Bulgarian language

Bulgarian is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeast Europe, mainly in Bulgaria. It is the language that people in Bulgaria use every day.

Bulgarian is closely related to the Macedonian language. Together, they form a special group called the East South Slavic languages. These two languages share some unique features that make them different from other Slavic languages. For example, they do not use case endings to show how words relate to each other, and they have a special way to show if something is a definite object.

Bulgarian is the official language of Bulgaria. Since 2007, it has also been one of the official languages of the European Union. Many people outside of Bulgaria, in countries like Ukraine, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Romania, Hungary, Albania, Greece, and Turkey, also speak Bulgarian.

History

Main article: History of Bulgarian

The Bulgarian language has gone through several stages. The earliest stage, called the Prehistoric period, started when Slavic people moved to the eastern Balkans around the 6th century CE. This was followed by Old Church Slavonic, used by Saints Cyril and Methodius when they translated the Bible and other books from Greek into Slavic.

Next came Middle Bulgarian, which was used in the Second Bulgarian Empire, Walachia, Moldavia, and the Ottoman Empire. Modern Bulgarian began in the 16th century and changed a lot during the 18th and 19th centuries. Today’s written Bulgarian is based on the Eastern dialects but tries to balance East and West Bulgarian sounds.

Geographic distribution

Bulgarian is the main language of Bulgaria. About 6 million people there speak it as their first language.

Many people who speak Bulgarian also live in other countries. For example, there are Bulgarian speakers in Ukraine, Moldova, Transnistria, Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Albania, Greece, and Turkey. There are also Bulgarian speakers in places like Germany, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. These communities have grown since the 1990s.

Dialects

Main article: Bulgarian dialects

Bulgarian has different ways of speaking called dialects. The most important difference is called the "yat border." It runs from the city of Nikopol on the Danube River to the city of Solun (Thessaloniki) on the Aegean Sea.

West of this border, people say the old "yat" sound as "e" in all places. For example, they say "mleko" for milk and "hleb" for bread.

East of this border, people switch between "ya" and "e." They say "ya" when the word is stressed and the next letter is not a front vowel. For example, they say "mlyako" for milk and "hlyab" for bread. But they say "e" in other places, like "mlekar" for milkman and "hlebар" for baker.

The main Bulgarian language follows the eastern way of speaking. But many people in western Bulgaria, including the capital Sofia, still use their own way of speaking. Some try to follow the main rules but sometimes use "ya" too much, which is called "over-ya-ing."

Relationship to Macedonian

Main article: Macedonian language § Relationship to Bulgarian

Further information: Political views on the Macedonian language

See also: Bulgarian nationalism, Macedonian nationalism, Pluricentric language, and Accession of North Macedonia to the European Union

Bulgarian and Macedonian are closely related languages. In the past, many experts thought the dialects spoken in parts of Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Northern Greece were all Bulgarian dialects.

Later, new ideas led to the creation of a separate Macedonian language. Today, some experts still see Macedonian as part of Bulgarian, while many others see it as its own language. The question depends more on politics than on strict language rules.

Phonology

Main article: Bulgarian phonology

Bulgarian sounds are similar to other South Slavic languages but differ from Serbian. There are differences between Eastern and Western Bulgarian dialects. Eastern dialects change sounds before certain vowels and reduce some vowel sounds when they are not stressed. Western dialects do not change sounds as much.

Standard Bulgarian uses a mix of these features. It allows some sound changes only before certain vowels and reduces only a few vowels. Bulgarian has six main vowel sounds, but more different sounds can occur. There is debate about how many consonant sounds Bulgarian has, with some saying there are 22 and others saying there are at least 39. This debate started in the 1950s and continues today.

Alphabet

Main article: Bulgarian alphabet

See also: Bulgarian Braille

In 886 AD, the Bulgarian Empire introduced the Glagolitic alphabet, created by the Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 850s. Over time, the Glagolitic alphabet was replaced by the Cyrillic script, which was developed around the Preslav Literary School in Bulgaria in the late 9th century.

In the 1800s, different versions of the Cyrillic alphabet were used until an alphabet with 32 letters, suggested by Marin Drinov, became popular in the 1870s. In 1945, two letters were removed, leaving 30 letters. When Bulgaria joined the European Union on January 1, 2007, Cyrillic became one of the three official scripts of the European Union, along with the Latin and Greek scripts.

Grammar

Main article: Bulgarian grammar

Bulgarian has different types of words, split into two main groups: words that change and words that stay the same. Words that change include nouns, adjectives, numbers, pronouns, and verbs. Words that don’t change include adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles, and interjections. Verbs and adverbs form a group on their own.

Nominal morphology

Main article: Bulgarian nouns

Nouns and adjectives in Bulgarian can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. They also have singular and plural forms. Adjectives match nouns in gender and number. Pronouns also change based on gender and number.

Nominal inflection

Gender

Bulgarian nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. You can often tell the gender by the ending of the word. For example, words ending in a consonant are usually masculine, words ending in -а or -я are usually feminine, and words ending in -е or -о are usually neuter.

Number

Bulgarian has singular and plural forms. Different endings are used for plural forms, and these can change based on the gender and ending of the singular form.

Case

Main article: Case system of Bulgarian

Cases are mostly used in pronouns. There are four cases: nominative, accusative, dative, and vocative.

Definiteness (article)

Bulgarian uses a definite article that comes after the noun, similar to some other languages. The ending of the article changes based on the noun’s ending.

Adjective and numeral inflection

Adjectives and numbers match the gender and number of the nouns they describe. They can also take the definite article.

Pronouns

Main article: Bulgarian pronouns

Pronouns change based on gender, number, and case. They include personal, relative, reflexive, interrogative, negative, indefinite, summative, and possessive pronouns.

Verbal morphology and grammar

Main article: Bulgarian verbs

Verbs in Bulgarian change based on person, number, voice, aspect, mood, and tense.

Finite verbal forms

Verbs can be simple or compound and match the subject in person and number.

Aspect

Bulgarian verbs have perfective and imperfective aspects. Perfective verbs show the action is completed, while imperfective verbs do not.

Mood

Bulgarian has several moods, including indicative, imperative, subjunctive, conditional, and inferential.

Tense

There are three main tenses: present, past, and future. These combine with aspect and mood to form different verb forms.

Adverbs

Adverbs are often formed from the neuter singular form of adjectives. Other adverbs come from older case forms or are unique words.

Other features

Questions

Questions without a question word use the particle ли after the verb.

Significant verbs

Be (Съм)

The verb съм is used as an auxiliary for perfect, passive, and conditional forms.

Will (Ще)

The verb ще is used to form the future tense.

Have/Don't have (Имам and нямам)

These verbs can be used impersonally to mean "there is/are" or "there isn’t/aren’t any."

Conjunctions and particles

But

Bulgarian has several words for "but," used in different situations.

Vocative particles

These particles strengthen statements and are informal.

Modal particles

These particles express the speaker’s mood relative to the situation.

Intentional particles

These express intent or desire and are informal.

Pronouns of quality

Bulgarian has pronouns like kakav (what sort of) and takuv (this sort of).

Miscellaneous

Bulgarian people sometimes shake their head for "yes" and nod for "no," which is different from some other cultures. The language also has many words for family relationships.

Syntax

Main article: Bulgarian grammar

Bulgarian uses a special way of speaking called clitic doubling, mostly to add emphasis. For example, in everyday speech, people might say:

Аз (го) дадох подаръка на Мария.

This means "I gave it the present to Maria." Another way to say it is:

Аз (ѝ го) дадох подаръка на Мария.

Which means "I gave her it the present to Maria."

In spoken Bulgarian, clitic doubling is often required to show important information structure. For example:

Подаръка (ѝ) го дадох на Мария.

This translates to "The present [to her] it I-gave to Maria."

Or:

На Мария ѝ (го) дадох подаръка.

Meaning "To Maria to her [it] I-gave the present."

Sometimes, clitic doubling helps show relationships between words. For example:

Петър и Иван ги изядоха вълците.

This means "Petar and Ivan were eaten by the wolves."

Compared to:

Петър и Иван изядоха вълците.

Which means "Petar and Ivan ate the wolves."

Clitic doubling can also be used in everyday speech instead of more formal ways of speaking. For instance, instead of saying "Petar and Ivan were eaten by the wolves" in a formal way, people might use clitic doubling.

Clitic doubling is also required when using certain expressions, such as "играе ми се" (I feel like playing), "студено ми е" (I am cold), and "боли ме ръката" (my arm hurts). For example:

На мен ми се спи, а на Иван му се играе.

This means "I feel like sleeping, and Ivan feels like playing."

На нас ни е студено, а на вас ви е топло.

This translates to "We are cold, and you are warm."

Иван го боли гърлото, а мене ме боли главата.

Meaning "Ivan has sore throat, and I have a headache."

Except for these cases, clitic doubling is not used in formal writing.

Vocabulary

Main article: Bulgarian vocabulary

Most words in Bulgarian come from old Slavic roots and changes made over time in Bulgaria. About 70% to 80% of Bulgarian words are from these roots.

The other 20% to 30% of words come from other languages. Bulgarian has borrowed words from many places, mostly from:

• Latin 26%,
• Greek 23%,
• French 15%,
• Ottoman Turkish (including Arabic through Ottoman Turkish) 14%,
• Russian 10%,
• Italian 4%,
• German 4%,
• English 4%.

Latin and Greek words often come from old times when Bulgaria was part of the Roman Empire or through church use. Words from Ottoman Turkish entered Bulgarian during many years of Ottoman rule but have often been replaced by Bulgarian words since then. After Bulgaria became independent in 1878, many French words were added. Since the late 20th century, English words, especially in science and technology, have also become common in Bulgarian.

Sample text

Here is the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights written in Bulgarian:

Всички хора се раждат свободни и равни по достойнство и права. Те са надарени с разум и съвест и следва да се отнасят помежду си в дух на братство.

The same text can be written using the letters we use in English:

Vsichki hora se razhdat svobodni i ravni po dostoynstvo i prava. Te sa nadareni s razum i sŭvest i sledva da se otnasyat pomezhdu si v duh na bratstvo.

And here is how it sounds when spoken, shown with special symbols that show pronunciation:

['fsit͡ʃki 'xɔrɐ sɛ 'raʒdɐt svo'bɔdni i 'ravni po dos'tɔjnstvo i prɐ'va. 'tɛ sɐ nɐdɐ'rɛni s 'razom i 'sɤvɛst i 'slɛdvɐ dɐ sɛ ot'nasjɐt pomɛʒ'du si v 'dux nɐ 'bratstvo.]

In English, it says:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights romanization Latin alphabet IPA