The Aromanian ethnic community in the Republic of Macedonia: ethnographic and ethnolinguistic characteristics

Abstract

The paper presents the ethnolinguistic and cultural characteristics of one of the smallest ethnicities in the Republic of Macedonia, the Aromanians. Linguistically, this ethnicity belongs to the eastern Romance group. In the past, the community was concentrated in several relatively larger areas in the southwestern part of the Balkans, primarily in today’s Greece and Albania. Later, the social and political developments led to the fragmentation of this community into several smaller compact oases in the region, including in the Republic of Macedonia today. The paper covers the major ethnographic traits of this ethnic community, with particular reference to the theories related to its creation and its cultural and social evolution in a specific Balkan context. We pay particular attention to the development of Aromanian language through time, to the attempts for its standardization, and to the significant scientific and research activity aimed at providing its detailed description of all language levels and thus contributing to the struggle for its preservation.