Learn about loanwords in Bulgarian
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some common English loanwords in Bulgarian? |
| Yana: And are any English words used differently in Bulgarian? |
| Michael: At BulgarianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sasha is in a restaurant with her friend Nikola, and Nikola says, |
| "I want a sandwich." |
| Никола Каменов: Искам един сандвич. (Iskam edin sandvich.) |
| Dialogue |
| Никола Каменов: Искам един сандвич. (Iskam edin sandvich.) |
| Саша Лий: Искам един хамбургер. (Iskam edin hamburger.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Никола Каменов: Искам един сандвич. |
| Michael: "I want a sandwich." |
| Саша Лий: Искам един хамбургер. |
| Michael: "I want a hamburger." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Just like most languages, Bulgarian has picked up many loanwords from around the world. This is often the case after great periods of immigration, emigration, or is often nowadays the result of globalized business, travel, and communication. |
| Michael: English speakers who are learning Bulgarian for the first time will notice many English loanwords that now play a vital role in everyday Bulgarian vocabulary. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: But, first, let's take a closer look at the dialogue. Do you remember how Nikola says "I want a sandwich"? |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| YANA: Искам един сандвич. (Iskam edin sandvich.) |
| Michael: And how Sasha says "I want a hamburger." |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Yana: Искам един хамбургер. (Iskam edin hamburger.) |
| Michael: As you might have noticed, these two sentences use two loanwords from English. The first is |
| Yana: сандвич (sandvich) |
| Michael: which means "sandwich" and then we have |
| Yana: хамбургер (hamburger) |
| Michael: which means "hamburger." This is the case with many words related to American fast food culture. However, there are many other areas where the influence is clear such as pop culture or technology. For example, "software" in Bulgarian is |
| Yana: со́фтуер (softuer) |
| Michael: "Internet" is |
| YANA: Интернет (Internet), |
| Michael: and the word for "computer," |
| YANA: компютър (kompyutar) |
| Michael: Learning loanwords like these early on in your study of Bulgarian will help you boost your vocabulary quickly. It's also a great way to gain a deeper understanding early on of the Bulgarian language, culture, and international influences. |
| Michael: There are also Bulgarian verbs that sound very familiar. Young people in particular take English verbs, then transform them, to make them sound more like a Bulgarian verb. Let's hear this one: |
| Yana: чатя (chatya) |
| Michael: which comes from the English "to chat," |
| Michael: All the examples so far are recent loanwords from English. But there are a lot of words from German, French, and Italian. A lot of the kitchenware words have Turkish origin. And the majority of science words come from Latin or Ancient Greek. Here are a few examples: |
| Yana: палачинка (palachinka) |
| Michael: comes from Hungarian and is used for "pancake" |
| Yana: тенджера (tendzhera) |
| Michael: comes from Turkish and is used for "a pot" |
| Yana: сервитьор (servityor). |
| Michael: You can easily hear the French word for "a waiter" |
| Yana: шлифер (shlifer) |
| Michael: comes from German and is used for "a mackintosh, or a raincoat" |
| Expansion |
| Michael: In Bulgarian, there are actually two different words for loanword. When the loanword has no equivalent word in Bulgarian, then it is called |
| Yana: чужда дума (chuzhda duma) |
| Michael: literally, a foreign word, or also |
| Yana: заемка (zaemka) |
| Michael: a loan word |
| Michael: But, when there is a direct equivalent to the loanword in Bulgarian, and both the Bulgarian equivalent and the loanword are still used, then it is called |
| Yana: чуждица (chuzhditsa), |
| Michael: which also means "loan word," Here is an example: |
| Yana: алтернатива (alternativа) |
| Michael: "an alternative." which also has a Bulgarian equivalent |
| Yana: възможност (vazmozhnost) |
| Michael: "an alternative." also translated as "an opportunity" |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Yana: До скоро! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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