Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Southern branch of the Slavic languages.

Distribution

History

A development of the Bulgarian language can be divided into many period. A prehistoric cycle (au fond proto-Slavic) occurred between a Slavonic invasion of a eastern Balkans & the mission of St. Cyril and St. Methodius to Great Moravia in the 860s. Old Bulgarian (9th to 11th century, too known as Old Church Slavonic) was the language utilized by St. Cyril, St. Methodius and their disciples to translate the Bible and other liturgical literature from Greek. Middle Bulgarian (Twelfth to 15th century) was the language of rich literary activity & major innovations. Modern Bulgarian dates from either a 16th century ahead; a present-contemporary written language was standardized on the basis of the 19th-century Bulgarian vernacular. the historical development of the Bulgarian language may be described as a transition from either a extremely synthetic language (Old Bulgarian) to a average analytic language (Modern Bulgarian) with Middle Bulgarian as a centre in that transition.

Fewer than Xx words remaaround in Bulgarian from either a language of the Bulgars, a Central Asian population world health organization get into present-contemporary Bulgaria & yet adopted the local Slavic language. A Bolgar language, a member of a Turkic language personal or even the Iranian language personal (Pamir languages), is otherwise unrelated to Bulgarian.

Old Bulgarian was a number 1 Slavonic language attested within writing. When Slavonic linguistic unity lasted into late antiquity, in the oldest manuscripts this language was at the start known as Ñ?зыкъ Ñ?ловÑ?ньÑ?къ, "the Slavonic language". In the Middle Bulgarian period of time this title was step by step replaced per title Ñ?зыкъ блъгарьÑ?къ, a "Bulgarian language". Around a select few legal actions, a title Ñ?зыкъ блъгарьÑ?къ was utilized non merely by using regard to the contemporary Middle Bulgarian language of the scribe however likewise to the period of Old Bulgarian & possibly to the mission of St. Cyril & St. Methodius around Smashing Moravia. The virtually all notable case of anachronism is the Service of St. Cyril from Skopje (СкопÑ?ки миней), a 13th century Middle Bulgarian manuscript from northern Macedonia according to which St. Cyril preached by using "Bulgarian" books among a Moravian Slavs. A foremost mention of a language when the "Bulgarian language" instead of the "Slavonic language" comes in the operate of the Greek clergy of the Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid in the 11th century, for example in the Greek hagiography of Saint Clement of Ohrid by Theophylact of Ohrid (late 11th century).

When you took the Middle Bulgarian time period, a language underwent dramatical changes, losing a Old Slavonic experience rules, however preserving a rich verb body (when a development was exactly a opposite around virtually all more Slavic languages) & getting a definite article. It was influenced by its non-Slavic neighbours in the Balkan linguistic union (mostly gramatically) and late besides per Turkish language, which had the dominant position in the Ottoman empire (mostly lexically). As the subject revival occured towards a prevent of a period of Ottoman rule (mostly when you took the 19th century), a modern Bulgarian literary language was step by step formed by drawing heavy in Russian and Church Slavonic/Old Bulgarian & later by reducing a total of Turkish and partially more Balkanic loans.

Modern Bulgarian was depending basically on a Eastern accent of the language, however its pronunciation is inside numbers of respects the compromise between East & West Bulgarian (watch especially the phonetic sections beneath).

General characteristics

Bulgarian demonstrates many linguistic innovations that let it run apart from either more Slavic languages, like a elimination of noun declension, the development of the suffixed definite article (possibly inherited from either the Bulgar language), a deficiency of a verb infinitive, & a retention and farther development of the proto-Slavic verb system. There are various verb forms to express nonwitnessed, retold, & doubtful action.

Bulgarian is a portion of the Balkan linguistic union, which also includes a closely related Macedonian, Greek, Romanian, Albanian and some Serbian dialects. Virtually all one languages part a few of the above-above-named characteristics (e.g., definite article, infinitive loss, complicated verb models) & numbers of thomas more. A "nonwitnessed action" verb forms develop been attributed to Turkish influences by virtually all Bulgarian linguists.

Alphabet

Around 886 AD, Bulgaria adopted the Glagolitic alphabet which was devised by the Byzantine missionaries Saint Cyril and Methodius in the 850s. A Glagolitic alphabet was gradually superseded in the below centuries per Cyrillic alphabet, which was developed around a Preslav Literary School in the beginning of the 10th century. Virtually all of the letters in the Cyrillic alphabet were borrowed from a Greek alphabet; those which experienced there is no Greek equivalents, all the same, represent simplified Glagolitic letters.

Under a influence of printed books from either Russia, a Russian "civil script" of Peter We (view Reforms of Russian orthography) replaced the old Middle Bulgarian/Church Slavonic script at the prevent of the 18th century. Many Cyrillic alphabets by owning 28 to 44 letters were utilized in a beginning & the middle of the 19th century during the efforts on the codification of Modern Bulgarian until an alphabet by having 32 letters, projected by Marin Drinov, gained prominence in the 1870s. A alphabet of Marin Drinov was utilized until a orthographic reform of 1945 when the letters yat were removed from the alphabet. So, a present Bulgarian alphabet has Xxx letters.

A as a consequence table gives a letters of the Bulgarian alphabet, along by using IPA values for the sound of every letter:

^Single softens consonants prior to 'o'

Virtually all letters in the Bulgarian alphabet have for a single specific healthy & that healthy exclusively. 3 letters could have for the individual expression of combinations of sounds, that is to say щ (sht), ÑŽ (yu), and Ñ? (ya). 2 sounds don't keep close at hand separate letters assigned to the 2, however come expressed per combination of two letters, videlicet дж (rather j within Jack) & дз (dz). A letter ÑŒ is non pronounced, however it softens any retiring consonant prior to a letter о.

For questions on a transliteration of Bulgarian into English (Romanization), see a article Transliteration of Bulgarian into English.

Phonetics

Vowels
A Bulgarian vocalism consists of the as punishment half a dozen vowels:

A Bulgarian vowels can be grouped inside ternion pairs based on data from their backness: front, exchange & back. Completely vowels come comparatively lax, when within virtually all more Slavic languages, and unlike a vowels, e.g., in the Germanic languages. Unaccented vowels tend to exist as shorter & weaker in comparison their stressed counterparts, a corresponding pairs of open & a closed vowels approaching every more by using a tendency to merge, although the concretion is non universally complete. A variation of a norm seems to exist as socially conditioned: on one hand, the proportional absence of reduction is intuitively associated by having certain types of sale-status (provincial, especially West Bulgarian, or even Romani-influenced) speech, on a other h& the awareness of the distinctions is naturally perceived as a sign of literacy and education. A merger is, at least around non-dialectal pronunciation, altogether accomplished for .

Semivowels
Bulgarian possesses a single semivowel: "white".

Consonants
Bulgarian has the amount of 33 consonant phonemes (see table following). 3 extra phonemes can likewise exist as incurred ([a/, a Polish title "Jadzia". It is, even so, commonly non considered a portion of the phonetic inventory of the Bulgarian language. Based on data from a criterion of resonance, a Bulgarian consonants can be divided into Xvi pairs (soft<>voiceless). the exclusively consonant while forgoing a counterpart is the voiceless velar fricative [x]. A counterpoint 'voiced vs. voiceless' is neutralized inside word-final position, around which tons consonants come pronounced when voiceless (when in virtually all Slavic languages, German, etc.); that neutralization is, nonetheless, non reflected in the spelling.

Hard and palatalized consonants
A Bulgarian consonants б don't own palatalised variants, which is probably attached sustaining a fact that it is already (palatal) and own arised historically across palatalization around most common Slavic. These consonants can be realized using different grades of hardness or even softness, based in speaker & idiom; the comparatively neutral realization is perceived when standard.

A softness of the palatal consonants is universally indicated inside writing around Bulgarian. The consonant is palatalized whenever: it is followed per easy sign ÑŒ; it is followed per letters Ñ? ;

(Ñ? & ÑŽ come utilized all told more events to represent a glide /j/ prior to /a/ & /u/.)

Inside Eastern Bulgarian idiom, consonants come universally palatalized prior to a vowels is universally velarized irrespective of the quality of the charted vowels.

Palatalization
When you took a palatalization of most difficult consonants (a bilabial, labiodental & alveolar ones), a middle section of a tongue is lifted towards a palatum, sequent in the formation of another articulative centre whereby the specific palatine "clang" of the easy consonants is achieved. A articulation of alveolar consonant , severally) come articulated non on the velum however on the palatum & come considered palatal consonants.

Table of Bulgarian consonants

Word stress
Bulgarian word stress is dynamic. Accented syllables come loudly & hanker than unstressed ones. Stress is besides loose & free to wander, it will fall around any syllable of the polysyllabic word & its position can diverge in inflection & derivation, e.g., мъж // ("wave") come single differentiated by stress.

Morphology
Nominal morphology
Nouns, adjectives & pronouns come inflected for grammatical gender, number, case (to a super limited extent) & definiteness in Bulgarian. Adjectives & adjective pronouns agree sustaining nouns inside total & gender.

Gender
There are trey grammatical genders within Bulgarian: masculine, feminine & neuter. A gender of the noun could largely become determined based on data from its ending. the huge majority of Bulgarian nouns ending inside a consonant (zero ending) come masculine (e.g., град “cityâ€?, Ñ?ин “sonâ€?, мъж “manâ€?). Feminine nouns include virtually a lot nouns that own a endings –а/–Ñ? (жена “womanâ€?, дъщерÑ? “daughterâ€?, улица “streetâ€?), the big class action of nouns by using zero ending expressing quality, degree or even an abstraction, including everthing nouns endways –оÑ?Ñ‚/–еÑ?Ñ‚ (мъдроÑ?Ñ‚ “wisdomâ€?, низоÑ?Ñ‚ “vilenessâ€?, прелеÑ?Ñ‚ "loveliness", болеÑ?Ñ‚ "sickness", любов “loveâ€?), & a second, great deal little class action of irregular nouns sustaining zero ending which define real objects or even construct (кръв “bloodâ€?, коÑ?Ñ‚ “boneâ€?, вечер “eveningâ€?). Nouns ending inside –е, –о come nearly only alter (дете “childâ€?, езеро “lakeâ€?). the equivalent regards a limited total of loan words ending inside –и, –у, & –ю (цунами "tsunami", табу "taboo", меню "menu"). Plural nouns don't keep close at hand gender.

Number
2 figures come distinguished within Bulgarian — singular and plural. Masculine nouns utilize the separate count form by using cardinal numbers, which stems from a proto-Slavonic dual: двама/трима ученика (two/three students) versus тези ученици (these students); cf. feminine две/три/тези жени (two/three/these women) & alter две/три/тези деца (two/three/these babies). Notwithstanding, the recently developed language norm takes that count forms should sole become utilized by having masculine nouns that don't denote souls. So, двама/трима ученици is perceived when thomas more right than двама/трима ученика, when a distinction is retained just in case like два/три молива (two/three pencils) versus тези моливи (these pencils). Plural form come formed by using the kind of postfix; exceptions, irregular declension & guide plural forms may be most common.

Case
A complex proto-Slavonic pack formulas is near wholly dissolved inside modern Bulgarian. Tincture come swell preserved lone in the personal pronouns and the masculine individual interrogative pronoun кой (“who�), which keep around nominative, accusative and dative forms. Vocative forms come all a same witharound utilize for masculine & feminine nouns (however, non for castrate ones), however endings in masculine nouns are determined entirely based on data from the stem-final consonant of the noun. Altogether more subjects, a proto-Slavonic instance patterns has been replaced by prepositional & more syntactical constructions.

Definiteness (article)
A disappearance of a example declension can become attached by owning the development of the category of determinateness around Bulgarian. Determinateness is expressed by the definite article which is postfixed to the noun (indefinite: човек, “manâ€?; definite: човекът, “the manâ€?) or even a number 1 nominal constituent of definite noun phrases (indefinite: добър човек, “a expert manâ€?; definite: добриÑ?Ñ‚ човек, “a practiced manâ€?), good deal rather in the Scandinavian languages or Romanian. There are quadruplet singular definite articles: –ът/–Ñ?Ñ‚ (“–/–â€?) for masculine nouns that come grammatical cases, –а/–Ñ? for masculine nouns that come grammatical objects, –та for feminine nouns, & –то for spay nouns. Them masculine definite articles can when well exist as considered as 2 grammatical forms of the equivalent article. A plural definite articles come –те for masculine & feminine nouns, & –тa for alter nouns. While postfixed to adjectives a definite articles come –Ñ?Ñ‚/–Ñ? for masculine, –та for feminine, –то for neuter, & –те for plural nouns.

Verbal morphology
Finite verbal forms
Finite verbal forms come elementary or even compound & agree by using cases in person (Number one, 2nd & third) & benumb (singular form, plural) inside Bulgarian. Additionally thereto, compound forms applying participial indicate gender in the singular (masculine, feminine, neuter). There are ternary tenses in the indicative mood — present, past & first — which, concerted sustaining more categories, create nine formations:

present tense occurs as temporally overlooked elementary form manufactured higher of a verbal stem & the complex postfix composed of the vowel /e/, /i/ or even /a/ & the person/number ending (уча "I study");

retiring imperfect tense occurs as elementary verb form utilized to express an action which is contemporaneous or even subordinate to more preceding actions; these are mass produced higher of the present-tense verbal stem & the complex postfix composed of the vowel /e<>ja/ and the person/number ending (учех "I was studying");

preceding aorist tense is the elementary form utilized to express a temporarily independent, specific retiring action; these are processed higher of the aorist stem & a person/number ending (учих "I studied");

new tense occurs as compound form processed of the particle ще & present tense (ще уча "I will study"); negation is expressed per construction нÑ?ма да & present tense (нÑ?ма да уча "I will not study");

present perfect tense tense occurs as compound form utilized to express an action which was completed it used to be that however is relevant for even or related the present; these are manufactured higher of the present tense of the verb Ñ?ъм "be" & a aorist past active participial (Ñ?ъм учил "I have studied");

past perfect tense tense occurs as compound form utilized to express an action which was completed it used to be that & is relative to an additional preceding action; these are manufactured higher of the past tense of the verb Ñ?ъм "be" & a aorist past active participial (бÑ?Ñ… учил "I had studied");

future perfect tense tense occurs as compound form utilized to express an action which is to become completed later prior to an additional first action; these are mass produced higher of the new tense of the verb Ñ?ъм "be" & a aorist past active participial (ще Ñ?ъм учил "I will have studied");

retiring first tense occurs when compound form utilized to express an action which was to exist as completed it used to be that however was first as regards an additional retiring action; these are manufactured higher of the fallible past tense of the verb ща "will, want", a particle да "to" & present tense of the verb (щÑ?Ñ… да уча "I was going to study");

retiring future perfect tense tense occurs as compound form utilized to express the retiring action which is first by owning respect to the retiring action which itself is before a second preceding action; these are processed higher of the retiring new of ща "will, want", a particle да "to", a present tense of the verb Ñ?ъм "be" & a aorist preceding active participial of the verb (щÑ?Ñ… да Ñ?ъм учил "I would have studied").

A conditional mood in Bulgarian is a compound form using the aorist preceding form of the stem би- (“beâ€?) & a aorist past active participial (бих учил, “I would studyâ€?). A imperative mood may be expressed by both elementary & compound forms. There are elementary forms for the 2nd individual using the suffixes -и/-й for singular & -ете/-йте for plural form; e.g., уча "to study": учи, seaborgium., учете, pl.; играÑ? "to play": играй, играйте. There are compound forms for completely souls & counts. Bulgarian has developed a favorite mood for nonwitnessed cases, the therefore-known as retold (renarrated) mood, which has 5 tenses.

Bulgarian verbs express aspect: perfective verbs signify the completion of the action of the verb; imperfective aspect ones come neutral using regard to that. Virtually all Bulgarian verbs keep around perfective-imperfective aspect pairs (imperfective<>perfective: идвам<>дойда “come�, уча<>науча “study�). Perfective stems come normally formed from either imperfective aspect ones by suffixation or even prefixation.

Nonfinite verbal forms
A proto-Slavonic infinitive and supine have been replaced by phrases with да (“toâ€?) & present tense (иÑ?кам да уча, “I obviously studyâ€?). Bulgarian has a ensuing participles:

the present active participial is formed from either imperfective aspect present stems sustaining a addition of the postfix –ащ/–ещ (учащ, “studying�, besides “a student�); these are utilized merely attributively; the frail retiring active participial is formed from either imperfective aspect present stems sustaining a addition of the postfix –ел–/–ал– (учел, “studied�); these are utilized simply around retold (renarrated) mood & occurs as Bulgarian innovation; the aorist preceding active participial is formed from either aorist stems using a addition of the postfix –л– (учил, “studied�); these are utilized attributively & around compound verbs; the preceding peaceful participial is formed from either aorist stems by owning a addition of the postfix –(е)н–/–т– (учен, “studied�); these are utilized predicatively & attributively; the gerund is formed from imperfective aspect present stems by using a postfix –(е)йки (учейки, “[while] studying�); the gerund relates an action contemporaneous sustaining & subordinate to the independent verb & is originally a American Bulgarian form.

Lexis

Virtually all of the word-commodity around Modern Bulgarian consists of derivations of instinctive reflex of occasionally 2,000 words inherited from either proto-Slavonic through the mediation of Old & Middle Bulgarian. A influence of the old Bolgar language is otherwise relatively unimportant, & the negligible total of words of presumptively Bulgar origaround use survived in Modern Bulgarian (Twenty at the best based on data from virtually all estimates, though a bit of scholars have had that blunt increased as much as 200). So, a native lexical terms within Bulgarian (two from either either proto-Slavonic & from a Bulgar language) account for 70% to 75% of the word-commodity of the language.

the left 25% to 30% come loan from either a total of languages, also when derivations of such words. A languages which use at times contributed virtually all to Bulgarian come Latin and Greek (mostly international terminology), & less French and Russian. A many loan from either Turkish (and, via Turkish, from either Arabic and Persian) which were adopted into Bulgarian during a yearn period of Ottoman rule have heavily been substituted by having native terms or even borrowings from either more languages. When within very much of the rest of the globe, English has had a greatest influence above Bulgarian above recent decades.

Syntax

Colloquial Bulgarian employs clitic doubling, mostly for emphatic purposes. For instance:

Within the non-colloquial context, nonetheless, there are no clitic doubling is allowed. Bulgarian grammars commonly don't address this phenomenon extensively.

Common Bulgarian Expressions

Здравей (zdravéi) — Hello ЗдраÑ?ти (zdrásti) — Hi Добро утро (dobró útro) — Practiced morning Добър ден (dóbÉ™r dén) — Skillful day Добър вечер (dóbÉ™r vécher) — Full evening Лека нощ (léka nósht) — Expert night Довиждане (dovízhdane) — Adept-bye Как Ñ?и? (kák si) — How else come professional people? Добре Ñ?ъм (dobré sÉ™m) — I’m fine Ð’Ñ?ичко най-хубаво (vsíchko nai-húbavo) — All the best Поздрави (pózdravi) — Regards БлагодарÑ? (blagodaryÉ™Ì?) — Thank you МолÑ? (mólia) — Please Извинете! (izvinéte) — Excuse maine! ИзвинÑ?вай! (izviniávai) — Sorry! Колко е чаÑ?ÑŠÑ‚? (Kólko e chasÉ™Ì?t) — What’s a period? Говорите ли ...? (Govórite li...) — Do you speak ...?