Pirot
Dokle sećanje seže, svi naši preci živeli su u blizini Pirota u jugoistočnoj Srbiji.
Prvo naseljeno mesto na ovoj lokaciji bio je rimski grad Turres (kule na latinskom), sagrađen u II veku naše ere. Etiologija imena Pirot je takođe vezana za reč kula: Pirot je skraćena forma reči Pirgot, od grčkog pirgos (πύργος) što označava donžon ili kulu nebojšu, utvrđenu kulu u koju se povlači i iz koje se pruža poslednji otpor neprijatelju.
Pirot je bio grad na Via Militaris, rimskom putu koji je povezivao Beograd (Singidunum) i Istanbul (Constantinopolis), preko Niša (Naissus), Sofije (Serdica), Plovdiva (Philippopolis) i Jedrena (Hardianapolis). Za vreme Otomanskog carstva, ovaj put je postao jedna od glavnih trgovačkih maršuta na Balkanskom poluostrvu. Zvao se Carigradski drum.
For as long as anyone can remember, all our ancestors lived in the vicinity of Pirot in southeastern Serbia.
The first settlement at this locale is the Roman town of Turres (Latin for towers), built in the second century CE. Etiology of the name Pirot also revolves around a tower: Pirot is thought to be an abbreviation of Pirgot, pirgos (πύργος) being the Greek word for a keep or donjon, a fortified tower built within a castle, used as a refuge of last resort.
Pirot was a town on Via Militaris, a Roman road connecting Belgrade (Singidunum) and Istanbul (Constantinopolis), via Niš (Naissus), Sofia (Serdica), Plovdiv (Philippopolis) and Edirne (Hardianapolis). During the Turkish Empire, this road became one of the major trading routes in the Balkans. It was called the Constantinople road (srb. Carigradski drum).
Posle pada Rimskog carstva, Pirot postaje deo Vizantije, pod imenom Quimedava. Ulazi u sastav države Stefana Nemanje, pa posle toga ponovo Vizantije i Bugarske države. Pre otomanskih osvajanja, Pirot je bio deo države Kneza Lazara sve do 1386. godine. Pod Turskom okupacijom je bio skoro 500 godina, do Rusko-turskog rata 1877-1878, kada postaje deo Kneževine Srbije.
Pošto je Pirot bio deo srpskih i bugarskih srednjevekovnih država, a nacionalne države kao takve nisu potojale do XIX veka, srpski i bugarski istoričari imaju oprečna mišljenja o Pirotu, pri čema svaka strana stavlja naglasak na drugi period istorije Pirota. Naročito je zanimljivo kako srpska i bugarska Vikipedija pričaju potpuno drugačije istorije Pirota.
Berlinskim kongresom 1878. godine određene su granice između Balkanskih država, i Pirot postaje srpska pogranična varoš. Trgovina Carigradskim drumom prestaje, i Pirot osiromašuje.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Pirot becomes a part of the Byzantine Empire, named as Quimedava. It was a part of the Serbian state of Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja, and after that again Byzantium and several Bulgarian states. Before the Turkish conquest, Pirot was part of the Serbian state of Prince Lazar until 1386. It was occuped by the Turkish Empire for nearly 500 years, until the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878, when it becomes part of the Serbian Principality.
As Pirot changed hands between the Serbian and Bulgarian states several time, Serbian and Bulgarian historians are in a disagreement, each side emphasizing one or the other period in the history of Pirot. As a case in point, Serbian and Bulgarian Wikipedia pages tell very different stories.
The Congress of Berlin of 1878 established the borders between the Balkan states, and Pirot becomes a Serbian border town. The free flow of goods and people along the road to Istanbul ceased, and the period of Pirot's prosperity ended.
Pirotski govor / Pirot dialect
Pirotski govor pripada Torlačkom dijalektu, koji je shodno geografiji tranzicioni između istočnoštokavsko-srpskog, severno-makedonskog i zapadno-bugarskog dijalekta. Torlački i standardni Srpski jezici nisu u potpunosti međusobno razumljivi. Takođe, torlački jezik nije standardizovan i regionalne razlike su značajne, na primer pirotski torlački nije potpuno razmumljiv nekome ko govori kosovski ili makedonski torlački.
Evo primera teksta na pirotskom torlačkom iz [Zlatković 2007]:
The native dialect of Pirot belongs to Torlak or Torlakian, which unsuprisingly given the geography is a transition dialect between Eastern Štokavian Serbian, Northern Macedonian and Western Bulgarian dialects. Torlak and standard literary Serbian are not completely intelligible. Also, Torlak is not a standardised language, and regional differences can be substantial. For instance, Pirot Torlak is not completely intelligible with Kosovo or Macedonian Torlak.
Here's an example of Pirot Torlak from [Zlatković 2007]:
Lisíca i štŕk
Pozvála lisícata štŕkatoga ná-gosje, pa mu napravíla skrob da ga káni. Pa ka sipála skróbat u tepsíju, a štŕkat sámo trópa po tepsíjutu, kljúca, ne mož da jede. A oná si lizala, a on ostál gládan. Pósle štŕkat pozvál lisícutu ná-gosje, pa njoj spremíl várivo u gŕne i ju pokanil: Ájde da rúčamo! I on si závre glávu i rúča, a oná líže gládna grneto ókolo, ama džábe.
Danas većina stanovnika Pirota govori standardni književni srpski. Prema Uneskovoj Listi ugroženih jezika, torlački ima status ranjivog jezika.
Today practically all people in the Pirot region speak standard literary Serbian. According to UNESCO's List of Endangered Languages, Torlak is vulnerable.