PAST VS. PRESENT

Vŭglarovo 2

11 (a) jà nə nàšte decà òt’ rəspràvəm ɨkət bàbo n’è e v’àrnu
When I tell our kids [about this] they say, “Granny, that’s not true.”

Vŭrbina 1

21 (a) ne b’è pu altmɯ̀š dəvàr šejsè̝ ufcì i
It wasn’t [like now]. Each [of us] had "altmŭš" (60) [that is] "šejset" (60) head of sheep.

37 (a) nàšte mɤ̀ž’uve sə kəzəndìsvəli də nə hràn’et əm kàk tò nè s’èe
Our menfolk earned enough to keep us fed. Not like now, though,

38 (a) kəsu es’ɛ̀ də kàram’ə i ž’əvòt’ brəšnònu tɨ gu dukàrət sml’ètu
they way we enjoy life now. They bring flour to you already ground,

39 (a) vɤ̀lnənə tɨ dukàrət ispr’ɤ̀denə pr’ɤ̀lu tò se l’ɤ̀snu es’ɛ̀ ž’uvèi
they bring wool to you as already spun yarn. This kind of life is easy!

40 (a) əmə kàk sme nìe ž’ìli i tə tə səm ž’ìlə duksàn gudìni
But the way we lived – ! I’ve lived through "doksan" (90) years.

Vŭrbina 2

43 (a) ur’ɛ̀hme səs vòl’ve sèj kinàtu sme to nè e səs s ejnəkvì
With the oxen we plowed like this – what we did was not like the way

44 (a) kəsu es’à urɤ̀t səs tràkturi i səs dìznə kinà əmi səs uràlu
they plow now, with tractors and who knows what, but with a wooden plow.

54 (a) jɛ̀ im səm p’èklə hl’èbən nem’èš’e fùrnə d’è e kəsu eseà
I did [all] the baking of bread for them. There wasn’t a large oven like there is now.

55 (a) tì n’əmòj gl’ɤ̀dəj s’à mnògu kɤ̀šti nìj behme nè esòlku
Don’t judge by how many houses there are now – we weren’t so many then.

56 (a) i upštinàtə be ejtùkə dè̝su et’ùvə minòvət ənɤ̀ d’è̝su ìmə
The municipal hall was here, here where people pass by, where there’s a –

57 (a) ejtùvə kətu məgəzìnč’e tə etàm beš’e tò dòlu nemè
this little store now, that’s where it was. There wasn’t anything there [then]

58 (a) nì behme màlku kɤ̀šti pək seà sə se isplòdili
there were very few houses of us, but now they've multiplied [many times over].

69 (a) tò es’à sə e nəs’è̝lilu mlògu pək
The area is much [more] settled now.

Vŭrbina 3

103 (a) fəv bəžɛ̀ wògən’en n’è e im’èlu esəkìvə p’è̝čki d’èznə kinà
In the hearth! [That’s where] the fire was. There weren’t these stoves and what-all

104 (a) nìe sme skòru vid’èli p’è̝čkise n’èkvə gudɨ̀nə
We’ve only recently seen such stoves, just a few years ago.

Vŭrbina 4

95 (d) s kvò ne šteš i takà sə e grədìlu pò nəpr’èš
or whatever [was available]. And that’s how we did building earlier on.

96 (d) nemɛ̀še šušètə nemɛ̀še kulì i tvà beše
There weren’t highways, there weren’t carts. That’s how it was.

109 (d) jədè̝m pìene ž’enìte vɤ̀tre mɤ̀skite vɤ̀nkə pu nəud’èlnu
we eat, there’s drinking – The women are inside and men outside, separately.

110 (d) e təkà beše səbòrə nàš sled devèti pòčnəne
That’s what our celebration was like. After socialism came (on 9.IX.1944) we began to have

111 (d) òpšti səbòr kòjtu bə zàednu fsìč’ki i səbòrə beše təkà
a general celebration, with everyone (men and women) together. And that’s how it was.

Žitnica 1

1 (a) nəlɨ sɨgà si prɨkàzvəm’e səs nàšte ə s nàšijə sɨ̀n
Recently we were talking among ourselves, and my son [said],

2 (a) mɨ ràbutə mnògu snòštɨ xudɨ̀xmi də berè̟m pipè̟r wòlele umurɨ̀x sə
[What] a lot of work! Last night we went to pick peppers and I got so tired!

3 (a) vɨ̀kəm be kɤ̀k təkà žə sə umorɨ̀ž be nìj inò vr’ème vɨ̀kəm
I say, “But how can you get tired [from that]?” In the old days, I say,

4 (a) səs ə bəštà tɨ i tòj u sòfijə rəbòt’eše̥ rəbòt’eše tàmkə
your father and I – [that was when] he was working there

5 (a) u sòfijə às vɨ̀kəm səmɨ̀čkə səs ə vulòvet’e še ìdə də uprè̟gnə
in Sofia – I [did it] all alone. I’d go harness the oxen

6 (a) də uberɤ̀ càrvicə də sià nəlɨ̀ mumè̟ntə zə càrəvicətə
to bring in the corn, because now, you know, is the right time to bring in the corn,

7 (a) i sàm səmɨ̀čkə žə si tvàrə kulàtə i že jə dukàrəm
and all by myself I would load up the wagon and drive it back

8 (a) priz bəìrə kɤ̀ktu j ə dɤ̀lək vè̟ke̝ bəìrət i žə sə vɤ̀rnə
through the hill, going lengthwise [not across] the hillside. Then I’d come back,

9 (a) i pàk šə ìdə i skàrvəjmi pu ə četirìjse kilà càrvicə
and go out again and bring in forty kilos of corn each time.

Žitnica 3

16 (b) segà nɨ̀tu nərèt dàvəme nɨ̀tu nɨ̀štu i živèem dàvət ùbəvə pè̝nsijə
Now we don’t pay any duty or anything, and we live [well]. They give us a nice pension,

17 (b) bləgudàrni sme mnògu əmə tugàvə də ti kàže gòsput
and we are very grateful. But back then, God knows,

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Comments and questions may be addressed to bdlt@berkeley.edu.

Recommended Model for Citations

Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition [2016] (http://www.bulgariandialectology.org, visited on 1 March 2016)
Babjak 1: 13-15. In: Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition [2016] (http://www.bulgariandialectology.org, visited on 1 March 2016)

by Dr. Radut