A diachronic cognitive-semantic analysis of the Bulgarian disjunctive conjunctions или, ту, я, било and ха: from the 19th century to the present
A diachronic cognitive-semantic analysis of the Bulgarian disjunctive conjunctions или, ту, я, било and ха: from the 19th century to the present

Summary/Abstract: The study presents a diachronic cognitive-semantic analysis of Bulgarian disjunctive conjunctions (или, ту, я, било, ха) across 19th- and 21st-century literary texts. The research categorizes the use of the investigated conjunctions according to the cognitive operations they encode. The results reveal processes of functional homogenization and subjectification in the inventory of disjunctive conjunctions. The core coordinator или has nearly doubled in frequency, absorbing roles previously held by specialized markers. Conversely, correlative conjunctions like ту – ту, я – я and ха – ха have noticeably declined. Another finding is the surge of Approximation uses of или, signaling a shift from the prototypical Choice operation toward the verbalization of imprecise mental estimation. This evolution reflects a streamlining of the Bulgarian disjunctive system toward the Standard Average European profile.

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