FORMATION OF FEMININE NOUNS - ÎÁÐÀÇÓÂÀÍÅ ÍÀ ÑÚÙÅÑÒÂÈÒÅËÍÈ ÎÒ Æ.Ð.
In Bulgarian many masculine nouns have a corresponding feminine one which can be formed:
1.By adding the suffix
–êà to the masculine noun – for words indicating occupations:| ó÷èòåë (uchitel - teacher) | ó÷èòåëêà (uchitelka - female teacher) |
| ïðîäàâà÷ (prodavach - salesman) | ïðîäàâà÷êà (prodavachka - female salesman) |
| ãîòâà÷ (gotvach - cook) | ãîòâà÷êà (gotvachka - female cook) |
| äèðåêòîð (director, manager) | äèðåêòîðêà* (direktorka - female manager) |
| ëåêàð (lekar - physician, doctor) | ëåêàðêà* (lekarka - female physician, doctor) |
*In these cases very often the masculine noun is used for both masculine and feminine persons, as well as for the occupations like ìèíèñòúð (minister, as a member of the government), ïðîôåñîð (professor), ñúäèÿ (judge), èíæåíåð (engineer), øîôüîð (driver) etc.
Some nouns suffer phonetic changes
when forming the feminine noun:| ó÷åíèê** (uchenik - schoolboy) | ó÷åíè÷êà (uchenichka - schoolgirl) |
| ðàáîòíèê (rabotnik - workman) | ðàáîòíè÷êà (rabotnichka - workwoman) |
| âíóê (vnuk - grandson) | âíó÷êà (vnuchka - granddaughter) |
Note that before adding the suffix –êà the ending –ê changes to –÷.
**In Bulgarian there are different words for student in the primary or secondary school – ó÷åíèê – and a student in the University – ñòóäåíò.
| 1 |
2. By adding the suffix –
èöà to the masculine noun:For some “special occupations”:
| öàð (tzar *) | öàðèöà (tzaritza) |
| êðàë (kral - king) | êðàëèöà (kralitza - queen) |
| ïåâåö** (pevetz - singer) | ïåâèöà ** (pevitza - female singer) |
*Öàð and öàðèöà are monarchs in the Orthodox Christian countries.
**Irregular forming – the suffix –åö disappears from the masculine form before adding the ending –èöà.
For animals:
| Male | Female |
| ëúâ (lúf - lion) | ëúâèöà (lavitza) |
| ãúëúá (gúlap - pigeon) | ãúëúáèöà (galabitza) |
| òèãúð* (tigar - tiger) | òèãðèöà (tigritza) |
| îðåë* (orel - eagle) | îðëèöà (orlitza) |
Note that in the female noun the vowel of the last syllable (-ú, -å) disappears.
| 1 |
3. By adding the suffix –
èíÿ to the masculine noun:| áîã (bok - God) | áîãèíÿ (boginya - goddess) |
| 1 |
4. For some words meaning animals, the feminine form is the main form.
| êîòêà (kotka - cat) | êîòàðàê (kotarak - male cat) |
| ìå÷êà (mechka - bear) | ìå÷îê (mechok - male bear) |
| îâöà (oftza - sheep) | îâåí (oven - male sheep) |
| ëèñèöà (lisitza - fox) | ëèñóãåð (lisuger - male fox) |
| ñúðíà (sarna - hind) | ñðúíäàê (srandak - male hind) |
| ïàòêà, ïàòèöà (patka, patitza - duck) | ïàòîê (patok - male duck) |
etc.