Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Southern branch of the Slavic languages, along with Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian, and Slovenian. Some linguists, including all Bulgarian and Greek ones, however, are of the opinion that Macedonian is only a regional norm of Bulgarian (see Macedonian language).

Distribution

Bulgarian is the official language of the Republic of Bulgaria. It is also spoken in Canada, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Moldova, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States, with an estimated total of 12 million native speakers.

History

The development of Bulgarian language can be divided into several historical periods. The prehistoric period (essentially proto-Slavic) occurred between the Slavonic invasion of the eastern Balkans and the mission to Moravia in the 9th century. Old Bulgarian (9th to 11th century) was the language used by St. Cyril, St. Methodius and their disciples to translate the Bible and other liturgical literature from Greek. It is also referred to as Old Church Slavonic. Middle Bulgarian (12th to 15th centuries) was a language of rich literary activity and major innovations. Modern Bulgarian dates from the 16th century onwards. The present-day written language was standardized on the 19th-century Bulgarian vernacular. Some words and structures remain from the language of the Bulgars, the Central Asian people who moved into present-day Bulgaria and eventually adopted the local Slavic language. The proto-Bulgar language, probably a member of the Iranian language family (Pamir languages), was otherwise unrelated to Bulgarian.

Old Bulgarian (Old Church Slavonic) is the first Slavonic language attested in writing. As Slavonic linguistic unity lasted into late antiquity, in the oldest manuscripts this language is initially referred to as ѩӡыкъ словѣньскъ (языкъ словяньскъ), "the Slavonic language". Consequently it was called ѩӡыкъ блъгарьскъ (языкъ блъгарьскъ).

The language is referred to in various ways by its different researchers. Jernej Kopitar and Franc Miklošič called it "Old Slovenian language", as in the oldest written records they saw features of the Slav dialect of Panonia. A. H. Vostokov calls it "Slav-Bulgarian language". J. Dobrovsky in "Institutiones linguae slavicae dialecti veteris" (Vindobonae, 1822) (Study of the old dialect of the Slav language) found the language an old Serbian dialect. But as early as the mid-19th century, A. Schleicher, M. Hatala and L. Geitler noticed that the linguistic features of the first Slav literary works are the same as those of the Bulgarian language. They introduced the term Old Bulgarian language (German Altbulgarisch), fully adopted in Bulgaria. In contemporary linguistics other frequently used terms are Old Slavic and Old Church Slavonic, which refer to the language of these same texts.

Naturally, some scholars hold the opinion that the scientific study of the language should only have as its subject the texts of the so-called "canon", i.e., the language of the works associated with St. Constantine/Cyril and St. Methodius and their work, rather than the language of the Bulgarian literary and cultural circles. But this is a one-sided understanding of the nature and extent of the first Slav language attested in writing. There are no documents surviving to modern times written by the brothers themselves, so we derive this "canon" from records written at least 50 or 60 years later. During this period, certain changes occurred in both the written and the spoken language. Therefore the language of Cyril and Methodius may be reconstructed roughly from the copies of their works, but the authenticity of the reconstruction is not supported by any documentary evidence, and that applies also to the earlier proto-Slav language. That is reason enough not to designate the language of the first Slav written records "the language of Cyril and Methodius". As for the terms "Old Slavic" and "Old Church Slavonic", they do not account for the actual nature and ethnic basis of the language. The large amount of research devoted to it has undeniably proven the Bulgarian ethnic base of the oldest manuscripts that have survived to this day. Proof can be found in phonetics (in the reflexes of the proto-Slav *tj, *gtǐ, *ktǐ, *dj, and in the open articulation of the ѣть vowel), the lexicon (in certain loans from the colloquial Greek language of the time, with which only the Bulgarian Slavs were in direct contact, in words such as сѫбота "Saturday" from σαμβάτο, and not σάββατον), and in the syntax:

1. Use of the dative possessive case in personal pronouns and nouns: рѫка ти; отъпоуштенье грѣхомъ;
2. Descriptive future tense using the verb хотѣти;
3. Use of the comparative form мьнии (smaller) to mean younger.

General characteristics

Bulgarian demonstrates several linguistic innovations that set it apart from other Slavic languages, such as the elimination of noun declension, the development of a suffixed definite article (possibly inherited from the Bulgar language), the lack of a verb infinitive, and the retention and further development of the proto-Slavic verb system. There are various verb forms to express nonwitnessed, retold, and doubtful action.

Bulgarian is part of the Balkan linguistic union, which also includes Greek, Romanian, Albanian and some Serbian dialects. Most of these languages share some of the above-mentioned characteristics (e.g., definite article, infinitive loss, complicated verb system) and many more. However, the complete loss of case declension seems to set Bulgarian apart both from the Balkanic and from the Slavic languages (even though it might be argued that it is a logical development of "Balkanization"). The "nonwitnessed action" verb forms have been attributed to Turkish influences by some linguists.

Alphabet

In 886 AD, Bulgaria adopted the Glagolitic alphabet which was devised by the Byzantine missionaries Saint Cyril and Methoduis in the 850s. The Glagolitic alphabet was gradually superceded in the following centuries by the Cyrillic alphabet, which was developed around the Preslav Literary School in the beginning of the 10th century. Most of the letters in the Cyrillic alphabet were borrowed from the Greek alphabet; those which had no Greek equivalents, however, represent simplified Glagolitic letters.

The original Cyrillic alphabet (44 letters for 44 sounds) remained in use in Bulgaria until the 1870s when the letters were reduced to 32 as part of the efforts on the codification of Modern Bulgarian. This modified alphabet was used until the orthographic reform of 1945 when the letters yat ( ѣ, called "double e"), and yus ( ѫ) were removed from the alphabet. Thus, the present Bulgarian alphabet has 30 letters.

The following table gives the majuscule forms of the letters in the Bulgarian alphabet, along with IPA values for the sound of each letter:

¹ softens consonants before 'o'

Most letters in the Bulgarian alphabet stand for one specific sound and that sound only. Three letters stand for the single expression of combinations of sounds, namely щ (sht), ю (yu), and я (ya). Two sounds do not have separate letters assigned to them, but are expressed by the combination of two letters, namely дж (like j in Jack) and дз (dz). The letter ь is not pronounced, but it softens any preceding consonant before the letter o.

Phonetics

Vowels

The Bulgarian vowel system consists of the following six vowels:

The Bulgarian vowels may be grouped in three pairs according to their articulation: front, central and back. All vowels are relatively lax, as in most other Slavic languages, and unlike the vowels, for example, in the Germanic languages. Unstressed [a], [ə], [ɔ], [u] tend to be shorter and weaker compared to their stressed counterparts, approaching each other, though without merging completely. Similar reduction of [ɛ] and [i] is, however, not allowed.

Semivowels

Bulgarian possesses one semivowel: /j/, equivalent to the English <y> in yes. The /j/ always immediately precedes or follows a vowel. The semivowel is most usually expressed graphically by the letter й, as, for example, in най /naj/ ("most") and тролей /trolej/ ("trolleybus"). The letters ю and я are, however, also used (though never before a consonant where they signify a palatalized consonant), for example ютия /jutija/ "iron".

Consonants

Bulgarian has a total of 33 consonant phonemes (see table below). Three additional phonemes can also be found ([x ʲ], [ʣ] and [ʣʲ]), but only in foreign proper names like Хюстън / xʲust ən/ ("Houston"), Дзержински /dzεr ʒinski/ ("Dzerzhinsky"), and Ядзя /ja ʣʲa/, the Polish name "Jadzia". They are, however, normally not considered part of the phonetic inventory of the Bulgarian language. According to the criterion of sonority, the Bulgarian consonants may be divided into 16 pairs (voiced<>voiceless). The only consonant without a counterpart is the voiceless velar fricative [x].

Hard and palatalized consonants

The Bulgarian consonants б /b/, в /v/, г /g/, д /d/, з /z/, к /k/, л /l/, м /m/, н /n/, п /p/, р /ʀ/, с /s/, т /t/, ф /f/, ц /ʦ/ can have both a normal, "hard" pronunciation, as well as a "soft", palatalized one. The hard and the palatalized consonants are considered separate phonemes in Bulgarian. The consonants ж /ʒ/, ш /ʃ/, ч /tʃ/ and дж /ʤ/ do not have palatalized variants, as they are essentially soft (palatal) consonants by nature in Bulgarian.

The softness of the palatalized consonants is always indicated in writing in Bulgarian. A consonant is palatalized if:

• it is followed by the soft sign ь;
• it is followed by the letters я / ʲa/ or ю / ʲu/;

(я and ю are used in all other cases to represent the semivowel /j/ before /a/ and /u/.)

Consonants are never soft before the vowels {{IPA and [ɛ] in standard Bulgarian, palatalization before these two vowels is, however, common in Eastern Bulgarian dialects.

Palatalization

During the palatalization of most hard consonants (the bilabial, labiodental and alveolar ones), the middle part of the tongue is lifted towards the palatum resulting in the formation of a second articulatory centre whereby the specific palatal "clang" of the soft consonants is achieved. The articulation of alveolars /l/, /n/ and /r/, however, usually does not follow that rule, the palatal clang is achieved by moving the place of articulation further back towards the palatum so that /ʎ/, /ɲ/ and /rʲ/ are actually alveopalatal (postalvelolar) consonants. Soft /g/ and /k/ ( /gʲ/ and /kʲ/, respectively) are articulated not on the velum but on the palatum and are considered palatal consonants.

Table of Bulgarian consonants

Word stress

Bulgarian word stress is dynamic. Stressed syllables are louder and longer than unstressed ones. Stress is also free and mobile, it may fall on any syllable of a polysyllabic word and its position may vary in inflection and derivation, for example мъж /m' ə ʒ/ ("man"), мъжът /m ə ʒ' ət/ ("the man"). Bulgarian stress is also distinctive: for example в'ълна /v' əlna/ ("wool") and вълн'а /v əln'a/ ("wave") are only differentiated by stress.

Morphology

Nominal morphology

Nouns, adjectives and pronouns are inflected for grammatical gender, number, case (to a very limited extent) and definiteness in Bulgarian. Adjectives and adjectival pronouns agree with nouns in number and gender.

Gender

There are three grammatical genders in Bulgarian: masculine, feminine and neuter. The gender of the noun can largely be determined according to its ending. The vast majority of Bulgarian nouns ending in a consonant (zero ending) are masculine (for example, град “city”, син “son”, мъж “man”). Feminine nouns include almost all nouns that have the ending –а (жена “woman”, дъщеря “daughter”, улица “street”), a large group of nouns with zero ending expressing quality, degree or an abstraction (мъдрост “wisdom”, любов “love”), and another, much smaller group of irregular nouns with zero ending which define tangible objects or concepts (кръв “blood”, кост “bone”, вечер “evening”). Nouns ending in –е, –о, or –у are almost exclusively neuter (дете “child”, езеро “lake”, табу “taboo”). Plural nouns do not have gender.

Number

Two numbers are distinguished in Bulgarian — singular and plural. Masculine nouns use a separate count form with cardinal numbers, which stems from the proto-Slavonic dual: двама/трима мъже (“two/three men”) versus две/три жени (“two/three women”) or две/три деца (“two/three children”). Plurals are formed with a variety of suffixes; exceptions, irregular declension and alternative plural forms are very common.

Case

The complex proto-Slavonic case system is almost completely dissolved in modern Bulgarian. Vestiges are well preserved only in the personal pronouns and the masculine personal interrogative pronoun кой (“who”), which have nominative, accusative and dative forms. Vocative forms are still in use for masculine and feminine nouns (however, not for neuter ones), but endings in masculine nouns are determined solely according to the stem-final consonant of the noun. In all other cases, the proto-Slavonic case system has been replaced by prepositional and other syntactic constructions.

Definiteness

The disappearance of the case declension has resulted in the development of the category of definiteness in Bulgarian. Definiteness is expressed by a definite article which is postposed to the noun (indefinite: човек, “man”; definite: човекът, “the man”) or the first nominal constituent of definite noun phrases (indefinite: добър човек, “a good man”; definite: добрият човек, “the good man”), much like in the Scandinavian languages. There are four singular definite articles: –ът/–ят (“–ət/–jət”) for masculine nouns that are grammatical subjects, –а/–я for masculine nouns that are grammatical objects, –та for feminine nouns, and –то for neuter nouns. There are two plural articles, –та and –те, depending on the final vowel in the plural ending. The two masculine definite articles may also be considered as two grammatical forms of the same article.

Verbal morphology

Finite verbal forms

Finite verbal forms are simple or compound and agree with subjects in person (first, second and third) and number (singular, plural) in Bulgarian. In addition to that, compound forms using participles show gender in the singular (masculine, feminine, neuter). There are three tenses in the indicative mood — present, past and future — which, combined with other categories, produce nine formations: present, past imperfect, past aorist, future, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, past future, and past future perfect tense.

The conditional mood in Bulgarian is a compound form using the aorist past form of the stem би- (“be”) and the aorist past active participle (бих учил, “I would study”). The imperative mood may be expressed by both simple and compound forms. There are simple forms for the second person singular and plural using the suffixes /-i/ and /-ete/, respectively (учи, 2nd p. sing., учете, 2nd p. pl.). There are compound forms for all persons and numbers. Bulgarian has developed a special mood for nonwitnessed events, the so-called retold (renarrated) mood, which has five tenses.

Bulgarian verbs express aspect: perfective verbs signify the completion of the action of the verb; imperfective ones are neutral with regard to it. Most Bulgarian verbs have perfective-imperfective pairs (imperfective<>perfective: идвам<>дойда “come”, уча<>науча “study”). Perfective stems are usually formed from imperfective ones by suffixation or prefixation.

Nonfinite verbal forms

The proto-Slavonic infinitive and supine have been replaced by phrases with да (“to”) and present tense (искам да уча, “I want to study”). Bulgarian has the following participles:

• the present active participle' is formed from imperfective present stems with the addition of the suffixes –ащ/–ещ (учащ, “studying”, also “a student”); it is used only attributively;
• the imperfect past active participle is formed from imperfective present stems with the addition of the suffixes –ел–/–ал– (учел, “studied”); it is used only in retold (renarrated) mood and is a Bulgarian innovation;
• the aorist past active participle is formed from aorist stems with the addition of the suffix –л– (учел, “studied”); it is used in compound verbs;
• the past passive participle is formed from aorist stems with the addition of the suffixes –(е)н–/–т– (учен, “studied”); it is used predicatively and attribu