Old Bulgar words preserved in the modern Bulgarian language: A - B - V
A.
Modern Bulgarian | Eastern analogies | Cluster_user's ottoman parallels | |
AZ – I , me | AZ (‘I’) is common to
the Pamirian languages – Ishkashimi, Sarikoli, Roshov, Bartang, Khufi.
Compare also to AZ in Talish. |
Pamirian | |
Talish | |||
AKO – if | AKA, AGA, AGAR (‘if’) in Ishkashimi, Tadzhik, Mundzhani, Sarikoli, etc. | Pamirian | |
AMI – but, and, why, well | AME, ME (‘this, such’) [IJa, AG,
332]
ANI (‘besides’) |
Ishkashimi, Mundzhani | turk. ama "but" < `ar. 'amma: (particle for contrast) |
ANTERIJA – a padded jacket | AND![]() ![]() |
Ishkashimi, Jazguljami | turk. entari, < also `anteri^,
< `ar. `antariyya(t) < sans. antariya
`anteriyya(t) is folk etymology from `antar an arab romance hero. pamiri word is probably native. |
B.
Modern Bulgarian | Eastern analogies | Cluster_user's ottoman parallels | |
BAJ – an address to older people – an older bother, uncle | BAJ (‘an uncle’) [AG,
283]
B |
Mundzhani | |
Talish | |||
BAMBALO – a lump of mud | BAMBAL – a garbage, an empty wheat-ear [ARS, 75] | Pashto | |
BANKO, BRAJNO, sometimes BRALE – an address to o.'s brother | BRAJ, BRA (‘an address to a brother’) [IJa, 187] | Ishkashimi | |
BATE (BACHO, BAKO) – an address to an older brother. Attested as early as the VII c. AD in the name of the oldest son of khan Kubrat – Bat-Bajan | BAT, BACH (‘an older brother’) [GASK, 303] from the Sanskrit PAT (‘a honour, a respect’) | Wakhi | |
BAFTA (PAFTA) – a decoration on the women’s belts, a belt buckle | BAFTA (‘a decoration, aiglets’) [LRS, 60] | Lezgin | turk. pafta (metal decoration on a horse or other) < pers. ba:fte |
BASHTA – a father | Peculiar here is that this word is of masculine gender, yet it ends in -A, something very uncharacteristic for Bulgarian. But it can be compared to the Proto-Bulgarian title KANA SJUBIGI, KANA also ending in -A and being of masculine gender. Other similar examples are BOILA, ZERA. This shows that in Proto-Bulgarian the ending -A was not unusual for words of masculine gender, unlike the Slavic l-s, where it forms words of feminine gender. It is not characteristic for the Turkic l-s either. The only Turkic parallel of this type is the word PASHA, but it is not a proper Turkic word but a derivative of the Persian PAD-I-SHAH. Sanskrit and Avestan are the only l-s using the ending -A for words of masculine gender. The closet parallel of the Bulgarian BASHTA is the Pamirian BAKSHTA. [GASK, 302] | Pamirian | |
BEL – a straight spade | BEL is common to the
Pamirian as well as Talish and Persian [ARS, TRS, PRS].
In the Pamirs it also occurs as a diminutive BELCHA (‘a small spade’). |
Talish | turk bel < pers. bel |
Pashto | |||
Pamirian | |||
BELEG – a scar, a mark | In the Pamirs this word
means ‘a mark’. BELAK, for example, is the sign given by the bridegroom
to the bride as an expression of his feelings.
BELEK (‘a sign’) – in the northern Georgian peoples – Svans, Khevsurs, Pshavs. |
Pamirian | turkic
belgu", mong. belge. "sign, mark" *bel signifies "to be
manifest" bil= "to know" chuvash palla~ |
BELEZHA – to mark | A derivative from BELEG. | ||
BELUVIK – a monument (Volga Bulgaria) | From the same origin as BELEG | belu"wik, belu":k
later belu"yi, belwi, belu"wi (with possesive suffix -i) |
|
BELCHUG – a metal ring put in the swine’s snout | From the Alanian B![]() |
probably the meaning "handcuffs"
and the like are better. perhaps from turkic bilek "wrist"
from another source: "(now replaced by Slavic belezitzi, or beleznitzi) - handcuff" belezitzi from common turkic bilezik < bilek yu"zu"k (yu"zu"k = ring) |
|
BENT – a dam, a weir | BEND (‘a dam, a weir’) [RPDS, 478] from the Indo-Iranian verb BAND – ‘to bind, to bar, to obstruct’. | Pamirian | turk. bent < pers. bend |
BLAGATKI – good (adj.) | BELOGAT (‘perfect’) [GASK, 313] | Wakhi | turk. bala^gat "eloquence" < `ar. bala:g~a(t) "eloquence" wakhi |
BLAGUNA – a type of sweet pear
BLAGUN – a sycamore, a type of oak |
BLAGUND (‘a pear-type tree’) [ARS,
73]
BLANG (‘an evergreen tree’) from BLANG – ‘green’ |
Pashto | |
BLANAV – tasteless, saltless | BLANG (‘fresh, saltless’) [ARS,
74]
The -AV ending, which is usually found in adjectives of old Bulgar origin, such as KHUBAV, SHTURAV, GIZDAV, etc., also supports this interpretation. |
Pashto | |
BODKA – a small coin | BOTK![]() |
Pashto | |
BOLJARIN – a noble | From the old Bulgar BOILA, or more exactly – from its plural form BOILAR, and the suffix -IN, which is characteristic for other old words: KHLOBRIN, ESTROGIN, etc. | boyla (< tu"rku"t? <
iranian?) + -r (oghur plural or collective,
instead of later -lar, collective -z) + -in (slavic) |
|
BORA – the name of one unpleasant wind in the Stara planina mountains. | BURA (‘a mischief’), BORI [ARS, 79] | Pashto | cl. greek boreas, venet. bora,
turk. bora
see also sinor Denis Sinor Studia Orientalia 47, 1977 as well as a. tietze "the lingua franca in the levant ..." |
BORIKA – a slender pine-tree | BERIK (‘a slender tree’) [GASK, 314] | Wakhi | |
BOTUSHI – boots | From BUT (‘a boot’) [GASK, 31] and the old Bulgar ending for plural forms –SHI, also found in words such as TULSHI (‘helmets’), HUMSHI (‘armour’). | Wakhi | romanian botu$i < lat.
NB french botte < turk. "bot" for the doubters, pashto has in fact bu:t. , with the retroflex /t./ that pashto and indian languages use to render the english /alveolar t/ (the other t is dental). thus pashto (the source of wakhi) borrowed the word from english. |
BRANTIJA – a broken thing or a unfit person | BRAND (‘a vicious, indecent person’) [ARS, 66] | Pashto | |
BR![]() |
BUMBAR, BAMB![]() It is also BUMBAR (‘a beetle’) in the Eastern Caucasus [ChRS] The oldest analogy is the Sanskrit BRAMARA (‘a beetle’). |
Pashto | |
Chechen | |||
BR![]() |
BRES (‘a cut piece’) [GASK, 490] | Wakhi | |
BR![]() ![]() |
B![]() |
Talish | |
BUBA – a silkworm; a little bug | BOBAN (mulberry branches, used for feeding silkworms) – in the Khufi, Roshov l-s (Pamirian) | Pamirian | greek bombyks
under discussion. |
BOBONKI, BUBONKI – a mulberry-tree (used in the district of Razgrad) | From BOBAN, see above. | ||
BUBA – a bugbear, a bogy. In the expression ‘Buba lazi, buba lazi’ used for frightening little children. | BOBA (‘a bugbear, a monster’) [ChRS, 82] | Chechen | |
BUZA – a cheek | Similar to the Persian
BUS in the expression BUS-G![]() PUZ, P |
||
Eastern Caucasian | |||
BUKANKI – soldier’s boots (in Dobrudzha) | BUKANA (‘hard, stiff’) [ChRS, 60-75] | Chechen | |
BUKAR – a boar (dial.) | BUK![]() |
Eastern Caucasian | |
BULGUR – groats, grits | BALGUR (‘groats, croup’) [RPDS, 311] | Pamirian | turk. bulgur < pers. bulg~ur |
BULKA – a bride | WULA (‘a woman, a wife’) [AG, 376] | Mundzhani | old turkish (15th cent.) bula
"mistress of the house," elder
sister (NB turk. abla), also "uncle's wife" (sami) some meanings may have been indfluenced by ottm. turk. bu'u^le < `ar bu`u:la(t) (pl. of ba`l "master" "husband" etc.) NB bulg. bula "turkish woman" |
BUMBAK – cotton (noun) (dial.) | PUMBA (‘cotton’) [ARS, 116] | Pashto | turk. pamuk, variant (ott., dial.) panbuk, pambuk < turkic < iran. (clauson) |
BUN – a root (in the district of Bansko) | BUN (‘a root’) [ARS, 77] | Pashto | |
BUNAK – a booby, a noodle | BUNAR (‘a blind man’) [ARS, 76] | Pashto | turk. bunak (senile), older bu*ng*aq |
BUNISHTE – a dumping ground, a dunghill | BUN (‘a bottom, a pit’)
[IJa,
188; TRS, 279] + -ISHTE, like in KAPISHTE
BUNIAD (‘unfit, filthy’) [ARS, 77] |
Ishkashimi, Talish | |
Pashto | |||
BUR – limestone, chalk (in the names of rocky locations – Burel, Burieva, etc.) | BUR (‘limestone’) [SRS, 266] | Sarikoli | |
BUREN – a weed | Compare to the Persian BURAN (‘quickly growing plant’) and the Talish BUREN. [PRS, 1; LPS, 66] | turk. buran "that which twists" | |
BURENIJA – a soup of weeds (dial.) | See BUREN above. | turk. borani^, bu^ra^ni^
< pers. bu:ra:ni:
(attributed to buran, a wife of a caliph) |
|
BURKI – moustaches (in the expression MURKI BURKI – "black moustaches") | BRET (‘moustaches’)
[ARS,
67]
BUKE (‘the moustaches and the beard’) [TRS, 39] |
Pashto | |
Talish | |||
BUSENICA – a straw hut | BUS (‘a straw’) [ARS, 89] | Pashto | |
BUTAM – to push | Compare to the Parthian BUTAN (‘to throw down, to bring down’) [SIJa, 237] | ||
BUKHAL – an owl | Common to Persia – as BUF, to the Pamirs – as BU, and the Eastern Caucasus – as BUKHIA | ||
BUCHA – to prick, to stick, to pin | WUC (‘an edge, a sharp blade’) [GASK, 490] | Wakhi | |
B![]() |
B![]() |
Eastern Caucasian | turk. bo"brek, older bo"g~rek
(turkic)
russian bubrek shows a wider distribution and potentially older borrowing. |
B![]() |
B![]() B |
Pashto, Ishkashimi | |
B![]() |
BARDAK (‘a small container for water’) [TRS, 24] | Talish | turk. bardak (probably turkic, < bart) |
B![]() |
BURKU (‘blind’) [SH, 110] | Eastern Caucasian | |
B![]() ![]() |
BARCH (‘to wrinkle, to ripple’) [ChRS, 56] | Chechen | |
B![]() ![]() |
B![]() |
Ishkashimi | |
B![]() |
BOKHTJA (‘to torment oneself, to suffer’) [ARS] | Pashto |
V.
Modern Bulgarian | Eastern analogies | Cluster_user's ottoman parallels | |
VADA – a ditch, a channel | WAD, WOD (‘a ditch, a channel’) [SRS, 258; GASK, 489; etc.] | Sarikoli, Wakhi | |
VADJA – to pull out | WADA (‘to pull out’) [ARS, 520] | Pashto | |
VAPCVAM – to paint | Compare to the Sarikoli WABEIS [SRS, 190] | Sarikoli | |
VARE – a forewarning in the expressions "lele vare", "lele vare, Mecano" in folk songs, etc. | VARA (‘Be careful! Don’t!’) [ChRS, 85] | Chechen | |
VEZHDA – an eyebrow | WREZA (‘an eyebrow’) [ARS; AG, 372] | Pashto, Mundzhani | |
VEJKA – a small branch, a twig | WEKH (‘a twig’) [IJa, 244] | Ishkashimi | |
VERTEP – a brothel, a haunt | WERTAB (‘a gathering place for loafers’) [DE, 295] | Jazguljami | |
VECHE - already | Compare to the Pamirian WEZ [DE, 281] | Jazguljami | |
VESHTICA – a witch | WAASHT (‘a nightmare, a bag ghost’) [IJa, 284] | Ishkashimi | |
VIK – a cry | Compare to the Persian WIK (‘a noise’) | ||
VIRA – in the expression "MAJNA I VIRA" with which the loaders lift heavy loads. | WIRA (‘a load’) [AG, 370] | Mundzhani | |
VIREJA – to grow, to thrive | Quite an old word. Compare it to the Dardic UJIR – life (noun), UJIRULLA – live, vital | Dardic | |
VRJAVA – an uproar, a racket | WERRE (‘an uproar’) [TRS, 43] | Talish | |
V![]() |
WINGHARO (‘a caterpillar’) [AG, 375] | Mundzhani | |
V![]() ![]() |
WADOK (‘a ritual puppet’) [IJa,
287]
W |
Ishkashimi | |
V![]() |
W![]() |
Jazguljami | turk. expression vaz gec,
= "abandon (it), give up" vaz < prob. pers. ba:z "behind, alone etc."
gec,= to pass |
V![]() |
Although it has a clear Slavic meaning, in the
Pamirs there are also similar words for pillow: BALISH and W![]() |
Ishkashimi, Jazguljami | |
V![]() |
The common Slavic name
for 'a rope' is UZ![]() ![]() |
Talish | |
Wakhi | |||
V![]() |
Compare to the Sogdian WAR (‘to walk’) and the Dardic PARA, WALRA. | ||
Dardic | |||
V![]() VURDALAK – a vampire |
Probably from WARAN
(‘a dragon’)
Also the Talish W |
Pamirian | |
Talish | |||
V![]() |
Although it is similar
to the Slavic VERSHIT’, there is also the Pamirian word F![]() |
||
Sarikoli | |||
V![]() ![]() |
The common Slavic variant of this word is UTOK.
But in the Pamirs it sounds as W![]() ![]() |
Ishkashimi, Jazguljami |