Who speaks Macedonian?
A lot of people did throughout the centuries but could not possibly have made themselves understood to each other. Indeed, using the term “Macedonian” alone to refer to a linguistic entity has led to serious terminological confusion. The reason for this is, first of all, the fact that the codification of a standard Slav-Macedonian language, compared to other Balkan languages in the region, took place comparatively late (in the 1940s), i.e. at a time when the term “Macedonian language” in international linguistics signified totally different concepts.In simple words, under “Macedonian language” or “the Macedonian”, every traditional linguist, until at least the end of the 1940s (when the standardization of the new language took place) understood the ancient Macedonian language. Very important linguists such as H. Ahrens (De Graecae linguae dialectis, Goettingen 1843), G. Chatzidakis (Zur Abstammung der alten Makedonier, Athens 1897) or O. Hoffmann (Die Makedonen. Ihre Sprache und ihr Vo
