Olga M. Mladenova

Like other Slavic languages, Bulgarian lacked a definite article in its earlier stages. Unlike them, it has one today. The book formulates the rules that govern the use of articles and other markers of (in)definiteness in Modern Standard Bulgarian in comparison with the seventeenth century, and constructs a model of transition from the older system to the modern one, a model which is then evaluated against broader historical and dialect data and placed in a Balkan and general Slavic context

Modelling the Processes of Language Change

Definiteness in Bulgarian

Ronelle Alexander

This is the first comprehensive textbook teaching English-speakers to read, write, and speak contemporary Bulgarian. The text is designed to be adaptable for students of varying skill levels and can be taught at a gradual or intensive pace. It is also a much-needed reference grammar of Bulgarian, incorporating the latest research and theories on Bulgarian grammar in accessible layman’s language. Volume 1 introduces the basic elements of Bulgarian grammar and contains Lessons 1–15, a Bulgarian-English glossary, an English-Bulgarian glossary for beginners, and an appendix of verbal forms. Like many popular language textbooks, the dialogues in Intensive Bulgarian form a continuing dramatic narrative that gradually introduces students to both language and culture. Throughout the text, Bulgarian constructions and phrases are compared with English ones to clarify grammar and idioms. Lessons include: o dialogues and sample sentences o exercises and translation sentences o basic and supplemental grammar sections o reading selections o a glossary for the lesson o cultural notes. Together, Volumes 1 and 2 of Intensive Bulgarian provide all the materials necessary for teachers and students to learn lively, modern colloquial Bulgarian, to become familiar with Bulgarian cultural life, and to thoroughly understand Bulgarian grammar. Slavic scholars will also find in Volume 2 both a thorough presentation of the Bulgarian verb system, as traditionally conceived, and a new analysis of this system.

A Textbook and Reference Grammar

Intensive Bulgarian

An Ethno-linguistic Study

Grapes and Wine in the Balkans

Harriet Brown

This is the first comprehensive textbook teaching English-speakers to read, write, and speak contemporary Bulgarian. The text is designed to be adaptable for students of varying skill levels and can be taught at a gradual or intensive pace. It is also a much-needed reference grammar of Bulgarian, incorporating the latest research and theories on Bulgarian grammar in accessible layman’s language. Volume 2 contains Lessons 16-30 and introduces more complex points of grammar and syntax than Volume 1. It also includes a cumulative Bulgarian-English glossary covering both volumes. Like many popular language textbooks, the dialogues in Intensive Bulgarian form a continuing dramatic narrative that gradually introduces students to both language and culture. Throughout the text, Bulgarian constructions and phrases are compared with English ones to clarify grammar and idioms. Lessons include: o dialogues and sample sentences o exercises and translation sentences o basic and supplemental grammar sections o reading selections o a glossary for the lesson o cultural notes. Together, Volumes 1 and 2 of Intensive Bulgarian provide all the materials necessary for teachers and students to learn lively, modern colloquial Bulgarian, to become familiar with Bulgarian cultural life, and to thoroughly understand Bulgarian grammar. Slavic scholars will also find in Volume 2 both a thorough presentation of the Bulgarian verb system, as traditionally conceived, and a new analysis of this system.

In its evolution from a synthetic to an analytic language, Bulgarian acquired a grammaticalized category of definiteness. The book presents the first attempt to explore in detail how this happened by comparing the earliest Modern Bulgarian texts with contemporary dialect and standard Bulgarian data. The basic units of analysis are the various types of nominal structures headed by nouns or pronouns. The analysis requires the strict terminological disentanglement of form from content and the adoption of a default inheritance model of definiteness that allow the exhaustive classification and tagging of nominal structures encountered in the texts. Tagging makes it possible to apply quantitative analysis to nominal structure and to assess the types available in the early texts from a current native-speaker perspective. Based on an S-curve model of language change, the study establishes that overt markers of definiteness were first made available to identifiability-based definites, then to inclusiveness-based definites, quantitative generics and unique referents. The overt markers of indefiniteness followed suit, separating indefinites from non-specifics and typifying generics. This progression of definiteness was directed by variables such as person, animacy, gender, number and noun-class, and started in contexts in which definiteness closely interacted with possessivity. Such an analysis leads to the realization that the two-dimensional S-curve model does not account for all language change and that there is a need for a three-dimensional model. It also demonstrates that, contrary to previous assumptions, there is continuity between the early Slavic marker of definiteness (long-form adjectives) and the Modern Bulgarian article. This discovery, in conjunction with geolinguistic arguments, sheds new light on the role that relations inside the Balkan Sprachbund played in the grammaticalization of Bulgarian definiteness.

Olga M. Mladenova

Books

Your next favorite book is out there