Bulgarian Language
The background of this page is a creation by the artist Daniel de Maggio using the Bulgarian alphabet. You can see that Bulgarian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, like many other Slavic languages. Since Bulgaria is an EU member, the Cyrillic alphabet is the third official EU alphabet, alongside Latin and Greek. The Slavic languages are found mostly in Eastern Europe, and include Russian and Polish. Bulgarian is a Southern Slavic language, so it is very similar to the Balkan languages - a Macedonian can easily understand a Bulgarian and vice versa. Bulgarian has no case system, as Russian and German do, so in this respect it is perhaps a little easier than Russian for foreigners to grasp.
The vocabulary of Bulgarian has a strong Turkish influence, as Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire. Generally it is very distinct from English and the European Continental languages, so there is certainly a steep learning curve. But that should not discourage anyone from picking up a few useful words and phrases.
Here are a few to get you started (we've put these in the English alphabet for now!):
Do you speak (English/ Bulgarian)? — Govorite li (angliiski/ balgarski)?
Just a little. — Malko.
Hi! — Sdrawei!
Good morning! — Dobro utro!
Good evening! — Dobar wecher!
How are you? — Kak si?
I'm fine, thanks! — Dobre,mersi! (Like 'merci' in French)
Good night! — Leka nosht!
Good bye! — Chao. (Like 'ciao' in Italian)
Where is the bathroom? — Kade e baniata?
Go straight! then turn left/ right. — Varvete napravo!Posle savivate na liavo/diasno.
Excuse me! (asking for something) — Isvinete!
I don't understand! — Nishto ne rasbrah!
What's your name? — Kaks se kaswate?
My Bulgarian is bad. — Balgarskiiat mi e losh.
My name is ... — As se kasvam ...
Nice to meet you! — Priatno mi e da se saposnaem!
Where are you from? — Ot kade ste?
I'm from England/Bulgaria — As sam ot Anglia/Balgaria
I like Bulgarian! — As hareswam balgarskiiat!
We will be adding more to this page soon! Good luck trying out your new words!
