Banat Bulgarian Language - History

History

Croatia only allowed the Shtokavian dialect to be used by Catholic priests and in books in Bulgaria. The Catholics in Bulgaria preferred Croatian Catholic works, and Banat Bulgarian priests and teachers taught in Croatian.

In the 1740s, Blasius Hristofor instituted the first school in Dudeştii Vechi in which Banat Bulgarian was taught using the Latin script. Some Bulgarian priests of the time already used the Latin alphabet, banned by the bishops. In the 19th century, the group's national consciousness strengthened and more Banat books were written.

In the 19th century, Banat Bulgarian schools used the Illyrian-Slavic language. In the course of using Illyrian-Slavic, the more Croatianisms and also Slovenisms entered the language.

The Hungarian Imre Berecz and the Croatian András Klobucsár wrote a few books in their mother tongue. Berecz wrote a catechism in Banat Bulgarian (1851). Klobucsár designed a prayer- and hymn-book. One of the teachers, János Uzun, also wrote secular verses. In 1866, József Rill standardised the Banat Bulgarian language and published Balgarsku právupisanj (Bulgarian Spelling).

The Balgarsku právupisanj was used to design coursebooks in Banat Bulgarian, including an ABC book and reader, together with Biblijata and Gulemija Kátaæizmus. Teacher Leopold Koszilkov was also translating Gospels. Fránc Glász and the German Ludovik Fischer wrote a prayer-book. This were notable works notables in Banat Bulgarian literature, as were very popular. The prayerbooks contain prayers, hymns and the biographies of saints. Koszilkov published calendars.

Banat Bulgarians retained their language. Romanian and Serbian were used in schools, but in the catechisms henceforward Banat Bulgarian was used.