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Bulgarian language
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=====Gender===== There are three grammatical genders in Bulgarian: ''masculine'', ''feminine'' and ''neuter''. The gender of the noun can largely be inferred from its ending: nouns ending in a consonant ("zero ending") are generally masculine (for example, {{lang|bg|град}} {{IPA|/ɡrat/}} 'city', {{lang|bg|син}} {{IPA|/sin/}} 'son', {{lang|bg|мъж}} {{IPA|/mɤʃ/}} 'man'; those ending in –а/–я (-a/-ya) ({{lang|bg|жена}} {{IPA|/ʒɛˈna/}} 'woman', {{lang|bg|дъщеря}} {{IPA|/dɐʃtɛrˈja/}} 'daughter', {{lang|bg|улица}} {{IPA|/ˈulitsɐ/}} 'street') are normally feminine; and nouns ending in –е, –о are almost always neuter ({{lang|bg|дете}} {{IPA|/dɛˈtɛ/}} 'child', {{lang|bg|езеро}} {{IPA|/ˈɛzɛro/}} 'lake'), as are those rare words (usually loanwords) that end in –и, –у, and –ю ({{lang|bg|цунами}} {{IPA|/tsuˈnami/}} '[[tsunami]]', {{lang|bg|табу}} {{IPA|/tɐˈbu/}} 'taboo', {{lang|bg|меню}} {{IPA|/mɛˈnju/}} 'menu'). Perhaps the most significant exception from the above are the relatively numerous nouns that end in a consonant and yet are feminine: these comprise, firstly, a large group of nouns with zero ending expressing quality, degree or an abstraction, including all nouns ending on –ост/–ест -<nowiki/>{ost/est} ({{lang|bg|мъдрост}} {{IPA|/ˈmɤdrost/}} 'wisdom', {{lang|bg|низост}} {{IPA|/ˈnizost/}} 'vileness', {{lang|bg|прелест}} {{IPA|/ˈprɛlɛst/}} 'loveliness', {{lang|bg|болест}} {{IPA|/ˈbɔlɛst/}} 'sickness', {{lang|bg|любов}} {{IPA|/ljuˈbɔf/}} 'love'), and secondly, a much smaller group of irregular nouns with zero ending which define tangible objects or concepts ({{lang|bg|кръв}} {{IPA|/krɤf/}} 'blood', {{lang|bg|кост}} {{IPA|/kɔst/}} 'bone', {{lang|bg|вечер}} {{IPA|/ˈvɛtʃɛr/}} 'evening', {{lang|bg|нощ}} {{IPA|/nɔʃt/}} 'night'). There are also some commonly used words that end in a vowel and yet are masculine: {{lang|bg|баща}} 'father', {{lang|bg|дядо}} 'grandfather', {{lang|bg|чичо}} / {{lang|bg|вуйчо}} 'uncle', and others. The plural forms of the nouns do not express their gender as clearly as the singular ones, but may also provide some clues to it: the ending {{lang|bg|–и}} (-i) is more likely to be used with a masculine or feminine noun ({{lang|bg|факти}} {{IPA|/ˈfakti/}} 'facts', {{lang|bg|болести}} {{IPA|/ˈbɔlɛsti/}} 'sicknesses'), while one in {{lang|bg|–а/–я}} belongs more often to a neuter noun ({{lang|bg|езера}} {{IPA|/ɛzɛˈra/}} 'lakes'). Also, the plural ending {{lang|bg|–ове}} {{IPA|/ovɛ/}} occurs only in masculine nouns.
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