| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Contents | ||
| Macedonian (Makedonski) | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Albania |
| Region: | The Balkans |
| Total speakers: | 2 million |
| Ranking: | -- |
| Genetic classification: | Indo-European |
| Official status | |
| Official language of: | Republic of Macedonia |
| Regulated by: | -- |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | mk |
| ISO 639-2(B) | mac |
| ISO 639-2(T) | mkd |
| SIL | MKJ |
The Macedonian language (Македонски, Makedonski) is a language in the Eastern group of South Slavic languages. It is spoken by two million people, primarily in the Republic of Macedonia, the Macedonian Slavs.
The Macedonian language is closely related to the Bulgarian language, and Bulgarian and Macedonian share similarities to Romanian, GreekThe Greek language ( /Elini'k{/) is an Indo-European language which has existed from around the 14th century BC in the Cretan inscriptions called Linear B. Mycenaean Greek of this period is distinguished from later Classical or Ancient Greek of the 8th ce, and AlbanianAlbanian or Shqip is a language spoken by some six million inhabitants of the western Balkan peninsula in the south-eastern Europe ( Albanians) and by a small number of people in Calabria, southern Italy. Some eminent scholars in the field of Albanian lan. These five languages make up the Balkan language leagueBalkan linguistic union or Balkan sprachbund is a name given to the similarities in syntax, vocabulary and phonology found in the languages of the Balkans, term coined by the Romanian linguist Alexandru Rosetti. The languages that share these similarities. Macedonian also has similarities with SerbianThe Serbian language or Serb language is one of the standard versions of the Central-South Slavic diasystem, formerly (and still frequently) called Serbo-Croatian. Serbian is used primarily in Serbia-Montenegro, Republika Srpska and by Serbs everywhere..
Macedonian is the official language in the Republic of Macedonia, and officially recognized in the District of Korçë in Albania. Native speakers are also found in Serbia and Montenegro, Greece, and Albania.
Macedonian is the only Slavic language apart from Bulgarian which has no noun cases, but three different definite articles, which are used as suffixes.
A modified Cyrillic script, Macedonian Cyrillic with 31 letters, is used for writing.
Cyrillic, with Glagolitic, was an old Slavic script, used for the original Old Slavonic language. Only Cyrillic is used today, probably because the letters are simpler (derived by the Greek alphabet) and more easily learnt when scholars like Saint Cyril introduced Christian writings to the Slavic people.
Macedonian is taught as a subject in several university centres in the world, and is being taught in all universities of the former Yugoslavia.