Papers of BAS

Papers of BAS. Humanities and Social Sciences

Vol. 11, 2024, No. 2

The Institute for Bulgarian Language 

and the provision of the normative framework

of the Bulgarian standard language

Ruska Stancheva, Tatyana Aleksandrova, Milen Tomov

Abstract. This article examines the role of the Institute for Bulgarian Language at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in providing the normative framework of the Bulgarian standard language. The focus is on the theoretical and applied scientific aspects of the codification of its norms, the effectiveness of which is ensured through various projects of the Department of Modern Bulgarian Language. From the perspective of the major theoretical principles that are followed during codification, the article presents the characteristics of the official spelling dictionaries developed by the Department and the functions of language consulting - an important segment of linguistic cultivation that accompanies and aids codification and its distribution among the language community. The contributions of the latest Department’s projects to the provision of the normative framework of the standard language are presented: the project Study of public attitudes and value orientations towards the modern Bulgarian standard language as a factor in the codification of its norms and its platform Bulgarian Language Resources Online, BERON, which, in compliance with public expectations, grants free access to a digitalized version of the Official Spelling Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language.

Keywords: codification of Bulgarian standard language, spelling dictionaries, language attitudes, language consulting, digital resources of a normative character