On July 1, 1921, a radical spelling reform was officially introduced in Bulgaria, which remained in history as „Omarchevski spelling“. The changes were implemented by the then Minister of Public Education Stoyan Omarchevski in the government of the Bulgarian National Assembly, but at the heart of the project is a commission with the participation of the prominent Bulgarian linguist and first rector of Sofia University – prof. Alexander Teodorov-Balan, together with prof. Benyo Tsonev. The reform aims to simplify writing and facilitate literacy for the broad masses, but instead causes an unprecedented cultural and political scandal.
What is changing in the language?
The main idea of Balan and Omarchevsky is to bring the written language closer to the living vernacular. The reform imposes the following key changes:
- Remove ers at the end of words: The letters „ъ“ and „ь“ stop being written at the end of words like „chair“ or „king“.
- Dropping the yato vowel (ѣ): The double „e“ (e-double) is permanently replaced with „e“ or „ya“ depending on the pronunciation.
- New softness marking: The softness of consonants before the letter „о“ starts to be marked with „й“ (for example „Enyo“ becomes „Enyo“).
- Removal of the big nose (ѫ): The letter symbolizing the Old Bulgarian nasal sound is no longer used.
Political clash and boycott by the intelligentsia
The issue of the alphabet quickly acquired a strong political overtone. For the agrarian government, the old letters were a symbol of the “bourgeois alienation of the intelligentsia from the masses“. For the majority of Bulgarian scholars, writers, and publishers, however, the reform was a manifestation of “unenlightened radicalism“.
Great linguists such as Lyubomir Miletić and Stoyan Romanski spoke out strongly against the changes. Writers and newspapermen massively boycotted the new rules, which forced the government in 1922 to administratively ban the publication of newspapers using the old spelling. The removal of the letter “ѣ“ was also painfully received by Macedonian Bulgarians, as it united the eastern and western dialects in the country.
Short life and historical legacy
The Omarchev spelling remained in force for only two years. After the June 9th coup in 1923 and the fall of the Stamboliyski government, the new cabinet of Prof. Alexander Tsankov repealed the reform and restored the traditional Ivanchev spelling with minor corrections.
Despite its short life, the reform of July 1, 1921 became a direct precursor to modern Bulgarian orthography. Most of Alexander Teodorov-Balan's ideas for dropping the final ers and the yata vowel were finally and irreversibly adopted in the next major spelling reform in 1945.
Source: History of Bulgarian Spelling and Archives of the State Agency “Archives“ / Bulgarian National Radio