The normalisation of the Bulgarian language : the case of the manuscript of the Bulgarian constitution (selected problems)

Bibliogr. s. 148

The Bulgarian state, which had existed under Ottoman rule for almost five centuries, was reborn after the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. During the whole nineteenth century in the area south of the river danube due to certain social processes that occurred the rebirth of Bulgarian nationality was finally enabled. A part of these events was also the great debate among Bulgarian elites on the problem of the construction of modern Bulgarian language which could be a unifying factor for all the inhabitants of Bulgarian lands. At the time of the liberation, most of Bulgarian writers, journalists and other activists agreed that the Bulgarian language should be built on the basis of modern dialects, especially those originating in the north-eastern part of the country. However, there was still a widespread debate on the detailed arrangements connected with grammar, orthography and spelling. The document presented in this article is only one example of this discussion, but still it allows us to indicate in which direction the establishment of uniform standards for the Bulgarian literary language evolved. As we can infer from the text of the Turnovo constitution, at the time of enacting of this document by the national assembly, the solutions and demands made by Drinow and Turnovo schools prevailed in the Bulgarian language. The constitution also gave birth to Bulgarian legal and administrative vocabulary, which was mostly based on Russian administrative language.