Changes in forms of address in Bulgarian after 1990

Abstract

This is a paper on innovations in linguistic politeness in the Bulgarian language at the turn of 21st century. The changes of forms of address referred to in the title will be analysed diachronically with a broader time and cultural background. Note that for centuries the Bulgarian language has not known forms similar to the Polish pan / pani. People would address each other with their first names, “you” or – when they needed to show respect – they would use additional determinants of age or social status of the person, but the rest of their utterances would be in the second-person singular. More “sophisticated” milieus used the forms of господин and госпожа (of Old Church Slavonic origin) perceived as outdated and excessively sophisticated – they are recorded as such in the Bulgarian dictionary published in 1976.

After 1990, господин and госпожа lost their obsolete and sophisticated characteristics, became neutral and commonly used, although it was not easy to get accustomed to them. This paper describes individual stages of losing the old habits and sometimes painful getting used to the new forms. It also shows the differences between forms of address used nowadays by various circles.