North Macedonia

Arli

A Balkan Romani variety spoken widely across North Macedonia, Kosovo, southern Serbia, and Bulgaria.

Balkan Turkish

also: Rumelice

The Turkish varieties of the Balkans, surviving from Ottoman-era settlement. Spoken across pockets of Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and northern Greece.

Aromanian

also: Arumun, Vlach

An Eastern Romance variety spoken across the southern Balkans. Often classified as a separate language; carries significant contact influence from Greek, Albanian, and Slavic.

Standard Macedonian

also: Makedonski

The Skopje-based standard of Macedonian, codified after the Second World War. Closely related to Bulgarian; written in Cyrillic with several letters unique to Macedonian.

Ohrid Macedonian

also: Western Macedonian, Ohridsko-prespanski

The Western Macedonian dialect group around Lake Ohrid and Prespa. Provided much of the structural basis for the modern literary standard, especially in stress placement and verb morphology.

Gheg Albanian

also: Gegërishte

The northern Albanian dialect group, spoken across northern Albania, Kosovo, and parts of North Macedonia and Montenegro. Distinguished by nasal vowels and the retention of older Albanian features.