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The present study revisits the well-known question of the development b > o in Balkan Slavic (Bulgarian, Macedonian, Torlak) in the light of advances in research achieved over recent decades in a variety of fields (dialectology, historical phonology, Old Church Slavonic, epigraphy). The paper 1) presents a synthesis of the evidence for b > o in modern Balkan Slavic (sec. II) and the earliest attestations (sec. III), 2) provides a critical analysis of the different theories which attempt to explain the existence of systems with split distribution, where b > o in affixes, but b is retained in root syllables (sec. IV), 3) proposes historical connections between the isoglosses for b > o and those of a range of other phenomena (phonological, lexical, accentual) (sec. III, V). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As arguably the most peripheral region within the Balkans, itself the most peripheral subset of Europe, Macedonia at the turn of the century was represented as the crossroads of East and West. Macedonia's perceived schizophrenia crystallized during the Ilinden Uprising of 1903, a rebellion that brought the provinces of Ottoman Macedonia to the attention of the European press. The seeming brutality of the violence, and the diplomatic questions related to the future administration of Macedonia, produced conflicting interpretations among journalists as to the 'allegiance' of the region. The discourse over the rebellious provinces in the Ottoman Empire involved two parallel lines of thinking, one placing it within the periphery of Europe, the other at the core of "Near Eastern" politics. This article explores the approach of the British press towards the perceived ambiguities of Ottoman Macedonia and sheds greater light upon the imagining of the geographic dimensions of contemporary Europe and the Middle East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]