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

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