View source for Gora dialect

{{Short description|Variety of South Slavic spoken by the Gorani people}}
{{Redirect|Gora language|the language spoken in Nigeria|Gora dialect (Nigeria){{!}}Gora language (Nigeria)}}
{{Distinguish|Gora dialect (Kajkavian)}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[Gorani language]] of Kurdistan}}
{{Infobox language 
|name             = Gorani
|nativename       = {{lang|sh|našinski}}
|states           = [[Kosovo]], [[Albania]] and [[North Macedonia]]
|ethnicity        = [[Gorani people|Gorani]]
|speakers         = 60,000
|date             = 2011 census{{source needed|date=August 2019}}
|familycolor      = Indo-European
|fam2             = [[Balto-Slavic languages|Balto-Slavic]]
|fam3             = [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]
|fam4             = [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]]
|fam5             = [[Transitional South Slavic languages|Transitional]]
|fam6             = [[Torlakian dialect|Torlakian]]
|minority         = [[Kosovo]]
|map              = Torlak dialects map en.png
|mapcaption       = Area where Torlakian dialects are spoken. Number 4 (in southern Kosovo) indicates the Gora dialect area.
|isoexception     = dialect
|glotto           = none
|notice           = IPA
}}
{{South Slavic languages sidebar}}

The '''Gorani''' or '''Goranski''', also '''Našinski''' ("Our language") language, is a regiolectal variety of [[South Slavic languages|South Slavic]] spoken by the [[Gorani people]] in the border area between [[Kosovo]], [[North Macedonia]], and [[Albania]]. It is part of the [[Torlakian dialect]] group,<ref name="Browne">Browne, Wayles (2002): Serbo-Croat. In: Bernard Comrie, Greville G. Corbett (eds.), ''The Slavonic Languages''. London: Taylor & Francis. [https://books.google.com/books?id=F4yvzLnMw3cC&pg=PA306&dq=The+Slavonic+Languages,+Bernard+Comrie,+Greville+G+Corbett&hl=de&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0]. p. 383</ref> which is transitional between Eastern and Western South Slavic languages.<ref name="ConcEnc">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&pg=PA129 |title=Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world |first1=Keith |last1=Brown |first2=Sarah |last2=Ogilvie |publisher=Elsevier |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-08-087774-7 |page=120|access-date=2013-03-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itlREOzLnM0C&pg=PA17 |title=Papers from the 6-th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Current issues in linguistic theory |first1=Jacek |last1=Fisiak |publisher= Benjamins Publishing |year=1985 |isbn= 9027235287 |pages=17 |chapter=Henrik Birnbaum: Divergence and convergence in linguistic evolution  |access-date=2013-03-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGZedef70zAC&pg=PA620 |title=The handbook of language contact, Blackwell handbooks in Linguistics |first1=Raymond |last1=Hickey |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2010 |isbn=978-1405175807 |page=620 |access-date=2013-03-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&q=balkan+sprachbund |title=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World |first1=Keith |last1=Brown |first2=Sarah |last2=Ogilvie |publisher=Elsevier |year=2009 |isbn=978-0080877747 |pages=119–120 |access-date=2013-03-24}}</ref>

==Distribution and classification==
Spoken across the [[Gora (region)|Gora region]] in 19 villages in [[Kosovo]], 11 in [[Albania]], and 2 in [[North Macedonia]]. In Kosovo and North Macedonia, it is sometimes written in either the [[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet|Serbian]] or [[Macedonian alphabet|Macedonian Cyrillic Alphabets]], whereas in Albania, the Latin [[Albanian alphabet]] is used. In the 1991 [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] census, 54.8% of the inhabitants of the [[Gora Municipality]] said that they spoke the Gorani language, roughly in proportion to the number who considered themselves ethnic Gorani. In the same census, a little less than half of the inhabitants of Gora considered their language [[Serbian language|Serbian]].<ref>[http://www.rastko.org.rs/rastko-gora/zbornici/gora2000/rmladenovic.pdf Goran speech by dr. Radivoje Mladenovic {{in lang|sr}}] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222052737/http://www.rastko.org.rs/rastko-gora/zbornici/gora2000/rmladenovic.pdf |date=2014-02-22 }}</ref>

Related to the neighbouring [[Torlakian dialect]] varieties spoken in the [[Prizren]]–[[South Morava]] area to the northeast, also spoken in the southern half of Kosovo and in southeastern [[Serbia]], as well as to the northernmost dialects of North Macedonia. In relation to Macedonian dialectology, it is described as having particular close links to the [[Tetovo dialect]] of the [[Polog]] and [[Tetovo]] regions,<ref>B. Koneski (1983), ''A Historical Phonology of the Macedonian Language by Blaže Koneski''</ref> which are situated just opposite the Gora area on the other side of the [[Šar Mountains]].

Gorani has also been classified as a part of the [[Bulgarian dialects|Bulgarian dialect]] area, by [[Bulgaria|Bulgarian]]<ref>Младенов, Стефан. Пътешествие из Македония и Поморавия, в: Научна експедиция в Македония и Поморавието 1916, София 1993, с. 184. (Mladenov, Stefan. Journey through Macedonia and Pomoraviya, in: Scientific expeditions in Macedonia and Pomoraviya 1916, Sofia 1993, p. 184) [http://albanian.dir.bg/studii/ezik/st-ez-02-GorDial.htm Асенова, Петя. Архаизми и балканизми в един изолиран български говор (Кукъска Гора, Албания), Балканистични четения, посветени на десетата годишнина на специалност "Балканистика" в СУ "Св. Климент Охридски", ФСлФ, София, 17-19 май 2004] (Assenova, Petya. Archaisms and Balkanisms in an isolated Bulgarian dialect (Kukas Gora, Albania), Balkan studies readings on the tenth anniversary of the major Balkan studies in Sofia University, May 17–19, 2004)</ref> as well as some foreign [[anthropologists]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9IbgsDdeVxsC&pg=PA205 |title=Albania: from anarchy to a Balkan identity |first1=Miranda |last1=Vickers |first2=James |last2=Pettifer |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers |year=1997 |isbn=1-85065-279-1 |page=205}}</ref> In 2007, the [[Bulgarian Academy of Sciences]] sponsored and printed the first Gorani–[[Albanian language|Albanian]] dictionary (with 43,000 words and phrases) by Goranian researcher Nazif Dokle, who considers the language a Bulgarian dialect.<ref name="Dokle">Dokle, Nazif. Reçnik Goransko (Nashinski) - Albanski, Sofia 2007, Peçatnica Naukini akademiji "Prof. Marin Drinov", s. 5, 11, 19 (Nazif Dokle. Goranian (Nashinski) - Albanian Dictionary, Sofia 2007, Published by Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, p. 5, 11, 19)</ref>

On the other hand, former Yugoslav linguists Vidoeski, [[Dalibor Brozović|Brozović]] and [[Pavle Ivić|Ivić]] identify the Slavic dialect of the Gora region as [[Dialects of Macedonian|Macedonian]].<ref>http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/mainframe.jsp?nLanguageID=3 Macedonian by Victor Friedman, pg 4 (footnote)</ref> According to some sources, in 2003, the Kosovo government acquired Macedonian language and grammar books to be taught in Gorani schools.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}

==Phonological characteristics==

Gorani shares with standard [[Serbian language|Serbian]], the northernmost [[dialects of Macedonian]], and western [[dialects of Bulgarian]], the vocalisation of earlier syllabic /l/ in words like ''vuk'' ('wolf') (cf. Macedonian ''volk'', standard Bulgarian ''vǎlk''). With Serbian it also shares the reflex of */tj, dj/ as /tɕ, dʑ/, as opposed to [[standard Macedonian]] /c, ɟ/ ({{angbr|ќ}}, {{angbr|ѓ}}).<ref>B. Videoski (1999), Dijalektite na Makedonskiot jazik, MANU.</ref> With the westernmost Macedonian varieties, as well as most of the Bulgarian varieties, it shares the reflex of "[[big Yus]]" (*/ɔ̃/) as /ə/ (ǎ) in words like ''pǎt'' ('road') (cf. Macedonian ''pat'', Serbian ''put''). With standard Macedonian and some Bulgarian dialects it shares the reflexes of */ĭ, ŭ/ as /e, o/ in words like ''den'' ('day') and ''son'' ('dream'). With standard Macedonian, standard Serbian and some Bulgarian dialects it shares the retention of syllabic /r/ in words like ''krv'' ('blood').<ref>Friedman, Victor (2001), "Macedonian" [http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/mainframe.jsp?nLanguageID=3 SEELRC], p.7</ref>

== Grammar ==
'''Morphology'''

The dialect makes a distinction between three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter), seven cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locative, instrumental) and two numbers (singular and plural).

'''Grammar'''

Nouns have three [[Grammatical gender|grammatical genders]] (masculine, feminine and neuter) that correspond, to a certain extent, with the word ending so most nouns with -a are feminine, -o and -e neuter, and the rest mostly masculine but with some feminine. The grammatical gender of a noun affects the morphology of other parts of speech (adjectives, pronouns, and verbs) attached to it. Nouns are declined into seven cases: [[Nominative case|nominative]], [[Genitive case|genitive]], [[Dative case|dative]], [[Accusative case|accusative]], [[Vocative case|vocative]], [[Locative case|locative]], and [[Instrumental case|instrumental]].

Nominative: Dōmà ni je ubava. Our house is good. Šo? 

Genitive: Dǒmà ni je ubava. Our house is good. Koj?

Dative: Dǒmī´je ubavo. The house is fine. Komu?

Accusative: Nacrtau negua Dōmā. He drew his house. Kogo?

Vocative: Dómā, ni trebe! We need a house! 

Instrumental: Ja živuem so dǒmā. I live with a house. So šo?

Locative: Ja som (vo) Dōmá. I am at the house. Če de?
{| class="wikitable"
|
| colspan="3" |'''Singular'''
| colspan="3" |'''Plural'''
|-
|'''Nominative'''
|dōmà, ''mask.'' (home, house)
|sēlò, ''neutr.'' (village)
|rānā, ''fem.'' (wound)
|dōmē
|sēlá
|rāně
|-
|'''Genitive'''
|dǒmà
|sélō
|ránā
|dōmě
|sélā
|ránē
|-
|'''Dative'''
|dǒmī
|sēlū
|rānī
|dōmévém
|sélātàm
|rānǐj
|-
|'''Accusative'''
|dōmā
|sēló
|rǎnā
|dōmēvé
|sělā
|rāném
|-
|'''Vocative'''
|dómā
|sělō, sélōū
|ránō, ráná
|dómēvē
|sélātá
|rāné
|-
|'''Instrumental'''
|dǒmā
|sēlǒ
|rǎnǎ
|dōmēvē
|sēlà
|rǎnē
|-
|'''Locative'''
|dōmá
|sēlò
|rānà
|dǒmēvē
|sēlā
|rāně
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Dialects of Serbo-Croatian}}
{{Macedonian dialects}}
{{Languages of Kosovo}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gora Dialect}}
[[Category:Gorani people]]
[[Category:South Slavic languages]]