The English Language, the Anglo-Saxon and the American Cultures in the Bulgarian Revival Linguistic Situation

The article views the place of the English language and the role of the Anglo-Saxon and the American cultural influences in the processes which formed the specific Bulgarian linguistic situation during the Bulgarian Revival. The topicality of the issue can be explained by the necessity of studying “the linguistic situation” as a complex phenomenon with conglomerate conceptual projections, combining procedure, temporal dimension, language and educational policies, as well as cultural influences in the geographical areal with dynamically changing boundaries. The methodology combines the traditional historiographical approach with linguodidactological archeology and elements of empruntological analysis in order to trace interlanguage and linguocaultural transfers. Bulgarian intellectuals’ attempts at building a unified national language and educational policies are briefly viewed, putting emphasis on the place of the English language in the system of Bulgarian foreign language teaching. The beginning of the empruntologic influence of English lexis on Bulgarian vocabulary is assumed to be in 1829 when the first use of the word “ром” (rom) for rum (a drink imported from the British colonies in the Ottoman Empire) is registered. An attempt is made to present the quantitative content of the Bulgarian intellectual elite that speaks English during the period. The translation reception of Anglo-Saxon and American literature is reconstructed.