Category Archives: Language is Great!

My musings on languages natural and artificial and the science of linguistics

I will often friend you: Bulgarian verb aspects

Posted on June 22, 2015 by dan

One of the hardest bits of Bulgarian grammar for me to wrap my mind around was the difference between the complete and incomplete aspects* of verbs. It’s not a distinction English makes (except in a few cases like “eat up” … Continue reading →

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Teenager Conlang

Posted on March 30, 2015 by dan

I’m so sorry http://danbensen.tumblr.com/post/112692988201/excessunrated-phonetic-description-of-annoying

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No thanks, I Decline.

Posted on March 2, 2015 by dan

I noticed something interesting about the Japanese and spaces. Normally, written Japanese has no spaces. Consider the first sentence in the page above: ティラノサウルスは      最も      大きな      肉食      恐竜です.  Preserving the spaces between … Continue reading →

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Bulgarian Bibliography

Posted on February 21, 2015 by dan

A while ago I met with an ethnologist at Sofia University, who gave me a nifty reading list. I can’t promise I’ll actually be able to read (or even find) all of the resources, but if you’re as interested in 16th-century … Continue reading →

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Creolization

Posted on February 16, 2015 by dan

Even if bilingualism doesn’t necessarily make you a super-genius, it’s still a good way to, you know, speak two languages. And combine them! My daughter (who speaks English and Bulgarian) generally sticks with one language or the other depending on … Continue reading →

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The Casting of the Rings

Posted on February 2, 2015 by dan

Work continues on my research for Charming Lies with some information about the spring holiday that marks the first scene of the book. Lazarus’ day (Lazarovden) is the Saturday before Easter, and its festivities consist of girls (Lazarki) dressing up … Continue reading →

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The Ballad of Prince Marko and Maid Magdalena

Posted on January 19, 2015 by dan

Research a great thing, especially when it involves your wife’s grandmothers. My historical fantasy, Charming Lies, needed a Bulgarian folk-song for an important scene, and what better song than the one sung by Pavlina’s great grandmother during the wheat harvest? … Continue reading →

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Ottoman-period Bulgarian terminology is Great!

Posted on December 17, 2014 by dan

…or what I did on my vacation. Last weekend I spent three lovely nights with my wife in Koprivshtitsa, an architectural preserve in central Bulgaria. Koprivshtitsa was a town of wool-merchants (and the center of the April Uprising, which is … Continue reading →

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Bulgarian Affinity Terminology is Great!

Posted on December 10, 2014 by dan

Last week, we talked about blood relatives. Now it’s time to talk about something a little more complicated, the in-laws. In English, all of these people are named some version of X-in-law, but in Bulgarian, they almost all have unique … Continue reading →

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Bulgarian Kinship Terms are Great!

Posted on December 3, 2014 by dan

In this season of family drama, you might be wishing for a simpler system kinship  terms. Why not call all older people one thing and all younger people something else, for example, like in Piraha? Wouldn’t that be nice? Well, if … Continue reading →

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