The Language of the Border, the Minority of the Border -A study on the linguistic identity and alienation of minority in the Balkan Peninsula (POMAK)

Abstract

The Balkan and Bulgarian rule of Ottoman Turkey (1396-1878) left a historical mark in several respects. The Pomak minority ethnic groups living in southeastern Bulgaria, western Turkey and northern Greece are the representative historical products of Ottoman Turkish rule over 500 years in this area. In particular, minority who believes in Islam, not Orthodox (Greek Orthodox or Bulgarian Orthodox), the main local religion, and who speaks their own non-bulgarian language, are at the center of alienation and discrimination. It is established and has suffered a lot in terms of language and culture. Currently, around 100,000 Pomak (mostly living in the area around Rodophe mountains in southeastern Bulgaria) are at the forefront of alienation of these languages and religions. Those who have not been incorporated into the mainstream society but are striving to continue their own religious and linguistic traditions can be regarded as an anthropological precedent that shows the most distinctive aspect of isolation at the boundaries of language and culture. The primary purpose of this study is to study the linguistic identity of Pomak and their alienation. In addition, it aims to study and preserve traces of these disappearing languages, and to study the sociolinguistic status of Pomak living in multicultural and multinational border areas within the borders of the European Union pursuing pluralism. The main facts revealed in this paper are as follows. 1. From a linguistic point of view, the Pomak language is most closely related to the Bulgarian language. However, from the viewpoint of the phonetic-phonology and morphology, it shows a linguistic characteristic that is closer to the ancient Bulgarian language, which shows a conservative language pattern, rather than the modern Bulgarian language, where the change to analytic language is already strong. 2. The use of three-element post-position definite articles based on s-, t-, and n- stems is a linguistic phenomenon observed today in the Bulgarian dialect. It can be regarded as a transitional phenomenon that appears as grammaticalization has not yet been completed amid the synchronic change of post position definite articles characteristic of Bulgarian, but these three elements of post-position definite articles are not only the concept of space but also the concept of time (especially connected with the present and the future, habitual action) in Pomak language. 3. <Assimilation-Bulgaria / Absorption-Turkey / Exclusion-Greece> is the position and attitude of the governments of the three main countries where the Pomak people live in.