The Ohrid dialect of Macedonian has many phonological, morphological, syntactic, andlexicalfeatures that distinguish itfrom the Standard language.
Some of them are archaic, while others represent innovations developed under the influence of intensive contacts with the non-Slavic languages in the Balkans.
It is noteworthy that the typical features ofthe dialect are systematically maintained in the speech ofthose Ohridians whoseparents and grandparents were born and live(d) in the inner city; they are encountered in the speech ofother inner-city-born inhabitants only ifpresent in the dialect ofthe area from which their parents had moved into Ohrid. Thus, dialect maintenance appears to be largely dependent on the Speaker variables of neighborhood and roots.
Due to the high prestige of the city and its dialect, adaptation to the Standard in the spoken language is slow in the inner city and is discernible only in the speech ofthose younger Ohridians rooted in the inner city, who have been taught by teachers who themselves acquired the Macedonian Standard äs preadolescents. Accordingly, adaptation relates to the Speaker variables ofage and language of instruction at school.