Bilyana Georgieva
Югозападен университет ЮЗУ „Неофит Рилски
Имейл: b_stoianova@hotmail.com
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to make comparison between the names of the holidays in the Bulgarian and American official holiday systems and analyze the linguistic differences between them. On the basis of the gathered information we can highlight the similarities and differences between them in lexical and grammatical aspects and further apply them in transcultural linguistic creativity as borrowings and realia.
Keywords: holiday system of the Republic of Bulgaria; holiday system of the United States of America; terms of nomination; grammatical analysis.
„Лингвистична характеристика на имената на българските и американските празници“ – Биляна Георгиева
Абстракт: Целта на тази статия е да представи направеното сравнение между имената в българската и американската официални празнични системи и анализа на лингвистичните различия между тях. Въз основа на събраната информация можем да очертаем приликите и разликите в лексико-граматичен план и да ги приложим по-нататък в анализа на транскултурното езикотворчество като реалии и заемки в културния пренос.
Ключови думи: празнична система на РБ; празнична система на САЩ; терминологична номинация; граматически анализ.
This is an authentic study of the linguistic aspects of the names of holidays in an intercultural plan. The information presented here is part of a larger work devoted to the specifics of the two holiday systems – the one in Bulgaria and the one in the United States of America and respectively – their reflection on both official language standards, Bulgarian and English. A distant objective is to find out how languages work in giving names to cultural realia of high level of contex-concentration such as official hollydays where emotive and value aspects bind accepted grammatical structure. The latter will be the nearest object of survey here.
I shall not go into exploring the cultural roots and the unofficial or semi-official nature of celebrating the holidays which are outside the officially accepted holiday calendars: my study here is concerned with the linguistic characteristics of the official holiday names as an important aspect of the codification of current realia of value and the possible interferences between them. It is also important to make the international sounding of the most popular realia that serve as cultural identifiers popular cross the world as is the case with ‘martenitsa’ – a symbolic cultural binder of all Bulgarians spread globally. From a linguistic point of view a study like the proposed one would be useful in the works of translators, for most of Bulgarian classical texts still remained unknown to the world.
1. Holiday system in the republic of Bulgaria
In the traditional holiday system we include all those holidays, which are on the holiday calendar of the Bulgarians as mirror image of their spiritual world. The reason for celebrating some of them is religious, for others – secular, related to the traditional for the Bulgarian areas of work, and for a third group the reasons mix together to form religious and secular layers of significance.
The information is drawn from the described sources in the following order: the dates and meaning of religious holidays are taken from Църковен календар. Синодално издателство. С., 2012, while the ways of celebrating and the rituals are described on the basis of a number of interviews. The names of the holidays are given as they exist in all three kinds of sources and I have adopted the transcription as the way of transferring them in the English text. My motivation is based on the opportunity this way gives for further cultural analyses. I have stuck to the Bulgarian rituals and practices only in keeping the mentioned holidays.
1.1. Traditional holidays. A chronological survey.
Name of the holiday: Atanasovden
Traditional name: Atanasovden
Date: January 18th
Type of holiday: 1. Secular holiday. 2. Name day
Reasons for celebration:
a) religious: The Christian Church celebrates the memory of St. Athanasius the Great on this day.
b) secular: In the folk memory St. Athanasius is honoured as patron of blacksmiths and hardware. Not surprisingly, Antonovden and Atanasovden are celebrated in two successive days – the two Orthodox saints – St. Anthony and St. Athanasius are regarded as the two arms of the pliers, the two sides of one whole.
Celebrated by: Atanas, Atanaska, Tanas, Nasko and Anastas.
Way of celebration: Due to the proximity of the holiday with the previous holiday of St. Anthony, the celebration is a continuation of Antonovden. A chicken is cooked and distributed to relatives to protect them from diseases. In folk memory St. Athanasius is known as a master of snow and ice and the time of the celebration of the holiday coincides with the withdrawal of the winter. So in some settlements in Bulgaria people go outdoors early on Atanasovden’s moning to welcome the sunrise and the coming spring.
Name of the holiday: Machenik Trifon
Traditional names: Sveti Trifon, Trifonovden
Date: February 1st – new style; February 14th – old style.
Type of holiday: 1. Secular holiday – Day of the vineyard and the wine; Name day.
Reason for celebration:
a) secular: It is assumed that St. Trifon is the patron saint of winegrowers. They believe that with his help the vines will produce much fruit and that is why on the holiday they call upon him to visit their vineyards.
Celebrated by: Trifon, Trifonka.
Way of celebration: Vine growers go to their vineyards and ritually cut a few bars to show that the vineyard should be taken great care of – is still mid-February and the weather is not suitable for pruning, but by this symbolic gesture, they remind us that „the vineyard does not want a prayer, but a mattock“ as the Bulgarian saying literally goes. After the ritual cutting of the vineyard, the vine growers bring a wooden vessel with wine and before the celebration begins, ritually pour down some wine on the vine roots and the cut bars.
Name of the holiday: Parvi mart
Traditional name: Baba Marta
Date: March 1st
Type of holiday: 1. Secular holiday – harbinger of spring.
Reason for celebration: Spring is approaching. Protection from evil forces is done by weaving white and red thread into martenitsa: the red is believed to have the power to stop evil spirits, demons and disease.
Celebrated by: All Bulgarians, in the folk tradition, wear martenitsa – mostly children, girls, unmarried young men and women.
Way of celebration: All Bulgarians exchange martenitsi, which they wear until they see a stork or blossoming tree, when the attributes of the upcoming spring become apparent. People wear martenitsi because they believe that this will appease Baba Marta – casual in character and willful old woman who apparently represents the outgoing winter.
Name of the holiday: Blagoveshtenie
Traditional name: Blagovets
Date: March 25th
Type of holiday: 1. Secular holiday. Name day.
Reasons for celebration:
a) religious: Celebration of all Christians, regardless of whether they are Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant. Church celebrates the day on which Archangel Gabriel told Virgin Mary she would have the privilege of giving birth to Jesus.
b) secular: Celebrated the onset of spring, which with its power heals all wounds. The first migratory birds come back.
Celebrated by: All Christians. The name day celebrate those with the names Blagoi, Blagoika, Blago, Blaga, Blagovest and Blagovesta.
Way of celebration: Women do not knit. A specific ritual is the punching the ears of the girls (young girls), because according to popular belief this is the day that wounds heal quickly – and they are given their first tiny gold earrings.
On the table are laid dishes with spring vegetables of green color – nettles, rhubarb, and spinach. It is permitted to have fish but not meat or dairy products.
On this day the snakes are believed to wake up from hibernation and crawl out of their holes, so everyone in the family is engaged in sweeping the yard, burning the trash and while doing it – jump over the fire, so that they will not be bitten by a snake during the year.
Name of the holiday: Todorovden
Traditional names: Konski Velikden, Todorova sabota, Tudoritsa
Date: The Saturday of the first week of the Great fast.
Type of the holiday: 1. Secular holiday. 2. Name day.
Reasons for celebration:
a) religious: Commemorates the life and deeds of St. Theodore Tyron. Emperor Julian wanted to return to paganism and therefore decided to humiliate the Christians, as he marketed food in Constantinople during the Easter fast, that was sprayed with blood from pagan sacrifices. St. Theodore Tyron appeared to the bishop of Constantinople Evdoksius in his sleep and told him the plan of Julian. Christians were warned. They boiled and ate only corn and the intent of Julian did not go through.
On icons St. Theodore is painted on a white horse.
b) secular: Celebrates the health of horses. Feast of hors (those who keep horses). So horse owners decorate the horses with beads and flowers.
Celebrated by: Todor, Todora, Teodor, Teodora, and Tosho.
Way of celebration: Wheat is boiled and eaten.
People organize horse races. The winner visits the people’s homes in the village on his horse and the hosts give him as a gift a shirt or a towel. There is tribute to the horse, which the hosts honor – they give him water, a bridle, massage it, feed it, decorate it.
Name of the holiday: Ignazhden
Traditional names: Polaz, Polaznik
Date: December 20th
Type of holiday: Religious holiday
Reasons for celebration:
a) religious: The church honors the memory of St. Ignatius of Antioch, martyr for the Christian faith, torn by lions by order of Emperor Trajan.
b) secular: Marks the beginning of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Celebrated by: Those who honor the traditional holidays. Name day for people named Ignat.
Way of celebration: It is important who will be the first guest to the home on that day – people tell whether the coming year will be good or not by the person’s wealth, health and character. This guest used to be seated at the head of the festive table.
In the morning the hostess lights a fire and cooks tortillas, one of which is left for the Christmas table.
From this holiday to Christmas Day young nulliparous women do not work, to have an easy birth (according to Christian beliefs on that day the labors of St. Mary began to end on Christmas Day with the birth of Jesus Christ).
On this day nothing is supposed to be taken out of the home, to keep wealth within the family. The person who leaves the home with empty hands mandatory brings something when he returns home.
1.2. Official government holidays
Here we introduce the official holidays of the Republic of Bulgaria. They are fixed by the Bulgarian government. In the past they depended on the political orientation of the country, today the country has appointed its permanent interest in its foreign policy and therefore their number is constant and not influenced by this factor.
Name of the holiday: Den na balgarskata prosveta i kultura i na slavyanskata pismenost
Traditional name: Sveti Kiril i Metodi
Date: May 24th
Type of holiday: Official holiday
Reason for celebration: celebration of the achievements of the Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture and the creation of Glagolitic alphabet, preceding the Cyrillic alphabet we use – by the two brothers Cyril and Methodius.
Celebrated by: All Bulgarians.
Way of celebration: Every Bulgarian school and every others cultural institution (community centers included) organize a celebration noting the merit of Cyril and Methodius for the cultural advancement of the Bulgarians and of the Slavic people. People sing the anthem devoted to the two Slav apostles by the poet Stoyan Mihaylovski.
Name of the holiday: Den na nezavisimostta na Bulgaria
Traditional name: Dvadeset i vtori septemvri
Date: September 22nd
Type of holiday: Secular holiday.
Reason for celebration:
a) secular: On 22nd September 1908 in Veliko Tarnovo Ferdinand declared Bulgaria’s Independence – a natural act after the Liberation War against the Ottoman rule of the country.
Celebrated by: All citizens of Bulgaria.
Way of celebration: Official ceremonies all over the country, evening fireworks, a public holiday.
Name of the holiday: Den na narodnite buditeli
Traditional name: Parvi noemvri
Date: November 1st
Type of holiday: Secular holiday.
Reason for celebration:
a) secular: Commemorates Bulgarian educators, scholars, clerics and revolutionaries of primary significance for our cultural survival and growth like Ivan Rilski, Gregory Tsamblak, Dimitar Kantakuzin, Paisii Bozveil,Neophyte,Neofit Rilski, Dimitar and Konstantin Mladenovi, Stefan Karadja, Hadji Dimitar, Vasil Levski, Hristo Botev, Luben Karavelov, Dobri Chintulov, Ivan Vazov and others.
Celebrated by: All Bulgarians.
Way of celebration: Official ceremonies all over the country commemorating the leading figures of the Bulgarian Renaissance in the 18th and 19th centuries and the significance of their life work for the development and growth of independent Bulgarian culture.
Holiday for people who work in the education system.
2. The official holiday system in the United States of America
America’s holiday system includes many holidays, but the most celebrated ones are New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Valentine’s day, President’s day, Easter, Mother’s day, Memorial day, Independence day – July 4th, Labor day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Other holidays are on the calendar but they are not celebrated officially throughout the whole country although they can be celebrated by culture communities across America. A country sticks to a limited number of official holidays when all the country stops work. Therefore, these celebrations of its festive calendar system they consider of limited importance, or connection to certain events. This is seen in both official calendars of Bulgaria and America.
2.1. Traditional holidays
Name of the holiday: Saint Patrick’s Day
Traditional name: Saint Patrick’s Day
Date: March 17th
Type of holiday: Traditional holiday.
Reason for celebration: Day that honors Saint Patrick, who was a Christian missionary that became the patron of Ireland.
Celebrated by: All Americans, but specifically those from Irish origin.
Way of celebration: Religious people attend church services on Saint Patrick’s Day. People get together with family and friends for a feast. There are many parades on this day and when people go out in public they have to wear something green on their clothing.
Name of the holiday: Easter
Traditional name: Easter
Date: The Easter weekend is in late March or early April, but the exact date changes each year.
Type of holiday: Traditional holiday.
Reason for celebration: The resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Celebrated by: All Christians.
Way of celebration: Easter is a Christian holiday. On Easter people celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ (on this day Jesus Christ came back from the dead). People color eggs and give them out on Easter Sunday. People also give chocolate eggs and candy to each other and send cards. Some cities have Easter parades with games and sports and a big Easter egg hunt. Parents put candy in the shape of eggs around the yards of their houses and their children go out looking for them. After the children find the candy they can keep it and later eat it.
Name of the holiday: Cinco de Mayo
Traditional name: Cinco de Mayo
Date: May 5th
Type of holiday: Traditional holiday.
Reason for celebration: It is the unofficial Mexican Independence day. Many celebrate their Mexican heritage and pride.
Celebrated by: All Americans.
Way of celebration: On this day in 1862 was the battle of Puebla (a state in Mexico). In this battle Mexico fought against France and won their independence. Very widely spread holiday in the US among Americans, especially in cities with big Mexican population. It is an interesting fact that the actual Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16th.
Name of the holiday: Flag Day
Traditional name: Flag Day
Date: June 14th
Type of holiday: Traditional holiday.
Reason for celebration: People in the United States celebrate the birth of the American flag.
Celebrated by: Everyone.
Way of celebration: On this day in 1777 (almost a year after Independence Day) the flag of the US was born. On this day every year people take out flags and put them in front of their house as a proud symbol of being Americans. All government and state buildings have their flags displayed as well. On June 14th 1777 the Continental Congress proposed that Americans stop using the British flag and start using their own flag that will represent the 13 new states formed. In August 1949, President Harry Truman set aside June fourteenth as a holiday named Flag Day (with which name it’s known until now).
Name of the holiday: Father’s Day
Traditional name: Father’s Day
Date: Third Sunday in June
Type of holiday: Traditional holiday.
Reason for celebration: To honor and show appreciation for all fathers by their children.
Celebrated by: Everyone.
Way of celebration: People show their love and respect for their fathers. In 1909in Spokane, Washington, a girl requested a special day to honor her father, who was a veteran from the Civil War and raised his children alone after his wife passed away. President Lyndon Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers in 1966.
Name of the holiday: Halloween
Traditional name: All saints day
Date: October 31st
Type of holiday: Traditional holiday.
Reason for celebration: To honor the dead. People give candy to children.
Celebrated by: Everyone, especially children.
Way of celebration: People put on costumes and go around the neighborhood with them. Children go door to door in the evening trick a treating. They knock on a door and when the door opens they say “Trick or treat!” People then give them candy. Children like to dress as superheroes, monsters, witches, pirates, princesses, vampires, inmates, etc.
A popular tradition for people is to carve pumpkins. They clean the inside of the pumpkin and then carve a face or something scary on it. A candle is lid up and places inside the pumpkin. After that the carved pumpkins are placed on windows and porches as decoration for Halloween.
Halloween, also referred to as All Hallows Eve, falls on October 31st. People believe that on this day, ghosts, spirits, and witches come out to harm people. People scare the evil spirits away by putting decoration around their yards and inside their houses. Common decoration is black cats, spider webs, ghosts, fake dead bodies, and skeletons.
2.2. Official government holidays
Name of the holiday: Martin Luther King Jr.
Traditional name: Martin Luther King Jr.
Date: Third Monday of January
Type of holiday: Federal and traditional holiday
Reason for celebration: The birth of Martin Luther King Jr.
Celebrated by: All Americans, especially African-Americans.
Way of celebration: Martin Luther King Jr. was African-American who fought peacefully, but passionately, for the rights of the African-American people in the US. He was murdered in 1968. Because of his contribution the American congress made his birthday a public holiday in 1986. His birthday is February 15th and many American celebrate it and honor his work as civil rights leader, who fought against racial discrimination in the 60s. His philosophy stated that people should not be judges by the color of their skin, but they should be judged according their character. On this day people remember Martin Luther King Jr., they listen to his speeches, watch TV documentaries about him, and sing the civil rights anthem „We Shall Overcome.“
Name of the holiday: President’s Day
Traditional name: President’s Day
Date: Third Monday of February
Type of holiday: Federal holiday
Reason for celebration: To honor those who have served as presidents of the United States of America and their works.
Celebrated by: All Americans.
Way of celebration: On this day students read about George Washington and his successors. George Washington was the first President of the U.S.A. He fought bravely during the war for independence from England. He was the commander in chief of the Continental Army that won the thirteen original colonies independence from England in the Revolutionary War. Retail stores have Presidents day sales, which is customs for this and also for other federal holidays.
Name of the holiday: Thanksgiving
Traditional name: Turkey Day
Date: Fourth Thursday of November
Type of holiday: Federal and traditional holiday.
Reason for celebration: To give thanks to the people around and show gratitude for the blessings in one’s life.
Celebrated by: All Americans.
Way of celebration: In 1621, William Bradford, the Governor of Massachusetts, decided to have a thanksgiving dinner for all the people. He wanted to express his gratitude to God for many blessing he and his people had. It was a difficult year, but there was enough food for the people to eat. He wanted to share his fortune with the Native Americans who helped him. The meal lasted three days. Today’s traditional Thanksgiving meal is similar to the original one. People usually eat turkey, sweet potatoes, corn, and pumpkin pie. Families get together on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is celebrated throughout the United States on the fourth Thursday of November with a large feast of turkey with stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie for dessert. When the Pilgrims first came to American shores looking for religious freedom, the Native Americans taught them how to survive through their hardships. As a sign of gratitude the Pilgrims invited the Native Americans to a feast. And that’s how the first thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, a year after the arrival of the pilgrims in Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts.
3. Linguistic analysis of names in both systems of holidays – analysis of names depending on their structure
In this analysis of the names in Bulgarian and in English we use the approach of Ant. Stoilov (see Stoilov 2000: 40-45). In his titles are called Named Entity as those that consist of a word are Named one word Entity, and those of two or more words – Named phrases.
We analayze the affiliation of the single word nominative unit to the parts of speech (Stoilov 2000: 53-64), and decide with which grammatical categories which are medium and expressing them. We nothe that specifics in their expression. In the analysis of name phrases we determine to what part of speech each component belongs to, establish, and also note the specifics of grammatical categories, which carries and expresses each of them. This analysis makes for both names – formal and folk. Nominative units as Vasilovden, Yordanovden and others can be viewed two ways – and as single word nominative unit, and as nominative phraseological unit. Responsible for determination is the way how we write them. The Bulgarian spelling the two components that build them are written as one word. This is reason to regard them as single word nominative unit.
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Analysis of the names of the Bulgarian language practice
3.1.1. Traditional holidays in the Republic of Bulgaria
Atanàsovden: Single word nominative unit
Compound noun; m.g.; sing.t. < Adjective + Noun
Atanàsovden (doub.f.): Single word nominative unit; Compound noun; m.g.; sing.t. < Adjective + Noun
Machenìk Trìfon: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t. < Noun + Noun
Svetì Trìfon: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t. < Adjective + Noun
Trìfonovden: Single word nominative unit; Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t. < Adjective + Noun
Pàrvi màrt: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t. < Numeral + Noun
Bàba Màrta: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun, f.g.; sing.t. < Noun + Noun
Blagoveshtènie: Single word nominative unit
Noun, n.g.; sing.t.
Blàgovets: Single word nominative unit; Noun, m.g.; sing.t.
Тòdorovden: Single word nominative unit
Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t. < Adjective + Noun
Кònski Velìkden: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t. < Adjective + Compound noun (< Adjective + Noun)
Тòdorova sàbota: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun, f.g.; sing.t. < Adjective + Noun
Tudòritsa: Single word nominative unit; Noun, f.g.; sing.t.
Ignàzhden: Single word nominative unit
Noun, m.g.; sing.t.
Polàz: Single word nominative unit; Noun, m.g.; sing.t.
Polàznik: Single word nominative unit; Noun, m.g.; sing.t.
3.1.2. Official government holidays in the Republic of Bulgaria
Dèn na bàlgarskata prosvèta i kultùra i na slavyànskata pìsmenost: Nominative phrase
Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t. < Noun + Preposition + Adjective + Noun + Conjunction + Noun + Conjunction + Preposition + Adjective + Noun
Kìril i Metòdi: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t. < Noun + Conjunction + Noun
Dèn na nezavisimosttà na Bulgària: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t. < Noun + Preposition + Noun + Preposition + Noun
Dvàdeset i vtòri septèmvri: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t < Compound numeral + Noun
Dèn na naròdnite budìteli: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t < Noun + Preposition + Adjective + Noun
Pàrvi noèmvri: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun, m.g.; sing.t < Numeral + Noun
3.2. Analysis of the names of the United States of America language practice
3.2.1. Traditional holidays
Saint Patrick’s Day: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun; sing.t. < Adjective + Noun + Noun
Saint Patrick’s Day: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun; sing.t. < Adjective + Noun + Noun
Easter: Single word nominative unit
Noun; sing.t.
Easter: Single word nominative unit; Noun; sing.t.
Cinco de Mayo: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun; sing.t.; loan word (borrowing)
Cinco de Mayo: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun; sing.t; loan word (borrowing)
Flag Day: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun + Noun
Flag Day: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun + Noun
Father’s Day: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun + Noun
Father’s Day: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun + Noun
Halloween: Single word nominative unit
Noun; sing.t.
All saints day: Single word nominative unit; Compound noun; sing.t. < Pronoun + Noun + Noun
3.2.2. Official government holidays
Martin Luther King Jr.: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun + Noun + Noun + Adjective
Martin Luther King Jr.: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun + Noun + Noun + Adjective
President’s Day: Nominative phraseological unit
Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun + Noun
President’s Day: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun+ Noun
Thanksgiving: Single word nominative unit
Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun + Verb
Turkey Day: Nominative phraseological unit; Compound noun; sing.t. < Noun + Noun
4. Observations and conclusions
In this part of the present article we summarize data from observations on both the content of the two holiday systems and of their structural analysis.
1. The Bulgarian holiday system is represented by 43 titles (in transcription) which are structurally analyzed – 33 from the traditional festive system and 10 official holidays.
1.1. Most holidays are in January, March and December. We judge this fact as logical. January is the beginning of the calendar year, December is the end of it, and in March are seen the first signs of revival for a new life after the long winter.
1.1.1. In the traditional calendar there is not a month without a holiday, but without an official state holiday are the months of February, June, July, August and October. The least number of holidays is in the summer months and in those of early autumn. We judge this fact as legitimate because the summer months and early autumn months are those in which people in the past (from which we inherited feasts) were filled with hard work.
1.1.2. There are no fixed dates in calendar for six holidays – Sirni Zagovezni, Lazarovden, Tsvetnitsa, Todorovden, Velikden and Vaznesenie Gospodne.
1.2. The reasons for celebrating 19 holidays (19 traditional and not one official holiday) are mixed (religious and secular); only religious is the reason for celebrating 9 (7 traditional and 2 official) holidays; and only secular is the occasion for celebrating 15 holidays, this indicator in both festive systems – the traditional and the official is relatively equal – respectively 7 and 8 holidays.
1.3. The total number of cases in this article are 114 names. Of these, 91 titles (79.8% of all names in the survey) belong to the traditional festive system, while 23 titles (20.8%) belong to the official holiday system.
1.3.1. From the traditional holidays (91 in number) 33 are calendar titles (36.3%) and 58 – folk names (63.7%).
1.3.2. Official holiday designations (23 in number) contain 10 (43.5%) names as they are on the official calendar, and 13 names are popular (56.5%).
1.4. The names on the official calendar of public holidays in both systems are 43 (37.7% of all names in the survey), and 71 are popular names (62.3% of all names in the survey).
1.5. Single word nominative unit in both the traditional and the official calendar systems are 55 (48.3% of the total number of nominative units) and the nominative phraseological unit in these two systems are 59 (51.7% of total nominative units) in the article.
1.5.1. In both systems the analyzed single word nominative units are 55 names. In the traditional festive system these names number 50 (90.9% of all single word nominative units) and 5 single word nominative units (9.1%) comprise the names of the official holidays.
1.5.1.1. In the system of traditional holidays there are 50 single word nominative units. Of these 9 single word nominative units (18%) are names by calendar and 41 single word nominative units (82%) are popular names.
1.5.1.2. In the system of official holidays the single word nominative units are 5. Of these, 1 (20%) is a calendar name, and 4 (80%) are popular names.
1.5.2. In both systems the analyzed nominative phraseological units are 59. In the system of traditional holidays such names are 41 (69.5%), and the system of official public holidays contains 18 (30.5%).
1.5.2.1. In the system of traditional holidays the nominative phraseological units are 41. Of those in the traditional calendar there are 24 nominative phraseological units (58.5%) and 17 nominative phraseological units (41.5%) are popular names.
1.5.2.2. In the system of official public holidays the nominative phraseological units are 18. Nine of them (50%) are used as calendar names, the other nine nominative phraseological units (50%) are popular names.
1.6. In the traditional festive calendar system the nominative phraseological units are 33. Of these the single word nominative units are 9 (27.3%) and the nominative phraseological units comprise of 24 titles (72.7%). In the traditional folk holiday system the nominative phraseological units are 58. Of these 41 are single word nominative units (70.7%) and the nominative phraseological units are 17 (29.3%).
1.7. The official holiday calendar system contains 10 nominative phraseological units. Of these, 1 is single word nominative unit (10%) and 9 are nominative phraseological units (90%). In the official holiday system the traditional nominative phraseological units are 13. Of these the single word nominative units are 4 (30.8%) and 9 are nominative phraseological units (69.2%).
1.8. In the traditional festive system the number of nouns with nominative function is 22. By criteria of gender 9 of them are of m.g., 8 of them are of the f.g., and 1 is neutral; four nouns have the category of pl.t.
1.8.1. Of these 22 nouns, 18 belong to the category of sing.t., and 4 – to pl.t.
1.9. In the system of official public holidays in nominative function are used three nouns. Two of them have m.g. and one – f.g. There is no use of nouns of n.g. All three nouns belong to the category of sing.t.
1.10. Traditional festivals bear names consisting of 69 compound nouns. Of these, 47 belong to the m.g., 13 – to the f.g., 8 are in the n.g. and one belongs to the category pl.t.
1.10.1. Of these 69 compound nouns 68 are in the sing.t., and 1 – pl.t.
1.11. In the system of official public holidays there are 20 compound nouns in the nominative function. All of them belong to the category of sing.t. Of m.g. are 16 compound nouns. Of f.g. are 3, and of n.g. – 1 compound noun.
1.12. Totally in both systems – the traditional festivals and the official holidays, there are used 25 nouns. Of these, 11 are in the m.g., 9 are in the f.g., in the n.g. is one, and to the category of pl.t. belong 4 nouns. The remaining 21 belong to the category of sing.t.
1.13. Totayll in both systems – the traditional festivals and the official holidays, there are used 89 compound nouns. From them of m.g. are 63, of f.g. are 16, of n.g. – 9, and the category of pl.t. contains member. The remaining 68 names belong to the category of compound nouns in sing.t.
1.14. The most widely used model for the formation of compound nouns in both systems –the traditional names and the official names, the model is adjective + noun (Vasilovden, Sveti Trifon etc.). Thirty-six names are traditional and six names are official holidays. In the system of official holidays the second most productive model is noumeral +noun (Treti mart, Parvi mai and others) – all four names.
By applying the model noun + noun (Baba Marta, Mariya Magdalena and others) are formed six names (they are only in the traditional festive system).
The third most productive model is noun + adjective (Vazkresenie Hristovo, Uspenie Bogorodichno, etc.) – four names are in the traditional festive system and one in the official holiday system – a total sum of 5 names.
All other combinations in both systems are used rarely – once or twice (adjective +noun + noun – Sveti Yoan Krastitel; noun + preposition + noun – Den na zhenata; compound numeral + noun – Dvadeset i vtori mart, adjective + compound noun [< adjective + noun] – Konski Velikden, etc.), there is no lack of „exotic“ combinations of the type noun + preposition + noun + conjunction + preposition + adjective + noun – Den na hrabrostta I na balgarskata armiya; noun + preposition + noun + preposition + noun + preposition + adjective + noun – Den na osvobozhdenieto na Bulgaria ot osmansko igo, noun + preposition + adjective + noun + conjunction + noun + conjunction + preposition + adjective + noun – Den na balgarskata prosveta i kultura i na slavyanskata pismenost, and others.
2. The correspondent American holiday systems are represented by 18 titles – 9 in the traditional festive system and 9 official holidays, both groups are structurally analyzed in the same mode as the Bulgarian Holiday names.
2.1 From the nine in the traditional festive system six have permanent fixed date in the calendar, and three of them do not. From the nine official state holidays four have fixed date, and five do not. From the traditional celebrations the greatest number are in April, May and June, and from the federal holidays – in January and November. Both systems presented have no festive holidays in August.
2.2 From all nine traditional holidays none is named as federal holiday too. On the contrary – from the nine official federal holidays only President’s Day and Veterans’ Day are not celebrated as traditional.
2.3. An interesting fact is that among the traditional American holidays there is one holiday (Cinco de Mayo), which is celebrated by all Americans, but is connected to the history of another ethnic group – Mexicans, who at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 defeated the Frenchmen and gained their independence. Mexicans, themselves, celebrate their independence day on 16th September and this fact only confirms the tolerance of Americans to other ethnic groups in their country. If based on this indicator we compare the Bulgarian and the American practices, we will find that the Bulgarians as the dominant ethnic group in our country do not celebrate the holidays associated with the calendars of ethnic minorities in Bulgaria.
2.4. In the system of traditional festivities 22.4% of the titles are single word nominative units, and 77, 8% are nominative phraseological units. In 11.1% there is a discrepancy between the nominative units in the official and the popular names – Halloween is a single word nominative unit, but all saints day is a nominative phraseological unit. All other official and popular names match. There is one difference in the official and popular names, which consist of nominative phraseological unit- Valentine’s Day and Saint Valentine’s Day are compound nouns, but their structure is different: noun + noun – for Valentine’s Day, and noun + noun + noun is for Saint Valentine’s Day.
In the nominative phraseological units the most frequently used structure is noun + noun (44,4%) of the studied cases. Compound nouns are 77.8 percent of the names in the system of the traditional holidays, while 22.2% are nouns.
All nominative phraseological units in this system are sing.t. But this is due to the word-formation patterns in the English Tongue.
2.5. In the system of federal holidays 88.9% of the titles are nominative phraseological units, and 11.1% are single word nominative units. This distribution is true for both, the formal and popular names of public holidays. Different are only the nominative units, which form the ratio: the official name for Thanksgiving is single word nominative unit, while Turkey Day is a nominative phraseological unit. For Christmas Day the official names observe the reverse situation – that name is a nominative phraseological unit, while the popular name Christmas is single word nominative unit.
In 66.7% of all the names – official and popular, we observe a full match in the nominative units, and their structure. In 33.3% of the nominative units we observe differences: official names are Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and their folk names are respectively July 4th, Turkey Day and Christmas. These differences are the reason for the difference in the structure of their compound nouns: the structure of Independence Day is a noun + noun, and of July 4th is a noun + numeral; the structure of Thanksgiving is a noun + verb, and Turkey Day is a noun + noun; Christmas Day is a compound noun, and Christmas is a noun.
All nominative units of the system of public holidays are in the sing.t.
3. The comparison between the two systems of holidays – Bulgarian and American show the following important results:
3.1. In the system of American holidays we have not detected any case of nominative unit, which is of pl.t. – All nominative units are of sing.t.
3.2. Bulgarians do not have a holiday – traditional or official, which is a celebration for another ethnic group other than Bulgarian. Americans have.
3.3. Most of the names in the Bulgarian holiday system belong to one of three grammatical genders, but a small part of the nominative units are of sing.t. or pl.t. The American names of the holidays do not have grammar tribal affiliation.
3.4. In the Bulgarian festive system the greater part of the celebration names include a private component – the name of a person, and it is the reason that a holiday turns into a personal holiday of the people bearing that name. In the American holiday system, there is no festive celebration that is a name day of certain individuals.
3.5. In both official holiday systems there is a day on which the independence of the country is celebrated.
3.6. In the Bulgarian holiday system, both traditional and government, there is not a holiday to honor all fathers. In the American holiday system, there is.
List of abbreviations:
m.g. – masculine gender
f.g. – feminine gender
n.g. – neuter gender
sing.t. – a noun used only in the singular form
pl.t. – a noun used only in the plural form
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