Institute for Bulgarian Language

The Institute for Bulgarian Language (in Bulgarian: Институт за български език, romanized: Institut za bulgarski ezik) is the language regulator of the Bulgarian language. It was created on 15 May 1942, and is based in Sofia, Bulgaria. The institute develops a Bulgarian national dictionary, publishes magazines on linguistic research, and offers courses, including a PhD programme. It is part of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.^[1]

History

The Institute for Bulgarian Language was first established by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences as the Bulgarian Dictionary Service under its umbrella in the Kingdom of Bulgaria.^[1] During the Second World War, funding was difficult for many Bulgarian educational institutions but funding was guaranteed for the Bulgarian Dictionary Service as a result of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria allocating funds for their work.^[2]

In 1947, it became the Bulgarian Dictionary Service. Then in 1949 under the communist People's Republic of Bulgaria, it became the independent Institute for Bulgarian Language.^[1] In 1951, additional linguists were employed by the Institute due to the establishment of several new departments as a result of the Institute becoming the official language regulator for the Bulgarian language.^[2] As a part of their work, they recognise educators of the Bulgarian language outside of Bulgaria as well as protecting the official language from the inclusion of loan-words from non-Bulgarian languages like English, Greek and Russian.^[2] They have researchers from over 80 countries working there.^[3]