Bulgarian Language & Phrases - Facts about and sounds of the Bulgarian language.

The Bulgarian language, the official language of the Republic, is spoken by about 8 million inhabitants of the country. It forms the eastern group of the South Slavic branch of the Slavic languages.

All Bulgarians were required to learn Russian at school until 1989; most prefer not to speak it, and many will not. English is the most common second language, especially among the young, then German and French, distantly followed by Italian and Spanish.

Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, as do the Russian, Serbian, and Macedonian languages.The history of the Bulgarian language is divided into three periods: old, middle, and modern. The Old Bulgarian period lasted from the 9th to the 11th century, and the texts from this period make up the bulk of the Old Church Slavonic texts.

The Middle Bulgarian period lasted from the 12th to the 14th century.

The Modern Bulgarian period started in the 15th century, but the modern literary language, which is quite different from Old Bulgarian, was formed only during the 19th century. Modern Bulgarian’s two major dialect groups are the eastern and western dialects, each subdivided into northern and southern varieties. The modern literary language is based primarily on the northeastern dialect.

Body language

Bulgarians shake their heads when they mean “yes” and nod when they mean “no”. Sometimes they reverse these gestures if they know they’re speaking to foreigners, thereby complicating the issue further. Emphatic use of the words da (yes) and ne (no) should be enough to avoid misunderstandings.

Translator

Have some fun next; click on the link below and get the nearest Bulgarian Cyrillic translation of your favourite English word(s)!

http://sa.dir.bg/

Where to learn Bulgarian

Institute for Foreign Students

27, Kosta Lulchev St. 1111 Sofia

Phone: 720-837; Fax: 723-877

Useful Phrases

I. Greetings 

Zdravey/Zdrasti Hello!/Hi! 

Dobro utro Good morning! 

Dobar den Good afternoon! 

Dobar vecher Good evening! 

Leka nosht Good night! 

Dovizhdane/Sbogom (pronounced [Zbogom]) Goodbye!/Farewell! 

Priyatno mi e It is nice to meet you. 

Kak si How are you? 

Dobre Good/Well 

Zle/Losho Bad/Ill 

Gore-dolu So-so