Author

Ronelle Alexander has recently retired after 39 years on the faculty of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB). Prior to that she taught at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Her primary research interests are South Slavic (especially Bulgarian) dialectology, South Slavic and Balkan folklore (especially the recordings in the Milman Parry Collection at Harvard), and the sociolinguistics of standard languages vs. dialects. She has carried out extensive field research in rural areas of Bulgaria, Macedonia, and southeastern Serbia, and is the director of the digital humanities project Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition.

Webpage: Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition: bulgariandialectology.org

Selected list of publications

2024

Tracking the South Slavic Epic Register. Singers and Tales in the Twenty-First Century, ed. D. Elmer & P. McMurray (Cambridge: The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature), pp. 453-472.

2023

Review of Bosanskohercegovački lingvistički atlas I. Fonetika. In: Journal of Slavic Linguistics 31 (1-2): 271-274.

2022

(with Vladimir Zhobov). Bulgarian Dialects: Living Speech in the Digital Age. Slavica Publishers, 238 pp.

2021

Review of Yuri Kleiner & Georgi Levinton, tr. Skazitel’, 2d. edition (Albert Lord, Singer of Tales, 2d edition). Slavic and East European Journal 65: 568-570.
Digital Analysis of Balkan Phraseology. Strategii mežbalkanskoj kommunikacii: perevod, pereskaz, umolčanie ( = Balkanskie čtenija 15), ed. I. Sedakova et al. (Moscow: Indrik), pp. 43-46. DOI 10.31168/2618-8597.2021.16.06
New approaches in Bulgarian dialectology. Otgovornost pred ezika, sbornik posveten na 90-godišninata na čl.-kor. prof. d-r Todor Bojadžiev, ed. D. Popov et al. (Šumen: Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Episkop Konstantin Preslavski”), pp. 60-67.
Bulgarian Dialects in Thrace: A Digital Approach. Perspectives of Ethno-Linguistic Research on the ‘Historical’ Area of Thrace, ed. Chr. Markou et al. (Thessaloniki: K. & M. Stamoulis Publications), pp. 23-36.

2020

Clitics, Particles, and Phrases in Bulgarian and Balkan Slavic Dialects. Balkanistica 33: 213-219.
Yugoslavia, Slavic Languages in. Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics Online. Brill Publishers.

2019

(with Quinn Dombrowski and Vladimir Zhobov). Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition: A Labor of Love. Slavic & East European Information Resources 20:1-2, 3-22. DOI: 10.1080/15228886.2019.1628492.
Diatopy and frequency as indicators of spread: Accentuation in Bulgarian dialects. Perspectives on Language Structure and Language Change. Eds. L. Heltoft et al. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 327-344.
Approaches to Dialect Diversity. Balkanistika 32,1: 17-36.
Tracking new elements in Bulgarian dialects. Eds. J. Pennington et al. And Thus You Are Everywhere Honored, Studies Dedicated to Brian D. Joseph. Bloomington: Slavica, pp. 1-18.

2018

(with Vladimir Zhobov). Dialects of the Slavic Languages. The Handbook of Dialectology, ed, C. Boberg, J. Nerbonne, and D. Watt. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 510-522.

2017

Bulgarian Dialectology: The View from Within and Without. Balkanskij tezaurus: Vzgljad na Balkany izvne i vnutri ( = Balkanskie čtenija 134, tezisy i materialy), ed. M. Makarcev et al. (Moscow: Institut slavjanovedenija RAN), pp. 91-94.

2016

(with Vladimir Zhobov). Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition.

Tracking the South Slavic Epic Register: Center for Hellenic Studies.

2015

Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition: A Digital Resource of Dialect Speech. Balkanistica 28: 1-13.
Where Dialectology Begins: Village Speech in Context. Balkanskij tezaurus: Načalo ( = Balkanskie čtenija 13, tezisy i materialy), ed. M. Makarcev et al. (Moscow: Institut slavjanovedenija RAN), pp. 77-81.
Review of Paul-Louis Thomas and Vladimir Osipov, Grammaire du bosniaque, croate, monténégrin, serbe. In: Journal of Slavic Linguistics 23: 123-145.
Review of Philip Bohlman and Nada Petković, ed., Balkan Epic: Song, History, Modernity. In: Ethnomusicology Forum 24, 2: 286-288.

2013

Language and Identity: The Fate of Serbo-Croatian. Entangled Balkans, v. 1, ed. R Daskalov & T. Marinov. Brill Publishers: 341-417.
What is naš? Conceptions of “the Other” in the prose of Ivo Andrić. Slavia iaponica 16: 7-36.

2012

Convergence and Causation in Balkan Slavic. Balkanismen heute – Балканизмы сегодня, eds. T. Kahl et al. [= Balkanologie, Beiträge zur Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft, Band 3] (Vienna - Berlin: LIT Verlag): 39-45.

2011

The Paradox of the Instant Trilingual. Jezik u upotrebi / Language in Use: primenjena lingvistika u čast Ranku Bugarskom / Applied Linguistics in Honour of Ranko Bugarski, ed. V. Vasić (Novi Sad: Društvo za primenjenu lingvistiku Srbije, Filozofski fakultet; Belgrade: Filozofski fakultet): 95-105.
Bulgarian Dialects and the Balkan Model of the World. Balkanskij spektr. Ot sveta k cvetu (= Balkanskie čtenija 11, tezisy i materialy), eds. M. Makarcev et al. (Moscow: Institut slavjanovedenija RAN): 171-173.
Vasko Popa and the Stargazer’s Legacy. Puzzles of Language: Essays in Honor of Karl Zimmer ( = Turcologica 86), eds. E. Erguvanli Taylan & B. Rona (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag): 235-246.

2010

Cultural Identity in Southeastern Europe: Balancing the Global and the Local. Europa/Evropa: Cross-Cultural Dialogues between the West, Russia, and Southeastern Europe, ( = Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis 18) eds. M. Könönen & J. Nuroluoto: 15-33.

2009

Serbo-Croatian Dialectology Revisited. Rus’ Writ Large: Language, Histories, Cultures. Essays Presented in Honor of Michael S. Flier on His Sixty-Fifth Birthday (= Harvard Ukrainian Studies) 28: 45-55.
New Conclusions on the Conclusive. (with Vladimir Zhobov) Journal of Slavic Linguistics 17: 61-85.
What Is Second Position, Anyway? BCS Clitics Revisited. In: S. Franks et al., eds., A Linguist’s Linguist: Studies in South Slavic Linguistics in Honor of E. Wayles Browne (Bloomington: Slavica): 43-67.

2008

Bulgarian. Lonely Planet phrasebooks. 255 pp.
Rhythmic Structure Constituents and Clitic Placement in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian. In: C. Bethin, ed., American Contributions to the Fourteenth International Congress of Slavists v. 1 (Bloomington: Slavica): 1-19.

2006

Review of Bosanski - Hrvatski - Srpski / Bosnisch - Kroatisch - Serbisch, Aktuelna pitanja jezika Bošnjaka, Hrvata, Srba i Crnogoraca / Aktuelle Frage der Sprache des Bosniaken, Kroaten, Serben und Montenegriner. Canadian Slavonic Papers 48: 190-192.
Dialectology. In: Steven Franks et al., eds., Slavic Linguistics 2000: The Future of Slavic Linguistics in America. http://www.seelrc.org/glossos/issues/8/
Review of Robert Greenberg, Language and Identity in the Balkans. Journal of Slavic Linguistics 14: 79-90.
Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian: One Language or Three? International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics 44-45 (2002-03): 1-35.
Vasko Popa’s Opus. Twentieth Century Literary Criticism 167: 154-170.

2005

Does Serbo-Croatian Dialectology Still Exist? In: A. Sobolev and A. Rusakov, eds., Jazyki i dialekty malyx etničeskix grupp na Balkanax (St. Petersburg - Marburg), pp. 30-42.
BCS, vs. B, C, S: Bringing Comprehension to the Foreign Learner. In: N. Leko, ed. Lingvistički vidici ( = Forum Bosne 35), pp. 210-217.

2004

Revitalizing Bulgarian Dialectology (co-edited, with Vladimir Zhobov). University of California International and Area Studies Digital Publications.
The Scope of Double Accent. In: Revitalizing Bulgarian Dialectology.
Hierarchies of Stress Assignment in Bulgarian Dialects. In: Revitalizing Bulgarian Dialectology (with Vladimir Zhobov and Georgi Kolev).

2001

Bridging the Descriptive Chasm: The Bulgarian “Generalized Past”. Indiana Slavic Studies 12: 13-42.

2000

Intensive Bulgarian: A Textbook and Reference Grammar, vol. I (with the assistance of Olga Mladenova). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. xix, 394 pp.
Intensive Bulgarian: A Textbook and Reference Grammar, vol. II (with the assistance of Olga Mladenova). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. xvii, 395 pp.
In Honor of Diversity: The Linguistic Riches of the Balkans (The Kenneth E. Naylor Memorial Lecture Series in South Slavic Linguistics 2). Department of Slavic and East European Language and Literatures, The Ohio State University. vi, 116 pp.
Tracking Sprachbund Boundaries: Word Order in the Balkans. Studies in Slavic and General Linguistics 28: 9-27.

1999

Word Order and Prosody in Balkan Slavic Dialects: The Case of Thrace. In: V. Radeva et al., eds. Dialektologija i lingvistična geografija (Sofia), pp. 61-73.

1996

Struktura poezije Vaska Pope (Studije o Srbima 7). Beograd: Vukova zadužbina, Orfelin; Novi Sad: Matica Srpska. 147 pp.
Narrative Voice and Listener’s Choice in the Prose of Ivo Andrić. In: W. Vucinich, ed. Ivo Andrić Revisited: The Bridge Still Stands (Berkeley), pp. 200-230.
Govor pripovedača i izbor slušaocima u prozi Ive Andrića. Sveske Zadužbine Ive Andrića 15, 12: 231-252.

1995

The “Tension of Essences” in South Slavic Epic. In: S. Karlinsky et al., eds., O Rus! Studia litteraria slavica in honorem Hugh McLean (Berkeley), pp. 153-165.
The Balkanization of Wackernagel’s Law. Indiana Slavic Studies 7: 1-8.
Standard Macedonian “Accentual Units” and Macedonian Dialectology. In: B. Stolz, ed., Studies in Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture (Michigan Slavic Materials 37), pp. 1-16.
Propp and Parry: Structure and Performance. Kunstkamera: etnografičeskie tetradi 8-9: 195-198.

1994

The Prosodic Systems of Balkan Slavic: A Partial Typology. Zbornik za filologiju i lingvistiku 37, 102: 23-40.

1993

Struktura pesništva Vaska Pope, Vučja so: ciklus kao pesma. Letopis Matice srpske 169 / 451, 1: 82-96.
Remarks on the Evolution of South Slavic Prosodic Systems. In: R. Maguire and A Timberlake, eds., American Contributions to the Eleventh International Congress of Slavists (Columbus), pp. 181-201.

1992

Udarenieto na imenata ot sreden rod v rodopskite govori. Bŭlgarski ezik 42: 393-395.

1991

The Balkan Nature of Macedonian Stress Phenomena. Makedonski jazik 42-44: 105-114.
Folklorni elementi u poeziji Vaska Pope. Književnost 46 / 94: 1572-1587.
The Poetics of Vuk Karadžić’s Kosovo Songs: An Analysis of “Kosovka djevojka”. In: W. Vucinich and T. Emmert, eds., Kosovo, Legacy of a Medieval Battle ( Minnesota Mediterranean and East European Monographs 1), pp. 189-201.

1990

Poetika Njegoševa jezika i jezik njegove poezije. Naučni sastanak slavista u Vukove dane 18, 2: 401-406.

1989

Man and the Stars: A Phonological Analysis of Vasko Popa’s “Zev nad zevovima”. In: Liber amicoroum in Honour of E.D. Goy (Kruševac - London), pp. 158-172.

1988

The Accentuation of Neuter Nouns in Balkan Slavic. In: H. Birnbaum, ed., American Contributions to the Tenth International Congress of Slavists (Columbus), pp. 7-34.

1987

Animacy in Balkan Slavic. In: S. Karlinsky and M. Flier, eds., Language, Literature, Linguistics, in Honor of Francis J. Whitfield on His Seventieth Birthday, March 25, 1986 (Berkeley), pp. 1-12.

1985

The Structure of Vasko Popa’s Poetry (UCLA Slavic Studies 14). Columbus: Slavica. 196 pp.
Timeless and Timebound in Serbian History: Vasko Popa’s “Uspravna zemlja”. International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics 31-32: 41-58.
Linguistic Sub-Structures in the Prose of Ivo Andrić. In: C. Hawkesworth, ed., Ivo Andrić, Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, 10-12 July 1984 ( SSEES Occasional Papers 4), pp. 188-203.

1984

Areal Linguistics and South Slavic Slavic Linguistics: The Case of Balkan Slavic. Zbornik za filologiju i lingvistiku 27-28: 39-47.
Struktura poezije Vaska Pope: opus kao pesma. Letopis Matice srpske 160: 521-533, 694-705.
Struktura ciklusa i struktura pjesme u zbirci “Vučja so” Vaska Pope. Izraz 56 / 23, 9: 185-198.

1983

Directions of Morphophonemic Change in Balkan Slavic: The Accentuation of the Present Tense. In: H. Birnbaum, ed., American Contributions to the Ninth International Congress of Slavists, vol. 1 (Columbus), pp. 9-49.
On the Definition of Sprachbund Boundaries: The Place of Balkan Slavic. In: N. Reiter, ed. Ziele und Wege der Balkanlinguistik, Beiträge zur Tagung vom 1-6 März 1981 in Berlin (Balkanologische Veröffentlichungen 8), pp. 13-26.

1982

Structure and Tradition in the Poetry of Vasko Popa. International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics 25-26: 41-50.
Directions of Morphophonemic Change in Bulgarian Dialects. In: Bulgaria Past and Present, Studies in History, Literature, Economics, Music, Sociology, Folklore and Linguistics: Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Bulgarian Studies held at Družba, Varna, June 13-17, 1978 (Sofia), pp. 217-220.

1981

External and Internal Change in Balkan Slavic. Folia Slavica 4, 2-3: 188-197.

1978

Pravci morfofonološke promene u balkanskoslavenskim dijalektima, akcentuacija imperativa. In: H. Birnbaum, ed., American Contributions to the Eighth International Congress of Slavists, vol. 1 (Columbus), pp. 26-44.

1976

Transitional West Bulgarian Dialects: A Structural Approach. In: Bulgaria Past and Present, Studies in History, Literature, Economics, Music, Sociology, Folklore and Linguistics (Columbus), pp. 310-316.

1975

Torlak Accentuation (Slavistische Beiträge 94). Munich: Otto Sagner. xvi, 806 pp.

1973

(with Pavle Ivić) Refonologizacija količestva glasnogo v odnom jugovostočnom serbskom govore. Obščeslavjanskij lingvističeskij atlas 1973: 18-21.

1971

Phonemic Re-Write Rules and Balkan Slavic. International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics 14: 5-20.

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