Editing Bulgar language (section)

==Danubian Bulgar==
The language of the Danube Bulgars (or ''Danubian Bulgar'') is recorded in a small number of inscriptions, which are found in [[Pliska]], the first capital of [[First Bulgarian Empire]], and in the rock churches near the town of [[Murfatlar]], in present-day [[Romania]]. Some of these inscriptions are written in the [[Greek alphabet|Greek characters]], others in the [[Kuban alphabet]] which is a variant of [[Orkhon script]]. Most of these  appear to have been of a private character (oaths, dedications, inscriptions on grave stones) and some were court inventories. Although attempts at decipherment have been made, none of them has gained wide acceptance. These inscriptions in Danubian Bulgar are found along with other, official ones written in [[Greek language|Greek]]; which was used as the official state language of the First Bulgarian Empire until the end of the ninth century, when it was replaced by the [[Old Church Slavonic]], (also called Old Bulgarian).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-G1L-9Zec0C&pg=PA189 |title=The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars and Cumans |first1=Florin |last1=Curta |first2=Roman |last2=Kovalev |publisher=Brill |year=2008 |isbn=978-9004163898 |page=189}}</ref>

The language of the Danubian Bulgars is also known from a small number of loanwords in the [[Old Bulgarian]] language, as well as terms occurring in Bulgar Greek-language inscriptions, contemporary [[Byzantine]] texts,<ref>Rance, Philip,[https://www.academia.edu/71038780/_Photios_and_the_Bulgar_Language_%CF%84%E1%BF%B6%CE%B3%CE%B1_tu%C4%9F_Byzantinoslavica_79_2021_41_58 "Photios and the Bulgar Language (τῶγα, tuğ)"] ''Byzantinoslavica'' 79 (2021) 41–58</ref> and later Slavonic Old Bulgarian texts. Most of these words designate titles and other concepts concerning the affairs of state, including the official [[Bulgar calendar|12-year cyclic calendar]] (as used in the [[Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans]]). The language became extinct in Danubian Bulgaria in the ninth century as the Bulgar nobility became gradually [[Slavicisation|Slavicized]] after the Old Bulgarian tongue was declared as official in 893.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Terms borrowed from Danube Bulgar by Old Church Slavonic<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Tekin|first=Talât|url=http://kutuphane.akmb.gov.tr/opac/details?id=42364&materialType=BK&query=%22tekin%2C+talat%22|title=Tuna Bulgarları ve Dilleri|publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi|year=1987|location=Ankara|language=Turkish}}</ref>
!
!Old Church Slavonic
!Chuvash
!Hungarian
!Common Turkic
|-
|token, trace
|БЕЛЕГ (beleg), БИЛЕГ (bileg)
|палӑк (palăk)
|bélyeg
|*belgü
|-
|bracelet
|БЕЛЬЧҮГ (bel'čug)
| –
| –
|*bileçüg
|-
|pillow
|ДОХЬТОРЬ (dox'tor')
|ҫытар (śïtar)
| –
|*yogtu
|-
|image, icon
|КАПЬ (kap')
|кап (kap)
|kép
|*kēp
|-
|honour
|САНЬ (san'), САМЬ (sam')
| сум (sum)
|szám
|*sān
|}

=== Phonology ===
Unlike Volga Bulgarian and Chuvash, d'ization is seen in the {{IPA|/j/}} sounds at the beginning of words. [[Talât Tekin]] argues that this sound corresponds to the initial ''gy'' sound in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] and is pronounced close to it.<ref name=":02" />
{| class="wikitable"
|+Comparison of initial /j/<ref name=":02" />
!
!Danube Bulgar /<br> Old Church Slavonic
!Volga Bulgar
!Chuvash
!Common Turkic
|-
|snake
|ДИЛОМЬ (dilom')
| –
|ҫӗлен (śílen)
|''*yï̄lan''
|-
|pillow
|ДОХЬТОРЬ (dox'tor')
| –
|ҫытар (śytar)
|''*yogdu'' (Mongolian ''зогдор'')
|-
|''An ethnicity''
|ΔΟΥΑΡΗⲤ (dovaris)
|يوارى (yuwāri)
| –
| –
|-
|seven
|ЧИТ (čit)
|جىَاتِ (čyeti)
|ҫиччӗ (śiččĕ)
|''*yẹti''
|}