The Old Armenian Root “Bulh” and the Bulgars in the Armenian Geography “Ashkharatsuyts” (7th Century AD)
Applied Linguistics / Приложно езикознание
Petar Goliyski
Sofia University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-01
Abstract. In 2003, based on the hypothesis that “Bulgars” was originally a religious name, I proposed a new etymology of their name – from two Indo-European word stems *b[h]olk’– „to shine, to blaze“ and b[h]org[h]– „high, mountain, hill“, which thousands of years ago were interchangeable, since in the religious thinking of ancient man, mountains were associated with wisdom, religious rituals and initiations, and these in turn were directly related to fire, light, and the sun.
The hypothesis that the name „Bulgars“ meant „the high/great~bright/shining ones“ are unexpectedly synchronous with the ethnonym Bułx/Bułkh (Բուղխ, and Bušx/Buškh/Բուշխ in its distorted form in the transcripts), as the ancient Bulgarians are mentioned in the short and extended version of the Armenian geography „Ashkharatsyuyts“ (late 7th century AD). Surprisingly, the orthography of the ethnonym Bulkh is identical to that of the Old Armenian noun bułx/bułkh (բուղխ) „sprouting; growth; gushing“, as well as to the Old Armenian verb błxem/błkhem (բղխեմ) „to spring, to gush; to flow, to flow out“, „to grow, to sprout, to surge; to germinate“, „to rise, to rise“. Which is a hint or a clue that the ethnonym Bułx/Bułkh in „Ashkharatsyuyts“ is an exact and literal translation of the name „Bulgars“.
Most likely, the unusual form Bułx/Bułkh was borrowed by Anania Shirakatsi, the compiler of „Ashkharatsuyts“, from some unknown Middle Persian (Sassanian) source, no later than the mid-6th century. Where and how the author of the Middle Persian source learned the meaning of the name „Bulgars“, however, remains a mystery. It is also a riddle why he insisted on mentioning them in this way, and not as „Bulgars“, a well-known in the 5th–6th centuries AD ethnonym.
Keywords: Indo-Europeans; Bulgars (ethnonym); Proto-Bulgarians; Armenian geography „Ashkharatsuyts“; Old Armenian; Middle Persian; Sassanians; linguodidactology
Cognitive-Communicative Aspects of Language Functioning in Older Adults: Bulgarian Application of the SCCAN
Applied Linguistics / Приложно езикознание
Kostadin Chompalov
Medical University of Plovdiv
Dimitar Vesselinov
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” (Bulgaria)
Dobrinka Georgieva
Medical University of Plovdiv (Bulgaria)
Robert Orlikoff
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC (USA)
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-02
Abstract
Objective: This study evaluates the clinical applicability of the adapted Bulgarian Scales of Cognitive and Communicative Ability for Neurorehabilitation (SCCAN) for differentiating cognitively healthy older adults from patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Methods: Fifty-two participants (31 cognitively healthy, 21 diagnosed with AD) completed the Bulgarian SCCAN and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Data analysis included descriptive statistics and Mann–Whitney U tests to examine between-group differences.
Results: Significant differences (p < .05) were identified across all SCCAN subtests, particularly in memory, verbal expression, attention, and orientation. The SCCAN demonstrated strong sensitivity to cognitive-communicative deficits and high consistency with MMSE scores.
Conclusions: The findings confirm the validity and clinical usefulness of the Bulgarian SCCAN. This instrument provides detailed cognitive-communicative profiling. It can effectively support diagnostic and therapeutic decision-making processes for older adults with neurodegenerative conditions.
Keywords: cognitive-communicative disorders, language functioning, Alzheimer’s disease, SCCAN, MMSE
Syncretism and Modality
Applied Linguistics / Приложно езикознание
Mariana Georgieva
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Bulgaria)
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-03
Abstract. The focus of the technology of the sentence as a product of our consciousness is syncretism. This syncretism obliges all components, all signs to be perceived and taken into account in their complex interrelation, and not in linearity. The synthesis between the lexical semantics of `I say` and the grammar of the predications What is your name? and My Name Is... bring out the parameters of communication as a phenomenon: first, speaking, an act of articulation, of materialization in language (`I say`) and, second, a question as a technology of cognition, of seeking information, but also as an incentive to speak (the semantics of `I say`). Saying is the concept of communication, of predication as its logical prototype. Saying is speaking. Modality has two levels – logical and linguisticsubjective, which must be distinguished and not overlap. The term overlaps. That is, modality has two degrees – intentional and extensional..
Keywords: syncretism; modality; predication; Bulgarian language; linguodidactology
Maritime English Final Assessment оf Future Deck Оfficers at the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, Bulgaria
Language Teaching Methodology / Mетодика
Galina V. Velikova
Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy – Varna
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-04
Abstract. The present paper aims to contribute to the process towards global standardization of Maritime English (ME) testing and assessment that has been in progress for many years. It focuses on the format of the current final state exam for future deck officers graduating from the Naval Academy in Varna and the testing requirements it conforms to while pointing at its strengths and weaknesses. It also attempts to review this assessment tool in the light of the test specifications developed on the basis of the Maritime English competence yardstick linked to the CEFR reference levels to describe a language user’s proficiency in the absence of universal testing and assessment standards for Maritime English.
The author’s belief is that the development of the blueprint for the test, namely the test specifications, is a step in the right direction and will help us further enhance the quality of the final product. Besides, it is a good starting point for testing and assessing students whose native language is not English and whose language of instruction is their native language supported by Maritime English.
Keywords: Maritime English testing, assessment tool, specifications, test tasks, marking, linguodidactology
Conceptualization of Spatiality in Russian from the Point of View of Linguodidactology
Language Teaching Methodology / Mетодика
Liudmila Karpenko
Samara University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-05
Abstract. Based on data of parallel texts of the national corpus of the Russian language and lexicographic dictionaries, spatiality is considered as one of the conceptual dominants of the modern Russian language, which should be taken into account when teaching the language. The high use of spatial word forms indicates the peculiarity of Russian-language discourse, which can be defined as a consistent maximum explication of spatial relations contained in a real situation. Many conceptual categories in Russian language consciousness correlate with the category of spatiality, a kind of matrix that forms and reflects the world view. The state of the environment, the physiological and mental state of a person and other categories in the Russian language are conveyed by spatial patterns. Spatiality is expressed at all major linguistic levels: at the semantic, grammatical, vocabulary and word formation levels. The study uses systematic, comparative and functional methods that present the specific characteristics of the Russian language in the expression of spatiality both in the language system and in speech.
Keywords: Russian; Bulgarian; linguodidactology; spatiality; language dominance; conceptualization
Relationship вetween Secondary and Higher Education as a Problem of Foreign Language Teaching in Bulgaria
Language Teaching Methodology / Методика
Nikolay Bakalov, Milena Sahakian
Sofia University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-06
Abstract. This article examines the problems of foreign language teaching in secondary and higher education through the prism of the relationship between the two systems in Bulgaria. As it refers to secondary education, the article considers the difficulties that teachers and students face in acquiring foreign language competences, while in the case of higher education, it focuses on the unsynchronized preparation that students come with from secondary education. The authors‘ thesis is that these problems could be at least partially alleviated with more detailed normative regulation of the transfer of knowledge between the two stages of education. Thus harmonization between the two systems and mutual understanding of the challenges and issues faced by the other side would be achieved.
Keywords: linguodidactology; knowledge transfer; secondary education; higher education; foreign languages
Legal Values as a Culture-Specific Framework in Foreign Language Training of Law Students
Language and Culture / Език и култура
Galina Shamonina, Boryana Kostova
Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar”
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-07
Abstract. This study proposes a pedagogical model for developing intercultural communicative competence and legal values through a university ESP course in legal English. The model responds to the growing need for language education that transcends linguistic proficiency to foster intercultural awareness, critical thinking, and civic responsibility. Central to the model is the integration of culturally specific narratives – particularly the myth of American exceptionalism – as tools for examining the intersection of cultural codes and legal discourse. Three methodological approaches are presented: discursive (focusing on intertextual analysis of legal-political texts), ethnographic (immersing learners in institutional contexts), and problem-based (analyzing landmark legal cases). These approaches are designed to build linguistic, sociolinguistic, and discourse competencies while instilling values such as justice and equality. The model aims not only to prepare students for professional communication but also to cultivate reflective, socially engaged individuals capable of navigating complex intercultural and legal environments.
Keywords: intercultural communicative competence; linguodidactology; foreign language for specific purposes; foreign language education in a university setting
„Impatient Women“ or The Future of The Values/Values of the Future
Language and Culture / Език и култура
Magdalena Kostova-Panayotova
Madeleine Danova
Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski|
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-08
Abstract. The article focuses on the book by Cameroonian writer Djaili Amadou Amal, Impatient Women, in which the author addresses the painful issue of women’s rights in certain societies, as well as in modern civilization, which sometimes disregards the double standards prevalent in its practices and does nothing to change the status quo. Among the key themes of the book is the concept of patience, which permeates the female experience from birth to death within the narrative. The book poses unambiguous questions: Do we truly know the people close to us? Are they truly close if they depersonalize us? On the one hand, can there be unimaginable freedoms, and on the other, a demand for complete obedience and depersonalization? Another serious inquiry raised by Amal’s book is whether values change, what those values are, who is responsible for this change, and whether a society can progress if technological advancements cannot liberate it from the spiritual primitivism present in some communities.
Keywords: human rights, women, values, patience, African literature, linguodidactology
The Language of Photography Conservation: Cultural Heritage and Methodology
Language and Culture / Език и култура
Alexander Vatov
National Academy of Art, Sofia
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-09
Abstract. The article examines the restoration of photographs as a specific “language” in which scientific, ethical, and cultural dimensions intersect. The focus is placed on the characteristics of photographic techniques and their vulnerabilities, as well as on preservation strategies. It emphasizes that in Bulgaria there is a lack of systematic terminology and institutionalized practice, which poses a risk of losing authenticity. Photography is viewed not only as a technical carrier of images but also as a cultural artifact and a source for history and the humanities. The article argues that the development of a professional language and ethical standards is essential for preserving photographs as part of collective memory and for transforming them into a valuable research resource.
Keywords: photograph restoration; preventive conservation; photographic processes; ethics; cultural heritage; lingvodidactology
Revivalist Writers on the Bulgarian Language: Ivan Vazov on Foreign Words, Cases, Definite Articles, and Orthography
Linguodidactological Archeology /
Лингводидактологическа археология
Vladislav Milanov
Sofia University
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-10
Abstract. This article examines Ivan Vazov’s views on the development of Bulgarian orthography, the influence of foreign words on the language, the use of definite articles, and the loss of grammatical cases. Although Vazov is one of the most thoroughly analyzed Bulgarian authors from a linguistic perspective, some of his significant ideas concerning the literary language—especially those linking poetic expression to the shaping of a standardized national language—have remained on the margins of scholarly interest. The study draws attention to such specific viewpoints, including Vazov’s assertion that the disappearance of grammatical cases leads to a loss of compactness in poetic language, distancing it from the Slavic linguistic tradition.
Keywords: empruntology; Ivan Vazov; literary language; poetic language; foreign languages and loanwords; grammatical cases; orthography
Metanarrative Techniques in the Construction of the Novel “The Man Without Qualities” by Robert Musil
Reviews and Annotations / Рецензии и анотации
Elitza Dubarova-Petkova, Metanarativni tehniki v izgraždaneto na romana „Chovekat bez kachestva“ ot Robert Muzil.
Burgas: LIBRA SKORP. ISBN 978-954-471-992-0.
Sonya Aleksandrova-Koleva
University of Plovdiv “Paisii Hilendarski”
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-11
The Film “Take Me Home” in The Context of Children's Cinema in Bulgaria
Reviews and Annotations / Рецензии и анотации
Boya Harizanova
https://doi.org/10.53656/for2025-04-12
