О ДИАЛЕКТНОЙ САМОБЫТНОСТИ ВЛАШСКИХ СЁЛ (ОТЗЫВ О МОНОГРАФИИ В. МАРИНОВА «ЗА ФОНОЛОГИЧНИЯ СТАТУС НА МЕКИТЕ СЪГЛАСНИ ВЪВ ВЛАШКИЯ ДИАЛЕКТ В СЕВЕРОЗАПАДНА БЪЛГАРИЯ»)

There are not so many academic pursuits, dedicated to Vlach dialects of the far north-west of Bulgaria: most scientists of the beginning and middle of XX century (K. Konstante, A. Golopentsiya, F. Kanits, G. Vaygand, G. Vlsan and E.Bukutsa, F. Floresky, D. Marinov, etc), having visited this region, were interested in history and ethnography, and the dialect was considered as a marker for distinguishing of speech of bilingual inhabitants from villages near Vidin city from the speech of the rest monolingual population without determining their ethnicity.

One of the discussing issues in Rumanian linguistic is connected with the presence or absence of timbre phonologically significant correlation “hardness-softness” of consonants. Considering this issue, the terms “palatalization” and “palatality” are used. While softening and palatalization, there are processes at which articulatory place of a phone changes (gravitates to the palate) and an additional articulation appears. Palatality of consonants can be both phonologically relevant to the front vowels and to the back ones. In Bulgarian linguistic literature the term “palatalization” (softening) also means the changes experienced by velar consonants under the influence of front vowels (I, II, III kinds of palatalization) in Common and Old Slavic languages. Generic term “soft consonants” applied in the analyzed work.

In theoretic part of the monograph with references to English-language works of P. Ladefoged, K. Dzhonson, Rumanian researchers I. Kitoran, Dzh. Hyuld, and also Russian classics N.S. Trubetskoy and R. Yakobson, the author pays attention to the distinction of terms “absolute palatalization” and “secondary (additional) one”, inappropriate using of which causes terminological confusion.

The object of regard of the undertaken scientific research – Vlach dialect, representing peripheral parlance on the Bulgaria territory and having in its basis dialect, Rumanian by origin, on all levels of which Bulgarian has influenced very much. One of the variant of this dialect is spoken by the most inhabitants of Bregov community – the farthest north-west part of the country. Linguistic situation in their villages differs with the combining of bilingualism and diglossia, as the mentioned dialect is actively used alongside with the forms of the Bulgarian (linguistic situation is alike with the described in [3] characteristics of some districts of multilingual Bashkortostan). As Vl. Marinov specifies, at present, due to the interference influences by Bulgarian this Dako-Rumanian dialect (in diachronic plan) coincides with no one from Rumanian dialects, spoken in the north from the Danube river. To avoid terminological mess of Rumanian dialects spread in Rumania and ones, spoken in Bulgaria (Arumanian one, and also Rumanian ones in Nikopolsk, Plevensk area) in the work for specifying non-Bulgarian speech of bilinguals in Vidinsk area the term “Vlach dialect” and its synonyms “Bregov Vlach dialect” and “Vlach linguistic form” are used.

Bulky practical material was collected by the author in villages of Bregov community in real-life conditions from 2005 to 2014, applying the method of stochastic choice and overt observation. The author’s analytical severity in material describing and provided validity of the conclusions are sympathetic.

The analysis of idiolect phonation showed that there are soft consonants varied from ones, included in autonomous palatal row, specific for the western Bulgarian dialects in Bulgarian and Vlach speech of the bilinguals from the far north-west of Bulgaria. Autonomous palatal row met both in other Slavic and Romans languages, is typical for adjacent dialects of Vidinsk-Lom group. Linguistic facts, revealed and described by Vl. Marinov, speak that the investigation has not only private but general-purpose value due to determining the presence of soft consonants in one of Roman languages.

Considering the questions of theoretical phonology and experimental phonetics the author follows ideological views of E. Petrovich – a specialist in Rumanian. Critical interpretation of separate theoretical positions of Al. Rosetti school (A.Avram, D.Copchag, Al.Graur and others) is based on experimental data, got by the researcher and disputes the existence of some “pseudo” “semi-vocal”[i] in Rumanian end-of-word. Provided by Vl. Marinov numerous evidences of the existence of soft consonants in the middle-of-word before graphic record “diphthong” [ea] are convincing also.

It is admitted that by phonetic (acoustic) characteristics in the end and middle-of-word Vlach soft consonants don’t differ from those in the middle-of-word in Bulgarian literary language and most eastern-Bulgarian ones in the end- and middle-of-word, as growth of consonantism in Rumanian and Bulgarian is similar in the result of lexis-phonetics and phonological impact of Bulgarian on Rumanian and Vlach dialect. However, in spite of languages’ contacts Rumanian and Vlach dialect save soft consonants in end-of-word, but they disappear in Bulgarian. On the one hand, the softness in the end-of-word closely related to preservation of consonants sonority in the end-of-word in Vlach dialect, and because of this feature it is close to Romance type of languages. Together with this Vlach dialect save softness [ш] in end-of-word due to its phonomorphological function. On the other hand, there are no soft sibilants and phone [x] in Vlach dialect, but they present both in Bulgarian and Rumanian literary languages.

Equential analysis of experimental material in conjunction with his theoretical summation allowed to Dr. Vl.Marinov come to the conclusion that modern language situation in villages of Bregov community is bilingual and consists of two components: Bulgarian that is similar to the literary spoken standard and Vlach dialect, at the bottom of that is Rumanian dialects of transition zone between Olten and Banat parlances to the north from Danube river. Bulgarian parlances to the west from Yatov border (reflects [Ђ] - the sound ять intended) are characterized by the presence of palatal row, consisting of several consonants [л’’], [н’’], [к’’], [г’’], [й’’]) with strong softness, missing in Bregov and neighbor villages citizens’ parlance, where the softness of consonants is of literary (east Bulgarian) type. The remark about admission of the role of Bulgarian language in the process of appearing “literary softness” in the west Bulgarian dialect with the account of the parallel influence of Vlach dialect on this process, made by the author is essentially. The conducted analysis of the recorded dialects showed that consonant softness appearing is the same in the speech of all informants and independent of social-demographical factors such as age, education, gender. As for consonant system, natural for the young generation, we can assert that the presence of soft consonant in it is influenced by Bulgarian literary language, but the reason for their appearing in the speech of middle- and old- age generation is the influence of Vlach dialect. The results of the spectrum analysis, conducted by the researcher, show that acoustic characteristics of Vlach and Rumanian consonants before [-ea], [-ia] and final [i] are identical to characteristics of Bulgarian soft consonants.

The remark of Vl. Marinov about recognition the role of Bulgarian literary language in the process of appearing “literary softness” in the east-Bulgarian dialect with the account of parallel influence of Vlach one on this process, is considered to be essential in the discussed context by us.  Polling, technical and linguistic analysis of the recorded idiolects, conducted by the researcher, showed that appearances of consonant softness are similar in the speech of informants of different social-demographic status. The author, fairly pointing that pronouncing skills are formed in early infancy, asserts that softness appeared under the influence of Vlach dialect which is the first by the features of practicing and frequency of speaking for bilinguals. On lexical level they are two opposite tendencies characterful for the considered language subsystem – conserving archaic Rumanian features and constant renewal by Bulgarian lexis with the preservation of Rumanian phonetics, the evidence to this is the presence of Central European “л” in speech of bilinguals having higher education.

Thus, softness in the end-of-word has phonologically relevant character and performs form-distinctive functions. In Vlach dialect the softness in the end-of-word is characteristic only for labial and sonant consonants; the form changing of the rest consonants is identified by consonant alternation.

For the first time, the general classification of soft consonants in Bregov Vlach dialects was made by Vl. Marinov. The researcher’s observations on linguistic behavior of soft consonants lead to solving the problem of existence of the correlation “hardness - softness” in Rumanian.