From wafel to vafla: A mapping of Dutch loanwords in Bulgarian

Abstract

The number of Dutch loanwords in Bulgarian is relatively large, although due to historical developments and the large geographical distance the two language regions had little direct contact throughout the centuries. Most Dutch words are mostly borrowed via a written language contact, through another language (i.e. Russian, French, German and/or English), sometimes after a long ‘journey’ until they eventually end up in Bulgarian. By means of these languages words from Afrikaans and other non-European languages have also reached Europe and Bulgarian in particular with the help of Dutch as a conduit. The Dutch loanwords in Bulgarian belong not only to the sphere of shipping, as one has argued until recently, but almost to all the twenty-two word fields “the order in which the man and mankind learns the world and learned know” (2001, 78) described by Van der Sijs, illustrating the wide range of Dutch loans.