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This article discusses the phonological system of standard Macedonian (unless otherwise noted) based on the Prilep-Bitola dialect. For discussion of other dialects, see Macedonian dialects. Macedonian possesses five vowels, one semivowel, three liquid consonants, three nasal consonants, three pairs of fricatives, two pairs of affricates, a non-paired voiceless fricative, nine pairs of voiced and unvoiced consonants and four pairs of stops.
Contents |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | ɛ | (ə) | ɔ |
| Open | a |
[ə] occurs in some dialects as well as a few isolated examples.
Vowels in stressed open syllables in disyllablic words with stress on the penult are realized as long, e.g. Ресен /ˈrɛsɛn/ [ˈrɛːsɛn].
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Post- Alveolar |
Palatala | Velar | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||||||
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | c | ɟ | k | ɡ | ||
| Affricate | t͡s | d͡z | t͡ʃ | d͡ʒ | ||||||
| Fricative | f | v | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | x | |||
| Approximant | l | ʎb | j | |||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||
^a Depending on dialect, /c/ /ɟ/ may be alveolo-palatal affricates ([d͡ʑ] and [t͡ɕ], respectively).
^b Neither Lunt (1952) nor Friedman (2001) recognize the existence of a palatalised (/lʲ/) or palatal (/ʎ/) lateral in standard Macedonian. This is in contrast with the surrounding related languages (Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian). Instead, a /lj/ cluster occurs, except in rapid speech where they coalesce.
Both of these scholars also assert that there is a phonemic contrast between the velarised lateral /ɫ/ and the nonvelarised /l/. While they admit that /ɫ/ and /l/ (as Л) occur mainly before front and non-front vowels, respectively. They state that, at least in the prescribed norm[2] or in some words,[3] /l/ (as Љ) may also occur before non-front vowels. Hence minimal pairs like бела /bɛɫa/ ('white'), fem.) versus беља /bɛla/ ('trouble') express this phonemic contrast.
The labiodental nasal [ɱ] occurs as an allophone of /m/ before /f/ and /v/ (e.g. трамвај [ˈtraɱvaj], 'tram'). The velar nasal [ŋ] similarly occur as an allophone of /n/ before /k/ and /ɡ/ (e.g. англиски [ˈaŋɡliski], 'English'). The latter realization is avoided by some speakers who enunciate.
The schwa is phonemic in many dialects (varying in closeness to [ʌ] or [ɨ]) but its use in the standard language is marginal.[4] When writing a dialectal word and keeping the schwa for aesthetic effect, an apostrophe is used (for example, к`смет, сл`нце, etc.) When spelling aloud, each consonant is followed by the schwa. The individual letters of acronyms are pronounced with the schwa in the same way: МПЦ ([mə.pə.t͡sə]). The lexicalized acronyms СССР ([ɛs.ɛs.ɛs.ɛr]) and МТ ([ɛm.tɛ]) (a brand of cigarettes), are among the few exceptions.
At the end of a word, the voicing opposition is neutralized.
The word stress in Macedonian is antepenultimate, meaning it falls on the third from last syllable in words with three or more syllables, and on the first or only syllable in other words. This is sometimes disregarded when the word has entered the language more recently or from a foreign source. The following rules apply:
For example, дете [ˈdɛtɛ] ('child'), мajкa [ˈmajka] ('mother') and тaтко [ˈtatkɔ] ('father').
For example, планина [ˈplanina] ('mountain'), планината [plaˈninata] ('the mountain'), and планинарите [planiˈnaritɛ] ('the mountaineers').
Exceptions include:
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