Bulgarian Sign Language in Bulgaria

2. Status

Status

Official country wide language
Official regional language
Official minority language
Recognised community language
Unrecognised community language

National language

Yes

Indigenous language

No

Comments

It is a national non-territorial community language. Native speakers include deaf and hard-of-hearing people living across Bulgarian.
Native users are spread across the territory. There are communities formed in many regions facilitated by the regional centers of the Bulgarian Union of the Deaf, as well as the manufactories for the deaf in all major cities.

3. State

Documentation: materials

Written

Extended corpora
Annotated corpora
Corpus/corpora
Materials/corpus
Some materials
No materials

Digital

Yes

Comments

There is only a limited number of sign language materials, they are usually products of sporadic efforts on researching the language. They are not made available to the wide public.

divider

Video

Extended corpora
Annotated corpora
Corpus/corpora
Materials/corpus
Some materials
No materials

Digital

Yes

divider

Documentation: descriptions

Elaborated dictionaries, grammars, statistical language models, etc.
Dictionaries and grammars
Dictionary and grammar
Glossary and descriptions
Few descriptions
No descriptions

Digital

No

Asynchronicity

Pervasive uses of asynchronicity by all users in a wide range of domains
Frequent uses of asynchronicity by a majority of users in several contexts
Habitual uses of asynchronicity by a good number of users which may be limited to specific contexts
Occasional and unsystematic use of asynchronicity
Very limited use of asynchronicity by a few individuals only
Not used for purposes of asynchronicity

Comments

Only very limited use and availability, mainly for personal use. There is one online media, Vzaimno, which releases regular video broadcasts in sign language: http://vzaimno.com/.

Standardization

Modern standard language
Young standard language
Standardised language
Quasi-standard language
Semi-standardised language
Un-standardised language

4. Users

Geographical distribution

Users live and dominate in all regions of the country
Users live in one [state/...] of the country
Users live in a cross-border region [state/...] of the country
Users live in separated [states/...] of the country
Users live dispersed across one [state/...] of the country
Users live scattered all over the country

Size / Number of users

Source

https://www.ethnologue.com/language/bqn

Year

2014

Comments

There is no proper statistics of deaf sign language users in Bulgaria. The cited figures are estimated based on general EU data and data from the World Federation of the Deaf. It is believed that the cited number of 37,000-50,000 sign language users (2014 IMB; 2014 EUD) is highly overestimated.
There are approximately 100,000-120,000 people with various degree of hearing loss and it is believed that 10-15% of them are sign language users.
The Bulgarian Union of the Deaf has about 10,000 members, mostly sign language users.

Users within total population

Less than 1% use the language

Users within the reference community

Less than 50% use the language

Comments

Reference community includes all people with various degree of hearing loss, including deaf and hard-of-hearing people. It is believed that about 10-15% of them are sign language users.

Age distribution of users

percentage of members of middle generations (15-65)

Age distribution of users

percentage of members of young generations (< 15)

Age distribution of users

percentage of members of older generations (> 65)

Generational use

50

All generations

Comments

Among younger generations use of sign language is limited to children from deaf families. There is no bilingual (spoken and sign) education and use of sign language is not encouraged or supported in any way.

Educational attainment

No education

Early childhood education

Primary education

Lower secondary education

Higher secondary education

Tertiary education

Occupational qualifications

Elementary occupations

Plant and machine operators and assemblers

Craft and related trades workers

Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers

Services and sales workers

Clerical support workers

Technicians and associate professionals

Professionals

Managers

Language competence

Language not used

Understand little, speak/sign none

Understand some, speak/sign little

Understand well, speak/sign some

Understand all, speak/sign well

Understand all, speak/sign fluently

Digital use

More than 50% digital users of the language

5. Use

Socio-geographic dimension

Geographic scope

International
Supranational
Cross-border (states)
State-wide
Supra-regional cross-border
Supra-regional
Regional cross-border
Regional
Local

Economic dimension

Economic scope

Quinary sector
Quaternary sector
Tertiary sector
Secondary sector
Primary sector
Language not used

Comments

The Bulgarian Sign Language has rarely been used in a professional setting.

Functional dimension

Functional scope

Public domains
Everyday domains
Private domains

Nature

equal

Functional scope

Public domains
Everyday domains
Private domains

Nature

equal

Functional scope

Public domains
Everyday domains
Private domains

Nature

complementary

Stability

Increasing

Comments

Only recently the use of the sign language in public domains and official communication started to be encouraged.

Functional use in administration

Language use in administration

International level
National level
Regional level
Local level
Auxiliary use
No use

Types of language use

signed / spoken use
written use
digital use

Comments

Some local administrations encourage the use of sign language interpreting.

Ethnoculture

No use
Informal learning
Skills and knowledge
Performing arts
Social practices
Customary law
Traditional medicine
Knowledge and practices
Traditions and expressions

Formal Education

Early childhood education

Primary level

Lower secondary level

Higher secondary level

Tertiary level

Type of language use in education

Medium of instruction
Immersion teaching
Teaching subject
Occasionally used
Symbolically used

Comments

Only a few universities encourage the use of sign language interpreting in a limited number of courses for professional qualification or higher degree.

Public healthcare

Language not used
Translations
Healthcare information
Nursing care (incl. elderly)
Doctor-patient communication
Generally used

Comments

Using sign language interpreting services

Information, communication and cultural production

Information services
Broadcasting
Video, film
Sound/music recording
Publishing activities
Language not used

Specify

Sign Language interpreting on news broadcasts in prime time.

Comments

There have been a very limited number of programmes, mainly news programmes, using sign language interpreting. There is one online media based exclusively on sign language, and a weekly programme on national TV with content in sign language.

Information services
Broadcasting
Video, film
Sound/music recording
Publishing activities
Language not used

Specify

One online media in sign language, one special programme for the deaf on national TV.

Comments

There have been a very limited number of programmes, mainly news programmes, using sign language interpreting. There is one online media based exclusively on sign language, and a weekly programme on national TV with content in sign language.

Legal system

Language use in the legal system

General use
Legal transactions
Court proceedings
Written submissions
Spoken/signed testimonies
Language not used

Areas of law the language is used

Criminal law
Civil law
Administrative law

Geographical scope of legal language use

Local
Regional
National
International

Comments

A qualified sign language interpreter is appointed for the duration of the investigation and court proceedings.

The World Atlas of Languages is a beta version while data is being validated. Some inconsistencies may appear. The displayed data does not commit the Organization.