Bulgarian expressesdefiniteness using a set ofenclitics which agree forgender andnumber with the noun that they modify. The article takes the form of apostfix and is appended to the first element of anoun phrase:
A-τ A ⋯ N
(A denotes anadjective modifier, N denotes thehead noun, andτ stands for the definite article)
Examples:
Bulgarian, as a member of theBalkan language area, uses the basic form of an earlierpronoun to denote definiteness. The marker is attached to the end of the word, in some dialects subject toDolobko's law, which dictated that the stress shifted to an enclitic in nouns belonging to the mobile accent class.
For masculine nouns, the definite article closed up the inflectionaldesinence, converting any finalyers from weak to strong. This causes the appearance of an -ъ- foro-stem nouns and respectively -я- foryo-stem nouns, e.g.:
закон-ът(zakon-ǎt,“the law”) (o-stem)
versus
кон-ят(kon-jat,“the horse”) (yo-stem)
Standard Bulgarian uses the reflexes ofdeterminerProto-Slavic*tъ(“that”) to mark definiteness. The following table shows the resultant markers:
| Definite article in Standard Bulgarian | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Marker | -ът(-ǎt)/-ят(-jat) (subject)-а(-a)/-я(-ja) (object) | -та(-ta) | -то(-to) | -те(-te) | -те(-te) | -та(-ta) |
For singular masculine adjectives, only-ят(-jat)/-я(-ja) is used.The form of the singular masculine article when used for the subject is calledпълен член(pǎlen člen), and for the object -кратък член(kratǎk člen) orнепълен член(nepǎlen člen).
The broaderdialect continuum ofBalkan Slavic, which Bulgarian belongs to, exhibits a few additional definite markers. They havedeictic function and, broadly speaking, express the categories ofproximity ordistance.
There are two such articles built upon the reflexes of the determinersProto-Slavic*sь(“this”) andProto-Slavic*onъ(“yonder”).
The following article displays the respective markers:
| Deictric articles in Balkan Slavic | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Proximate | -ъс(-ǎs)/-яс(-jas) | -са(-sa) | -со(-so) | -се(-se) | -се(-se) | -са(-sa) |
| Distal | -он(-on)/-ян(-jan) | -на(-na) | -но(-no) | -не(-ne) | -не(-ne) | -на(-na) |
Examples of proximate articles:
Examples of distal articles:
Balkan Slavic used to have two additionalreferential markers. One, denoted with the markerProto-Slavic*-jь, probably expressedanaphoric reference to an already mentioned entity. The other, denoted with markerProto-Slavic*-vъ, probably expressedcataphoric reference to an entity that is about to be mentioned later on.
The "anaphoric" marker is typically used to express definiteness within adjectives and pronouns:
The "cataphoric" marker is attested within pronouns and, in some dialects, takes on the role of the proximate article among nouns and adjectives:
