Adjectives Ending in -ен with a Matching Dictionary Form and Varying Inflections
Milen Tomov, Iliyana Kuneva, Lora Zheleva · Journal of Bulgarian Language · 2025
This article analyses Bulgarian adjectives ending in -ен, with a matching dictionary form and varying inflections in the remaining forms, such as балонен ‘of or pertaining to a balloon’ – балонена, балонна. The difference in forms is attributed to the loss of -e- in one of the adjectives. While some cases involve homonyms (кожен, кожена ‘made of leather’ and кожен, кожна ‘of or pertaining to the skin’), others reflect variation in non-terminological usage, where, in terminological contexts, only the adjective with the loss of -e- should be used (for example, бетонена/бетонна стена ‘concrete wall’, but бетонна база ‘concrete base’). In addition, some adjectives are not usage-specific and exist as doublets (теменужена и теменужна ‘of or pertaining to violets/having the colour of violets’). Based on this classification, it is concluded that further research is required on the second type of adjectives, with the aim of formulating recommendations for each specific case.