Are Macedonians closer to Serbs or Bulgarians?

[iNird]

Definitely a sub group of Bulgarians, even the majority of the Slavs of Kosova were akin to them prior to their Serbianisation. The Rahoveci and Suhareka Slavs still speak their dialect, albeit a bit mixed with Albanian, that is much like the Slav Macedonian speech today.

That's because the Kosovar Serbs speak the "torlak" dialect for the most part. Both Bulgarians and Serbs dispute the origin of this group which goes in line when you said the old timers in Kosova considered the Slavs there "Bulgarians."

As for the topic, i think they are closest to Bulgarians in terms of ethnicity but today their culture and mindset is probably closer to the Serbs.

In the area my parents are from, the macedonian slavs have historically been referred to as Slavs and Bulgarians, and rarely Serbs. For example, the music folkore always referred to the "komita" as Bulgarians never as Serbs or Macedonians.

[Skerdilaid]

That's because the Kosovar Serbs speak the "torlak" dialect for the most part. Both Bulgarians and Serbs dispute the origin of this group which goes in line when you said the old timers in Kosova considered the Slavs there "Bulgarians."

As for the topic, i think they are closest to Bulgarians in terms of ethnicity but today their culture and mindset is probably closer to the Serbs.

In the area my parents are from, the macedonian slavs have historically been referred to as Slavs and Bulgarians, and rarely Serbs. For example, the music folkore always referred to the "komita" as Bulgarians never as Serbs or Macedonians.

My grandfather referred to them as "Bugari". In my time they were all Serbs except the two regions I mentioned that still retain their old speech, and also in phenotype they are distinguishable, but maybe that has to do with most Serbs in Kosova in last decades were actually Montenegrin in ancestry. Old Serbs mostly resided in the surrounding of Prishtina, and what is now Mitrovica and surrounding, and some in Peja. The rest of Slavs were without identity but were akin to Bulgarians and referred to their language as "Nash Jazik". In my opinion their dialect is definitely Bulgarian, no question.

The mindset of south Slavs has changed quite a bit during the last century, and Yugoslavia was the main contributor to that. That is why Macedonians lean toward Serbs today because of that nostalgia, and also, they felt safe in such an umbrella but so did most of them actually except Slovenians and Croats.

To be honest what I find the most hilarious is when they call Goranis Serbs

[Stefan_Dusan]

lol, it's not surprising Albanians want to chip away at Serb identity But anyone with slava is descended from a Serb, and there is no question on Kosovo Serbs, nothing Bulgarian about them. All of them have slavas.

[Stefan_Dusan]

As to Macedonians, I don't know how all identify but some do identify as Serbs, for example Jovan Stojkovic "Babunski" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jovan_Babunski

[Skerdilaid]

Yeah, that is what we are doing, chipping the Serbs away.... Razbirash Nash Jazik, Srbin? Slava this and Slava that, if Slava makes one a Serbs then I would say that says quite a bit about your ethnicity.

[Stefan_Dusan]

Yeah, that is what we are doing, chipping the Serbs away.... Razbirash Nash Jazik, Srbin? Slava this and Slava that, if Slava makes one a Serbs then I would say that says quite a bit about your ethnicity.

Go to sofia, and say Slava, they won't understand you let alone have one.

[Vojnik]

Go to sofia, and say Slava, they won't understand you let alone have one.

Slava is just a patron saint of the family, correct? Well my paternal side has one. Sveta Petka is the patron saint of my paternal side. I think Bulgarians also have patron saints, but they don't call it specifically a 'Slava'. I think it's just a Orthodox thing.

[Stefan_Dusan]

Slava is just a patron saint of the family, correct? Well my paternal side has one. Sveta Petka is the patron saint of my paternal side. I think Bulgarians also have patron saints, but they don't call it specifically a 'Slava'. I think it's just a Orthodox thing.

It's not an Orthodox thing but specific to Serbian Orthodox church. We don't have just slava per family but we also have slava for nation (Serbian: St. Sava), for village, for famous battle, even for woman, or even secondary slava. Bulgarians don't do this:

Krsno ime (Крсно име, "christened name"), is a Serbian Orthodox Church tradition of the ritual glorification of one's family's patron saint among Serbs, but also Serbs in Montenegro and Macedonia. The family celebrates the Slava annually on the saint's feast day. Unlike other major Orthodox Christian nations, i.e. Greeks, Russians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Georgians etc., Serbs do not celebrate individual name days, as when a person named after a saint would celebrate that saint's feast day, but instead they do it collectively as the name day of a certain family and/or clan.

[Vojnik]

It's not an Orthodox thing but specific to Serbian Orthodox church. We don't have just slava per family but we also have slava for nation (Serbian: St. Sava), for village, for famous battle, even for woman, or even secondary slava. Bulgarians don't do this:

Krsno ime (Крсно име, "christened name"), is a Serbian Orthodox Church tradition of the ritual glorification of one's family's patron saint among Serbs, but also Serbs in Montenegro and Macedonia. The family celebrates the Slava annually on the saint's feast day. Unlike other major Orthodox Christian nations, i.e. Greeks, Russians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Georgians etc., Serbs do not celebrate individual name days, as when a person named after a saint would celebrate that saint's feast day,but instead they do it collectively as the name day of a certain family and/or clan.

Interesting. Well Macedonians not only celebrate a patron saint of the family (Slava), we also celebrate individual name days.

But I would guess that the celebration of name days among Macedonians is from Greek Orthodox influences.

[Stefan_Dusan]

Interesting. Well Macedonians not only celebrate a patron saint of the family (Slava), we also celebrate individual name days.

It shows then you have both influences. Tbh, I don't know what "individual names" mean. I'm sure until it's explained Bulgarians feel the same way about slava.