipe are popular instruments and two-part singing is common. Minor second intervals are common in Shop music and are not considered dissonant.

The traditional Shop house that has a fireplace in the centre has only survided in some more remote villages, being displaced by the Middle Bulgarian type. The villages in the plains are larger, while those in the higher areas are somewhate straggling and have traditionally been inhabited by single families (zadruga). The unusually large share of placenames ending on -ovci, -enci and -jane evidence for the preservation of the zadruga until even after the 19th century.

Two very popular and well-known fоlklore groups are Poduenski Babi and Bistrishki Babi — the Grandmothers of Poduene and Bistritsa villages.

A famous plate in Bulgaria is Shopska salad, named after this ethnographic group.

[edit] The Shopi in literature and anecdotes

The Shopi — especially those from near Sofia — have the widespread (and arguably unjustified) reputation of stubborn, selfish and slow people. There are lots of proverbs and anecdotes about them, more than about all other regional groups in Bulgaria.

A distinguished writer from the region is Elin Pelin who actually wrote some comic short stories and poems in the dialect.

[edit] Anecdotes and proverbs

От Искаро по-длибого нема, от Витоша по-високо нема. (Ot Iskaro po dlibogo nema, ot Vitoša po-visoko nema.) (There is nothing deeper than the Iskar River, and nothing higher than the Vitosha Mountain.)

On the one hand, it means that the Shopi refuse to acknowledge other countries' virtues; but on the other this is a clear example of their patriotism.

Once a Shop went to the zoo and saw the giraffe. He watched it in amazement and finally said: Е, те такова животно нема! (E, te takova životno nema!) (There is no such animal!)

So even seeing the truth with his own eyes, he or she refuses to acknowledge it.

Once a Shop went to the city, saw aromatic soaps on a stand and, thinking that they were something to eat, bought a piece. He began to eat it but soon his mouth was all foam. He said: Пеняви се, не пеняви, пари съм давал, че го ядем. (Penjavi se, ne se penjavi, pari sǎm daval, če go jadem) (Foam or not foam, it cost money, I shall eat it.)

When money is spent, even unpleasant things should be endured.

How was the gorge of the Iskǎr River formed? As the story goes, in ancient times the Sofia Valley was a lake, surrounded with mountains. The ancient Shopi were fishermen. One day, while fishing with his boat one of them bowed in order to take his net out of the water. But the boat was floating towards the nearby rocks on the slope of the Balkan Mountains. Consequently the Shop hit his head on the rocks and the entire mountain split into two. The lake flew out and the gorge was formed.

There is a saying throughout Bulgaria that the Shopi's heads are wooden (дървена шопска глава, dǎrvena šopska glava), meaning they are too stubborn. Interestingly, in Romania there is such saying about Bulgarians in general.

Once upon a time three Shopi climbed on top of the Vitosha Mountain. There was a thick fog in the valley so they thought it was cotton. They jumped down and perished.

This is to show three points of interest: the Shopi are not very smart after all; Vitosha must be really very high; and, as a serious point, the phenomenon, when Vitosha stands over low clouds shrowding the high plains and valeys of Western Bulgaria, is very common in winter and is called temperature inversion.

Another example of the Shopi's stubbornness: Once, in plain summer, a Shop wore a very thick coat. When asked if it wasn't too hot, he answered: It's not because of the coat but because of the weather.

The Shopi had a reputation of being good soldiers nevertheless there was a proverb: "A Shop will only fight if he can see the roof of his house from the battlefield", meaning he will only fight if he can see his personal interests in the fight. A proverb that wants to demonstrate the Shopi's selfishness.

In other parts of Bulgaria all locals from Sofia are called, somewhat scornfully, "Shopi", although the majority of the city's population are not descendants of the real vernacular minority but of migrants from other regions.

In addition, in other parts of Bulgaria there exists the use of the derisive form "Shopar" for Shop and "Shoparism" for untidy, outdated or primitive circumstances (which show some similarity to the employ of the term "Hillbilly" in the USA)