ization from the
Russian, French and other European languages. The dialects spoken in the
kingdom may be classed in two groups--the eastern and the western. The main
point of difference is the pronunciation of the letter _yedvoino_, which in
the eastern has frequently the sound of _ya_, in the western invariably
that of _e_ in "pet." The literary language began in the western dialect
under the twofold influence of Servian literature and the Church Slavonic.
In a short time, however, the eastern dialect prevailed, and the influence
of Russian literature became predominant. An anti-Russian reaction was
initiated by Borgoroff (1818-1892), and has been maintained by numerous
writers educated in the German and Austrian universities. Since the
foundation of the university of Sofia the literary language has taken a
middle course between the ultra-Russian models of the past generation and
the dialectic Bulgarian. Little uniformity, however, has yet been attained
in regard to diction, orthography or pronunciation.

The Bulgarians of pagan times are stated by the monk Khrabr, a contemporary
of Tsar Simeon, to have employed a peculiar writing, of which inscriptions
recently found near Kaspitchan may possibly be specimens. The earliest
manuscripts of the "Old Bulgarian" are written in one or other of the two
alphabets known as the glagolitic and Cyrillic (see SLAVS). The former was
used by Bulgarian writers concurrently with the Cyrillic down to the 12th
century. Among the orthodox Slavs the Cyrillic finally superseded the
glagolitic; as modified by Peter the Great it became the Russian alphabet,
which, with the revival of literature, was introduced into Servia and
Bulgaria. Some Russian letters which are superfluous in Bulgarian have been
abandoned by the native writers, and a few characters have been restored
from the ancient alphabet.

_Literature._--The ancient Bulgarian literature, originating in the works
of SS. Cyril and Methodius and their disciples, consisted for the most part
of theological works translated from the Greek. From the conversion of
Boris down to the Turkish conquest the religious character predominates,
and the influence of Byzantine literature is supreme. Translations of the
gospels and epistles, lives of the saints, collections of sermons, exegetic
religious works, translations of Greek chronicles, and miscellanies such as
the _Sbornik_ of St Sviatoslav, formed the staple of the national
literature. In the