In the first half of the 16th century the characteristic features of the modern language became apparent in the literary monuments. These features undoubtedly displayed themselves at a much earlier period in the oral speech; but the progress of their development has not yet been completely investigated. Much light may be thrown on this subject by the examination of many hitherto little-known manuscripts and by the scientific study of the folk-songs. In addition to the employment of the article, the loss of the noun-declensions, and the modification of the nasal vowels above alluded to, the disappearance in pronunciation of the final vowels yer-golêm and yer-malúk, the loss of the infinitive, and the increased variety of the conjugations, distinguish the modern from the ancient language. The suffix-article, which is derived from the demonstrative pronoun, is a feature peculiar to the Bulgarian among Slavonic and to the Rumanian among Latin languages. This and other points of resemblance between these remotely related members of the Indo-European group are shared by the Albanian, probably the representative of the old Illyrian language, and have consequently been attributed to the influence of the aboriginal speech of the Peninsula. A demonstrative suffix, however, is sometimes found in Russian and Polish, and traces of the article in an embryonic state occur in the "Old Bulgarian" MSS. of the 10th and 11th centuries. In some Bulgarian dialects it assumes different forms according to the proximity or remoteness of the object mentioned. Thus zhena-ta is "the woman"; zhena-va or zhena-sa, "the woman close by"; zhena-na, "the woman yonder." In the borderland between the Servian and Bulgarian nationalities the local use of the article supplies the means of drawing an ethnological frontier; it is nowhere more marked than in the immediate neighbourhood of the Servian population, as, for instance, at Dibra and Prilep. The modern Bulgarian has admitted many foreign elements. It contains about 2000 Turkish and 1000 Greek words dispersed in the various dialects; some Persian and Arabic words have entered through the Turkish medium, and a few Rumanian and Albanian words are found. Most of these are rejected by the purism of the literary language, which, however, has been compelled to borrow the phraseology of modern civilization from the Russian, French and other European languages. The dialects spoken in the kingdom may be classed in two groups—the eastern and the western. The main point of difference is the pronunciation of the letter yedvoïno, which in the eastern has frequently the sound of ya, in the western invariably that of e in "pet." The literary language began in the western dialect under the twofold influence of Servian literature and the Church Slavonic. In a short time, however, the eastern dialect prevailed, and the influence of Russian literature became predominant. An anti-Russian reaction was initiated by Borgoroff (1818-1892), and has been maintained by numerous writers educated in the German and Austrian universities. Since the foundation of the university of Sofia the literary language has taken a middle course between the ultra-Russian models of the past generation and the dialectic Bulgarian. Little uniformity, however, has yet been attained in regard to diction, orthography or pronunciation.
The Bulgarians of pagan times are stated by the monk Khrabr, a contemporary of Tsar Simeon, to have employed a peculiar writing, of which inscriptions recently found near Kaspitchan may possibly be specimens. The earliest manuscripts of the "Old Bulgarian" are written in one or other of the two alphabets known as the glagolitic and Cyrillic (see Slavs). The former was used by Bulgarian writers concurrently with the Cyrillic down to the 12th century. Among the orthodox Slavs the Cyrillic finally superseded the glagolitic; as modified by Peter the Great it became the Russian alphabet, which, with the revival of literature, was introduced into Servia and Bulgaria. Some Russian letters which are superfluous in Bulgarian have been abandoned by the native writers, and a few characters have been restored from the ancient alphabet.
Literature.—The ancient Bulgarian literature, originating in the works of SS. Cyril and Methodius and their disciples, consisted for the most part of theological works translated from the Greek. From the conversion of Boris down to the Turkish conquest the religious character predominates, and the influence of Byzantine literature is supreme. Translations of the gospels and epistles, lives of the saints, collections of sermons, exegetic religious works, translations of Greek chronicles, and miscellanies such as the Sbornik of St Sviatoslav, formed the staple of the national literature. In the time of Tsar Simeon, himself an author, considerable literary activity prevailed; among the more remarkable works of this period was the Shestodnev, or Hexameron, of John the exarch, an account of the creation. A little later the heresy of the Bogomils gave an impulse to controversial writing. The principal champions of orthodoxy were St Kosmâs and the monk Athanas of Jerusalem; among the Bogomils the Questions of St Ivan Bogosloff, a work containing a description of the beginning and the end of the world, was held in high esteem. Contemporaneously with the spread of this sect a number of apocryphal works, based on the Scripture narrative, but embellished with Oriental legends of a highly imaginative character, obtained great popularity. Together with these religious writings works of fiction, also of Oriental origin, made their appearance, such as the life of Alexander the Great, the story of Troy, the tales of Stephanit and Ichnilat and Barlaam and Josaphat, the latter founded on the biography of Buddha. These were for the most part reproductions or variations of the fantastical romances which circulated through Europe in the middle ages, and many of them have left traces in the national legends and folk-songs. In the 13th century, under the Asên dynasty, numerous historical works or chronicles (lêtopisi) were composed. State records appear to have existed, but none of them have been preserved. With the Ottoman conquest literature disappeared; the manuscripts became the food of moths and worms, or fell a prey to the fanaticism of the Phanariot clergy. The library of the patriarchs of Trnovo was committed to the flames by the Greek metropolitan Hilarion in 1825.
The monk Païsii (born about 1720) and Bishop Sofronii (1739-1815) have already been mentioned as the precursors of the literary
revival. The Istoria Slaveno-Bolgarska (1762) of Païsii, written in the solitude of Mount Athos, was a work of little historical value, but its influence upon the Bulgarian race was immense. An ardent patriot, Païsii recalls the glories of the Bulgarian tsars and saints, rebukes his fellow-countrymen for allowing themselves to be called Greeks, and denounces the arbitrary proceedings of the Phanariot prelates. The Life and Sufferings of sinful Sofronii (1804) describes in simple and touching language the condition of Bulgaria at the beginning of the 19th century. Both works were written in a modified form of the church Slavonic. The first printed work in the vernacular appears to have been the Kyriakodromion, a translation of sermons, also by Sofronii, published in 1806. The Servian and Greek insurrections quickened the patriotic sentiments of the Bulgarian refugees and merchants in Rumania, Bessarabia and southern Russia, and Bucharest became the centre of their political and literary activity. A modest bukvar, or primer, published at Kronstadt by Berovitch in 1824, was the first product of the new movement. Translations of the Gospels, school reading-books, short histories and various elementary treatises now appeared. With the multiplication of books came the movement for establishing Bulgarian schools, in which the monk Neophyt Rilski (1793-1881) played a leading part. He was the author of the first Bulgarian grammar (1835) and other educational works, and translated the New Testament into the modern language. Among the writers of the literary renaissance were George Rakovski (1818-1867), a fantastic writer of the patriotic type, whose works did much to stimulate the national zeal, Liuben Karaveloff (1837-1879), journalist and novelist, Christo Boteff (1847-1876), lyric poet, whose ode on the death of his friend Haji Dimitr, an insurgent leader, is one of the best in the language, and Petko Slaveikoff (died 1895), whose poems, patriotic, satirical and erotic, moulded the modern poetical language and exercised a great influence over the people. Gavril Krstovitch, formerly governor-general of eastern Rumelia, and Marin Drinoff, a Slavist of high repute, have written historical works. Stamboloff, the statesman, was the author of revolutionary and satirical ballads; his friend Zacharia Stoyanoff (d. 1889), who began life as a shepherd, has left some interesting memoirs. The most distinguished Bulgarian man of letters is Ivan Vazoff (b. 1850), whose epic and lyric poems and prose works form the best specimens of the modern literary language. His novel Pod Igoto (Under the Yoke) has been translated into several European languages. The best dramatic work is Ivanko, a historical play by Archbishop Clement, who also wrote some novels. With the exception of Zlatarski's and Boncheff's geological treatises and contributions by Georgieff, Petkoff, Tosheff and Urumoff to Velnovski's Flora Bulgarica, no original works on natural science have as yet been produced; a like dearth is apparent in the fields of philosophy, criticism and fine art, but it must be remembered that the literature is still in its infancy. The ancient folk-songs have been preserved in several valuable collections; though inferior to the Servian in poetic merit, they deserve scientific attention. Several periodicals and reviews have been founded in modern times. Of these the most important are the Perioditchesko Spisanie, issued since 1869 by the Bulgarian Literary Society, and the Sbornik, a literary and scientific miscellany, formerly edited by Dr Shishmanoff, latterly by the Literary Society, and published by the government at irregular intervals.
Authorities.—C.J. Jireček, Das Furstenthum Bulgarien (Prague, 1891), and Cesty po Bulharsku (Travels in Bulgaria), (Prague, 1888), both works of the first importance; Léon Lamouche, La Bulgarie dans le passé et le présent (Paris, 1892); Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, Die Volkswirthschaftliche Entwicklung Bulgarians (Leipzig, 1891); F. Kanitz, Donau-Bulgarien und der Balkan (Leipzig, 1882); A.G. Drander, Événements politiques en Bulgarie (Paris, 1896); and Le Prince Alexandre de Battenberg (Paris, 1884); A. Strausz, Die Bulgaren (Leipzig, 1898); A. Tuma, Die östliche Balkanhalbinsel (Vienna, 1886); A. de Gubernatis, La Bulgarie et les Bulgares (Florence, 1899); E. Blech, Consular Report on Bulgaria in 1889 (London, 1890); La Bulgarie contemporaine (issued by the Bulgarian Ministry of Commerce and Agriculture), (Brussels, 1905). Geology: F. Toula, Reisen und geologische Untersuchungen in Bulgarien (Vienna, 1890); J. Cvijić, "Die Tektonik der Balkanhalbinsel," in C.R. IX. Cong. géol. intern. de Vienne, pp. 348-370, with map, 1904. History: C.J. Jireček, Geschichte der Bulgaren (Prague, 1876); (a summary in The Balkans, by William Miller, London, 1896); Sokolov, Iz drevneì istorii Bolgar (Petersburg, 1879); Uspenski, Obrazovanïe vtorago Bolgarskago tsarstva (Odessa, 1879); Acta Bulgariae ecclesiastica, published by the South Slavonic Academy (Agram, 1887). Language: F. Miklosich, Vergleichende Grammatik (Vienna, 1879); and Geschichte d. Lautbezeichnung im Bulgarischen (Vienna, 1883); A. Leskien, Handbuch d. altbulgarischen Sprache (with a glossary), (Wiemar, 1886); L. Miletich, Staroblgarska Gramatika (Sofia, 1896); Das Ostbulgarische (Vienna, 1903); Labrov, Obzor zvulkovikh i formalnikh osobenostei Bolgarskago yezika (Moscow, 1893); W.R. Morfill, A Short Grammar of the Bulgarian Language (London, 1897); F. Vymazal, Die Kunst die bulgarische Sprache leicht und schnell zu erlernen (Vienna, 1888). Literature: L.A.H. Dozon, Chansons populaires bulgares inédites (with French translations), (Paris, 1875); A. Strausz, Bulgarische Volksdichtungen (translations with a preface and notes), (Vienna and Leipzig, 1895); Lydia Shishmanov, Légendes religieuses bulgares (Paris, 1896); Pypin and Spasovich, History of the Slavonic Literature (in Russian, St Petersburg, 1879), (French translation, Paris, 1881); Vazov and Velitchkov, Bulgarian Chrestomathy (Philippopolis, 1884); Teodorov, Blgarska Literatura (Philippopolis, 1896); Collections of folk-songs, proverbs, &c., by the brothers Miladinov (Agram, 1861), Bezsonov (Moscow, 1855), Kachanovskiy (Petersburg, 1882), Shapkarev (Philippopolis, 1885), Iliev (Sofia, 1889), P. Slaveïkov (Sofia, 1899). See also The Shade of the Balkans, by Pencho Slaveïkov, H. Bernard and E.J. Dillon (London, 1904).
(J. D. B.)
BULGARIA, EASTERN, formerly a powerful kingdom which existed from the 5th to the 15th century on the middle Volga, in the present territory of the provinces of Samara, Simbirsk, Saratov and N. Astrakhan, perhaps extending also into Perm. The village Bolgari near Kanzañ, surrounded by numerous graves in which most interesting archaeological finds have been made, occupies the site of one of the cities—perhaps the capital—of that extinct kingdom. The history, Tarikh Bulgar, said to have been written in the 12th century by an Arabian cadi of the city Bolgari, has not yet been discovered; but the Arabian historians, Ibn Foslan, Ibn Haukal, Abul Hamid Andalusi, Abu Abdallah Harnati, and several others, who had visited the kingdom, beginning with the 10th century, have left descriptions of it. The Bulgars of the Volga were of Turkish origin, but may have assimilated Finnish and, later, Slavonian elements. In the 5th century they attacked the Russians in the Black Sea prairies, and afterwards made raids upon the Greeks. In 922, when they were converted to Islam, Ibn Foslan found them not quite nomadic, and already having some permanent settlements and houses in wood. Stone houses were built soon after that by Arabian architects. Ibn Dasta found amongst them agriculture besides cattle breeding. Trade with Persia and India, as also with the Khazars and the Russians, and undoubtedly with Biarmia (Urals), was, however, their chief occupation, their main riches being furs, leather, wool, nuts, wax and so on. After their conversion to Islam they began building forts, several of which are mentioned in Russian annals. Their chief town, Bolgari or Velikij Gorod (Great Town) of the Russian annals, was often raided by the Russians. In the 13th century it was conquered by the Mongols, and became for a time the seat of the khans of the Golden Horde. In the second half of the 15th century Bolgari became part of the Kazañ kingdom, lost its commercial and political importance, and was annexed to Russia after the fall of Kazañ.
(P. A. K.)
BULGARUS, an Italian jurist of the 12th century, born at Bologna, sometimes erroneously called Bulgarinus, which was properly the name of a jurist of the 15th century. He was the most celebrated of the famous "Four Doctors" of the law school of that university, and was regarded as the Chrysostom of the Gloss-writers, being frequently designated by the title of the "Golden Mouth" (os aureum). He died in 1166 A.D., at a very advanced age. Popular tradition represents all the Four Doctors (Bulgarus, Martinus Gosia, Hugo de Porta Ravennate and Jacobus de Boragine) as pupils of Irnerius (q.v.), but while there is no insuperable difficulty in point of time in accepting this tradition as far as regards Bulgarus, Savigny considers the general tradition inadmissible as regards the others. Martinus Gosia and Bulgarus were the chiefs of two opposite schools at Bologna, corresponding in many respects to the Proculians and Sabinians of Imperial Rome, Martinus being at the head of a school which accommodated the law to what his opponents styled the equity of "the purse" (aequitas bursalis), whilst Bulgarus adhered more closely to the letter of the law. The school of Bulgarus ultimately prevailed, and it numbered amongst its adherents Joannes Bassianus, Azo and Accursius, each of whom in his turn exercised a commanding influence over the course of legal studies at Bologna. Bulgarus took the leading part amongst the Four Doctors at the diet of Roncaglia in 1158, and was one of the most trusted advisers of the emperor Frederick I. His most celebrated work is his commentary De Regulis Juris, which was at one time printed amongst the writings of Placentius, but has been properly reassigned to its true author by Cujacius, upon the internal evidence contained in the additions annexed to it, which are undoubtedly from the pen of Placentinus. This