View source for Bulgar language

{{Short description|Extinct Oghur Turkic language}}
{{redirect|Proto-Bulgarian language|the modern Eastern South Slavic language|Bulgarian language}}
{{multiple|
{{cleanup lang|date=October 2025}}
{{citation style|date=October 2025}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Bulgar
| region           = From [[Central Asia]] to the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]], the [[Volga]] and the [[Danube]] and [[Southern Italy]] ([[Molise]], [[Campania]])
| ethnicity        = [[Bulgars]]
| extinct          = {{Citation needed span|By the 9th or 10th centuries on the Danube and by the 14th century in the Volga region|date=November 2023}}
| familycolor      = Altaic
| fam1             = [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]
| fam2             = [[Oghuric languages|Oghuric]]
| iso3             = xbo
| glotto           = bolg1250
| glottorefname    = Bolgarian
| linglist         = xbo
}}

'''Bulgar''' (also known as '''Bulghar''', '''Bolgar''', or '''Bolghar''') is the extinct [[Oghuric languages|Oghur]] [[Turkic language]] spoken by the [[Bulgars]].

The name is derived from the Bulgars, a tribal association that established the Bulgar state known as [[Old Great Bulgaria]] in the mid-7th century, giving rise to the [[First Bulgarian Empire|Danubian Bulgaria]] by the 680s.<ref name="brit">Encyclopædia Britannica Online – [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-80003/Turkic-languages ''Bolgar Turkic''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623115154/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-80003/Turkic-languages |date=23 June 2008 }}</ref><ref name = "campbell">Campbell, George L. ''Compendium of the World's Languages''. [[Routledge]], 2000. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jeX-i2Ve0CgC&pg=RA2-PA274&dq=bulgar+language+turkic+danube&sig=djDXx0auQm9scuJKrQAOcJkWL0s ''page 274'']</ref><ref name=marc>Marcantonio, Angela. ''The Uralic Language Family: Facts, Myths and Statistics''. Blackwell Publishing Limited, 2002. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp-tB08yd2EC&pg=PA25&dq=%22three+parts%22+bulgar+language+turkic&sig=EsfSon0NiB5cHYPxjoHzkIrpL80 ''page 25'']</ref> While the language initially went extinct in Danubian Bulgaria (in favour of [[Old Bulgarian]]), it persisted in [[Volga Bulgaria]], but even there it was eventually replaced by the modern [[Chuvash language]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cp-tB08yd2EC&pg=PA167 |title=The Uralic language family: facts, myths and statistics |first=Angela |last=Marcantonio |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2002 |isbn=0-631-23170-6 |page=167}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=29BAeKHwvuoC&pg=PA88 |title=Encyclopedia of the languages of Europe |first=Glanville |last=Price |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2000 |isbn=0-631-22039-9 |page=88}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJ-7yFXRpiYC&pg=PA38 |title=Studies in Turkic and Mongolic linguistics |first=Gerard |last=Clauson |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2002 |isbn=0-415-29772-9 |page=38}}</ref> Other than Chuvash, Bulgar is the only language to be definitively classified as an Oghur Turkic language.

The inclusion of other languages such as [[Hunnish language|Hunnish]], [[Khazar language|Khazar]] and [[Sabir people|Sabir]] within Oghur Turkic remains speculative owing to the paucity of historical records. Some scholars suggest [[Hunnic language|Hunnish]] had strong ties with Bulgar and to modern Chuvash<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pritsak |first=Omeljan |author-link=Omeljan Pritsak |date=1982 |title=The Hunnic Language of the Attila Clan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41036005 |journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |publisher=[[Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute]] |volume=IV |issue=4 |pages=470 |issn=0363-5570 |jstor=41036005 |quote="The language had strong ties to Bulgar language and to modern Chuvash, but also had some important connections, especially lexical and morphological, to Ottoman Turkish and Yakut" |place=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref> and refer to this extended grouping as separate Hunno-Bulgar languages.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arşivi |first=Makale |title="The Hunnic Language of the Attila Clan" (pages 428, ..., 476), author: Omeljan Pritsak |url=https://www.academia.edu/88411462 |pages=430 |quote="I was able to establish a Danube- Bulgarian nominative- suffix /A/ from the consonant stems. Recalling that Danube- Bulgarian was a Hunnic language."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ramer |first=Alexis Manaster |title=Proto-Bulgarian/Danube Bulgar/Hunno-Bulgar Bekven |url=https://www.academia.edu/41975042 |journal= |page=1 p |quote="Granberg's suggestion that we should revive the term Hunno-Bulgar may well became that replacement — once it is clear that Hunnic and Bulgar were closely related and perhaps even the same language."}}</ref> However, such speculations are not based on proper linguistic evidence, since the language of the Huns is almost unknown except for a few attested words, which are Indo-European in origin, and personal names. Thus, scholars generally consider Hunnish as unclassifiable.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Savelyev |first=Alexander |title=Chuvash and the Bulgharic Languages |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/41762/chapter-abstract/354239965?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false |access-date=30 March 2024 |website=academic.oup.com |date=27 May 2020 |pages=448 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-880462-8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Golden |first=Peter B. |title=An introduction to the history of the Turkic peoples: ethnogenesis and state-formation in medieval and early modern Eurasia and the Middle East |date=1992 |publisher=O. Harrassowitz |isbn=978-3-447-03274-2 |series=Turcologica |location=Wiesbaden |pages=88 89}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=RÓNA-TAS |first=ANDRÁS |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7829/j.ctv280b77f |title=Hungarians and Europe in the Early Middle Ages |date=1 March 1999 |publisher=Central European University Press |isbn=978-963-386-572-9 |pages=208|doi=10.7829/j.ctv280b77f }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sinor |first=Denis |title=Studies in medieval inner Asia |date=1997 |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-0-86078-632-0 |series=Collected studies series |location=Aldershot, Hampshire |pages=336}}</ref>

==Affiliation==
Mainstream scholarship places Bulgar among the "Lir" branch of [[Turkic languages]] referred to as [[Oghuric languages|Oghur Turkic]], Lir-Turkic or, indeed, "Bulgar Turkic", as opposed to the "Shaz"-type of Common Turkic. The "Lir" branch is characterized by sound correspondences such as Oghuric {{IPA|/r/}} versus Common Turkic (or Shaz-Turkic) {{IPA|/z/}} and Oghuric {{IPA|/l/}} versus Common Turkic (Shaz-Turkic) {{IPA|/š/}}<!--This is not IPA. Should it be /ʃ/?-->.<ref name="brit"/><ref name=marc/><ref name=johanson>{{cite book |last=Johanson |first=Lars |year=1998 |chapter=The history of Turkic |editor1-last=Johanson |editor1-first=Lars |name-list-style=and |editor2-first=Éva Agnes |editor2-last=Csató |title=The Turkic languages |location=London |publisher=Routledge |pages=81–125}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.turkiclanguages.com/www/classification.html |title=Classification of Turkic languages |website=Turcologica |access-date=5 September 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408063746/http://www.turkiclanguages.com/www/classification.html |archive-date=8 April 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Johanson |first=Lars |year=2007 |title=Chuvash |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics |location=Oxford |publisher=Elsevier}}</ref> As was stated by [[Estakhri|Al-Istakhri]] (c. 10 century CE), "The language of the [[Khazar language|Khazars]] is different than the language of the Turks and the Persians, nor does a tongue of (any) group of humanity have anything in common with it and the language of the Bulgars is like the language of the Khazars, but the Burtas have another language."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zakhoder |first=B. N. |script-title=ru:Каспийский свод сведений о Восточной Европе: Горган и Поволжье в IX-X вв |trans-title=Caspian Vault of Information on Eastern Europe: Gorgan and the Volga Region in the 9th–10th Centuries |publisher=Vostochnaya Literatura |year=1962 |editor-last=Belyayev |editor-first=E. A. |volume=I |location=Moscow |pages=238 |language=ru}}</ref>

The only surviving language from this linguistic group is [[Chuvash language|Chuvash]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/huri/files/vvi_n4_dec1982.pdf |title=[Unknown title] |journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |volume=VI |issue=4 |date=December 1982 |access-date=2 January 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213172602/http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/huri/files/vvi_n4_dec1982.pdf |archive-date=13 December 2016 }}</ref>{{verification failed|reason=Search for "Chuvash" in this PDF comes up empty. Also it's the whole issue – cite the specific relevant article|date=October 2025}} He concludes that the language of the Bulgars was from the family of the ''Hunnic languages'', as he calls the [[Oghuric languages|Oghur languages]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Turks: Early ages |volume=1: Cem Oğuz |isbn=9756782552 |first=Murat |last=Ocak |editor1-first=Hasan Celāl |editor1-last=Güzel |editor2-first=Cem |editor2-last=Oğuz |editor3-first=Osman |editor3-last=Karatay |publisher=Yeni Türkiye |year=2002 |page=535}}</ref> According to the Bulgarian [[Antoaneta Granberg]], the Hunno-Bulgar linguistic situation is further complicated by the extensive migration of nomadic communities of [[Hunnic language|Hunnic]] and [[Oghuric languages|Oghuric]] peoples from East to West. This migration brought them into contact with a variety of different lands, neighbors, cultures, and languages, including [[China]] and [[Rome]]. Linguistic individuation of the Hunno-Bulgaric language family has yet to be conclusively established. A Hunno-Bulgar language is believed to have formed on the North-Western borders of China in the 3rd–5th centuries BC.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Hunno-Bulgarian language |first=Antoaneta |last=Granberg |journal=The DSCA Journal |publisher=Danish Society for Central Asia |year=2008 |pages=6–10 |url=http://www.centralasien.dk/joomla/images/journal/DSCA2008.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120184254/http://www.centralasien.dk/joomla/images/journal/DSCA2008.pdf |archive-date=20 November 2015 |access-date=20 November 2015}}</ref>

===Bulgarian views===
On the other hand, some [[Bulgaria]]n scholars, who are not linguists, especially in recent decades, tried to  link the Bulgar language to the [[Iranic languages|Iranic language group]] instead (more specifically, the [[Pamir languages]] are frequently mentioned), noting the presence of Iranian words in the modern Bulgarian language.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kroraina.com/b_lang/bl_oldwords.html|title=Old Bulgar words from VI–X c. AD sources|first=Peter |last=Dobrev|website=Kroraina|access-date=26 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630114722/http://www.kroraina.com/b_lang/bl_oldwords.html|archive-date=30 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Bakalov |first=Georgi |script-title=bg:Малко известни факти от историята на древните българи Част 1 |language=bg |trans-title=Little-known facts from the history of the ancient Bulgarians Part 1 |url=http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Bakalov-1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924083545/http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Bakalov-1.htm |archive-date=24 September 2015 }}
*See also [http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Bakalov-2.htm Part 2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201163333/http://www.protobulgarians.com/Statii%20ot%20drugi%20avtori/Bakalov-2.htm |date=1 December 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book<!--Don't even know this is a book!! Not enough info in citation--> |last=Dimitrov |first=Bozhidar |year=2005 |script-title=bg:12 мита в българската история|language=bg|trans-title=12 myths in Bulgarian history}}</ref>{{publisher missing|date=October 2025}}<ref>Milcheva Khristina |script-title=bg:Българите са с древно-ирански произход |language=bg |title=Bulgarians are of ancient Iranian origin |script-chapter=bg:Средновековна Рус, Волжка България и северното Черноморие в контекста на руските източни връзки |trans-chapter=Medieval Rus, Volga Bulgaria and the northern Black Sea coast in the context of Russian eastern connections |location=Kazan, Russia |date=15 October 2007}}</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2020}} According to [[Raymond Detrez]], who is a specialist in Bulgarian history and language,<ref>{{cite book |contribution=Editor's Foreword |contributor-first=Jon |contributor-last=Woroniff |url=http://chapters.scarecrowpress.com/08/108/0810849011ch1.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002150256/http://chapters.scarecrowpress.com/08/108/0810849011ch1.pdf |archive-date=2 October 2013 }}</ref>{{Title missing<!--of the book this is taken from-->|date=October 2025}} such views are based on [[anti-Turkish sentiment]]s that were prevalent [[Revival Process|during the 1980s]], and the presence of Iranian words in the modern Bulgarian is a result of [[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]] linguistic influence.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TRttHdXjP14C&pg=PA29 |title=Developing cultural identity in the Balkans: convergence vs divergence |first1=Raymond |last1=Detrez |first2=Pieter |last2=Plas |first3=Peter |last3=Lang |year=2005 |isbn=90-5201-297-0 |page=29|publisher=Peter Lang }}</ref> Indeed, other Bulgarian historians, especially older ones, only point out certain signs of Iranian influence in the Turkic base<ref>{{cite conference |last=Beshevliyev |first=Veselin |script-title=bg:Ирански елементи у първобългарите |trans-title=Iranian elements among the early Bulgarians |book-title=Античное Общество |script-chapter=ru:Труды Конференции по изучению проблем античности |pages=237–247 |location=Moscow |year=1967 |publisher=Nauka / Academy of Sciences of the USSR Department of History }}</ref> or indeed support the Turkic theory.<ref>{{cite conference |last=Yordanov |first=Stefan |script-title=bg:Славяни, тюрки и индо-иранци в ранното средновековие: езикови проблеми на българския етногенезис |language=bg |trans-title=Slavs, Turks and Indo-Iranians in the Early Middle Ages: Linguistic Problems of Bulgarian Ethnogenesis |conference=Българистични проучвания 8. Актуални проблеми на българистиката и славистиката. Седма международна научна сесия |location=Veliko Tarnovo |date=22–23 August 2001 |pages=275–295}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |script-title=bg:Съпоставително езикознание |volume=30 |publisher=Sofia University |year=2005 |pages=66–68}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|script-journal=bg:Исторически преглед |volume=62 |issue=3–4 |publisher=Bulgarian Historical Society, Institute of History (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) |year=2006 |pages=14}}</ref>{{title missing|date=October 2025}}<ref>{{cite book<!--possibly journal? if so, article title is missing-->|title=Palaeobulgarica: Starobŭlgaristika |volume=24 |publisher=Center for Bulgarian Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences |year=2000 |page=53}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/da/da_2_2.htm|script-title=bg:Образуване на българската народност |first=Dimitar |last=Angelov |publisher=Nauka i izkustvo "Vekove" |location=Sofia |year=1971 |page=117|via=Kroraina|access-date=26 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528064248/http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/da/da_2_2.htm|archive-date=28 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/pp2/pp_1_2_1.htm|script-title=bg:Образуване на българската държава |first=Petur |last=Petrov |publisher=Nauka i izkustvo |location=Sofia |year=1981 |pages=94 |via=Kroraina|access-date=26 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212183747/http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/pp2/pp_1_2_1.htm|archive-date=12 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/vz1a/vz1a_a_1.html|title=V. Zlatarski – Istorija 1A – a 1|first=Vassil|last=Karloukovski|website=www.kroraina.com|access-date=26 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726204047/http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/vz1a/vz1a_a_1.html|archive-date=26 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/iv_gumno/iv_gumno_1.htm|script-title=bg:Медното гумно на прабългарите |first=Ivan |last=Benedikov |publisher=College "Thrace" publishing house |orig-date=1st ed. 1983 |edition=2nd reworked |location=Stara Zagora |year=1995 |pages=16–19 |via=Kroraina|access-date=26 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620185833/http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/iv_gumno/iv_gumno_1.htm|archive-date=20 June 2012}}</ref>

==Danubian Bulgar==
The language of the Danube Bulgars (or ''Danubian Bulgar'') is recorded in a small number of inscriptions, which are found in [[Pliska]], the first capital of [[First Bulgarian Empire]], and in the rock churches near the town of [[Murfatlar]], in present-day [[Romania]]. Some of these inscriptions are written in the [[Greek alphabet|Greek characters]], others in the [[Kuban alphabet]] which is a variant of [[Orkhon script]]. Most of these  appear to have been of a private character (oaths, dedications, inscriptions on grave stones) and some were court inventories. Although attempts at decipherment have been made, none of them has gained wide acceptance. These inscriptions in Danubian Bulgar are found along with other, official ones written in [[Greek language|Greek]]; which was used as the official state language of the First Bulgarian Empire until the end of the ninth century, when it was replaced by the [[Old Church Slavonic]] (also called Old Bulgarian).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_-G1L-9Zec0C&pg=PA189 |title=The Other Europe in the Middle Ages: Avars, Bulgars, Khazars and Cumans |first1=Florin |last1=Curta |first2=Roman |last2=Kovalev |publisher=Brill |year=2008 |isbn=978-9004163898 |page=189}}</ref>

The language of the Danubian Bulgars is also known from a small number of loanwords in the [[Old Bulgarian]] language, as well as terms occurring in Bulgar Greek-language inscriptions, contemporary [[Byzantine]] texts,<ref>Rance, Philip,[https://www.academia.edu/71038780/_Photios_and_the_Bulgar_Language_%CF%84%E1%BF%B6%CE%B3%CE%B1_tu%C4%9F_Byzantinoslavica_79_2021_41_58 "Photios and the Bulgar Language (τῶγα, tuğ)"] ''Byzantinoslavica'' 79 (2021) 41–58</ref> and later Slavonic Old Bulgarian texts. Most of these words designate titles and other concepts concerning the affairs of state, including the official [[Bulgar calendar|12-year cyclic calendar]] (as used in the [[Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans]]). The language became extinct in Danubian Bulgaria in the ninth century as the Bulgar nobility became gradually [[Slavicisation|Slavicized]] after the Old Bulgarian tongue was declared as official in 893.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Terms borrowed from Danube Bulgar by Old Church Slavonic<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Tekin|first=Talât|url=http://kutuphane.akmb.gov.tr/opac/details?id=42364&materialType=BK&query=%22tekin%2C+talat%22|title=Tuna Bulgarları ve Dilleri|publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi|year=1987|location=Ankara|language=Turkish}}</ref>
!
!Old Church Slavonic
!Chuvash
!Hungarian
!Common Turkic
|-
|token, trace
|БЕЛЕГ (beleg), БИЛЕГ (bileg)
|палӑк (palăk)
|bélyeg
|*belgü
|-
|bracelet
|БЕЛЬЧҮГ (bel'čug)
| –
| –
|*bileçüg
|-
|pillow
|ДОХЬТОРЬ (dox'tor')
|ҫытар (śïtar)
| –
|*yogtu
|-
|image, icon
|КАПЬ (kap')
|кап (kap)
|kép
|*kēp
|-
|honour
|САНЬ (san'), САМЬ (sam')
| сум (sum)
|szám
|*sān
|}

=== Phonology ===
Unlike Volga Bulgarian and Chuvash, d'ization is seen in the {{IPA|/j/}} sounds at the beginning of words. [[Talât Tekin]] argues that this sound corresponds to the initial ''gy'' sound in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] and is pronounced close to it.<ref name=":02" />
{| class="wikitable"
|+Comparison of initial /j/<ref name=":02" />
!
!Danube Bulgar /<br> Old Church Slavonic
!Volga Bulgar
!Chuvash
!Common Turkic
|-
|snake
|ДИЛОМЬ (dilom')
| –
|ҫӗлен (śílen)
|''*yï̄lan''
|-
|pillow
|ДОХЬТОРЬ (dox'tor')
| –
|ҫытар (śytar)
|''*yogdu'' (Mongolian ''зогдор'')
|-
|horse
|ΔΥΑΝ (dwan)
| –
| –
|''*yunt''
|-
|''An ethnicity''
|ΔΟΥΑΡΗⲤ (dovaris)
|يوارى (yuwāri)
| –
| –
|-
|seven
|ЧИТ (čit)
|جىَاتِ (čyeti)
|ҫиччӗ (śiččĕ)
|''*yẹti''
|}

==Volga Bulgar==
The language spoken by the population of Volga Bulgaria is known as ''Volga-Bulgar''. There are a number of surviving inscriptions in Volga-Bulgar, some of which are written with [[Arabic script|Arabic letters]], alongside the continuing use of [[Orkhon script]]. These are all largely decipherable. That language persisted until the 13th or the 14th century. In that region, it may have ultimately given rise to the [[Chuvash language]], which is most closely related to it<ref name="clark">{{cite book |last=Clark |first=Larry |year=1998 |chapter=Chuvash |editor1-last=Johanson |editor1-first=Lars |editor2-first=Éva Agnes |editor2-last=Csató |title=The Turkic languages |location=London |publisher=Routledge |page=434}}</ref> and which is classified as the only surviving member of a separate "[[Oghuric languages|Oghur-Turkic]]" (or Lir-Turkic) branch of the Turkic languages, to which Bulgar is also considered to have belonged (see above).<ref name="brit" /><ref name="campbell" /><ref name="chuvash">{{cite web |script-title=ru:Формирование болгарской (древнечувашской) народности |language=ru |url=http://gov.cap.ru/hierarhy_cap.asp?page=./86/3743/1046/1053 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023541/https://gov.cap.ru/hierarhy_cap.asp?page=./86/3743/1046/1053 |archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref> Still, the precise position of Chuvash within the [[Oghuric languages|Oghur]] family of languages is a matter of dispute among linguists. Since the comparative material attributable to the extinct members of [[Oghuric languages|Oghuric]] ([[Khazar language|Khazar]] and Bulgar) is scant, little is known about any precise interrelation of these languages and it is a matter of dispute whether Chuvash, the only "Lir"-type language with sufficient extant linguistic material, might be the daughter language of any of these or just a sister branch.<ref name="johanson" />

{| class="wikitable"
|+Numbers and Vocabulary in Volga Bulgar<ref name=":3">{{cite journal |last=Hakimzjanov |first=F. S. |title=New Volga Bulgarian inscriptions |journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |volume=40 |issue=1 |publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó |year=1986 |pages=173–177 |jstor=23657681}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite book|last=Tekin|first=Talât|url=http://kutuphane.akmb.gov.tr/opac/details?id=46293&materialType=BK&query=Volga+Bulgar+Kitabeleri+ve+Volga+Bulgarcas%C4%B1|title=Volga Bulgar kitabeleri ve Volga Bulgarcası|language=tr|publisher=Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi|year=1988|isbn=978-9-751600-660|place=Ankara|pages=30–38}}</ref><ref name=":2">A Volga Bulgarıan Inscription From 1307 A. Róna-tas</ref>{{fcn|date=October 2025}}<!--Unpublished sources are not [[WP:V|verifiable]] and thus not acceptable as sources.<ref name=":0">Unpublished Volga Bulgarian inscriptions A. H. Khalikov and J. G. Muhametshin</ref>--><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zakiev |first=M. Z. |script-title=ru:Лингвоэтнические особенности волжских булгар — главного этнического корня татар|url=http://bulgarizdat.ru/index.php/book1/article1-1|access-date=24 August 2021|website=Bulgarizdat}}</ref>
!
!Volga Bulgar – البلغَاڔِى
!Chuvash – Чӑвашла<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://omniglot.com/language/numbers/chuvash.htm|title = Numbers in Chuvash|website=Omniglot}}</ref>
!Proto-Turkic
!
!Volga Bulgar – البلغَاڔِى
!Chuvash – Чӑвашла
!Proto-Turkic
|-
|one
|بیر (bīr)
|пӗр (pĕr)
|''*bīr''
|monument
|بَلُو (belüv)
|палӑк (palăk)
|''*belig''
|-
|two
|اَكِ (eki)
|иккӗ (ikkĕ)
|''*ẹki''
|water
|شِو (šïv)
|шыв (šyv)
|''*sub''
|-
|three
|وج (v<sup>e</sup>č)
|виççӗ (viśśĕ)
|''*üč''
|son
|اَول (av<sup>ï</sup>l)
|ывӑл (yvăl)
|''*ogul''
|-
|four
|تُوات (tüvet)
|тăваттă (tăvattă)
|''*tȫrt''
|daughter
|هِير (hīr)
|хӗр (hĕr)
|''*kï̄ŕ''
|-
|five
|بيال (b<sup>i</sup>yel)
|пиллӗк (pillĕk)
|''*bẹ̄ĺ(k)''
|day
|كُوَان (küven ''or'' kön)
|кун (kun)
|''*kün''
|-
|six
|اَلطِ (altï)
|улттӑ (ulttă)
|''*altï''
|week
|ايرنى (ērne)
|эрне (erne)
|''(from Persian آدینه (âdine''))
|-
|seven
|جیَاتِ (čyeti)
|ҫиччӗ (śiččĕ)
|''*yẹti''
|month
|اَيخ (ay<sup>ï</sup>x)
|уйӑх (ujăh)
|''*āń(k)''
|-
|eight
|سَكِر (sekir)
|саккӑр (sakkăr)
|''*sekiŕ''
|year
|جال (čal)
|ҫул (śul)
|''*yāĺ''
|-
|nine
|طُخِر (tuxïr)
|тӑххӑр (tăhhăr)
|''*tokuŕ''
|history
|تَارِيخ (tārix)
|истори (istori)
|''(from Arabic تَارِيخ (tārīḵ))''
|-
|ten
|وان (van)
|вуннӑ (vunnă)
|''*ōn''
|to become
|بَل (bal)
|пул (pul)
|''*bōl-''
|-
|twenty
|جِيِرم (čiyir<sup>i</sup>m)
|ҫирӗм (śirĕm)
|''*yẹgirmi''
|to do, make
|طَن (ta-n)
|ту (tu)
| -
|-
|thirty
|وطر (v<sup>u</sup>t<sup>u</sup>r)
|вӑтӑр (vătăr)
|''*otuŕ''
|to go
|بَر (bar)
|пыр (pyr)
|''*bar-''
|-
|forty
|حرح (x<sup>ï</sup>r<sup>ï</sup>x)
|хӗрӗх (hĕrĕh)
|''*kïrk''
|to love
|سَو (sev)
|сав (sav)
|''*seb-''
|-
|fifty
|الو (el<sup>lü</sup>v), اَلُّ (ellü)
|аллӑ (allă)
|''*ellig''
|to die
|وَل (vel)
|вил (vil)
|''*öl-''
|-
|hundred
|جُور (čǖr)
|ҫӗр (śĕr)
|''*yǖŕ''
|to migrate
|كُوَج (küveč ''or'' köč)
|куҫ (kuś)
|''*köč-''
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Cases in Volga Bulgar<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" />
!Case
!Volga Bulgar
!Examples in words
|-
|Genitive
| -∅ ''or'' -(ı)n
|''اَغَان (ağā-n), يغقوُتن (yaquut-ın)''
|-
|Accusative
| -ne/na
|''مَسجِدسَمنَ (mesčidsem-ne)''
|-
|Dative-locative
| -a/e ''and'' -ne/na
|''اِشنَ (iš-ne), بَجنَ (bač-na), جَالَ (čāl-a)''
|-
|Ablative
| -ran, -ren; -tan, -ten
|''دنيَارَان (d<sup>ö</sup>nyā-ran)''
|-
|Third person possessive
| -i, -ı; -si, -sı
|هِيرِ ''(hīr-i), اِلغِجِسِ (ılğıčı-sı)''
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Definition of verbs in Volga Bulgar<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" />
!Tenses and moods
!Volga Bulgar
!Examples in words
|-
|Past tense
| -ti/tı, -ri/rı
|''وَلتِ (vel-ti)''
|-
|Past tense 2
| -ruvı/rüvi (<*-dugı), -tuvı/tüvi (<*-tugı)
|''كُوَجروُي (küveč-rüvi), بلطُوى (bal-tuvı)''
|-
|Adjective form of verb
| -an/en
|''طَنَان (tan-an), سَوَان (sev-en)''
|-
|Adverb form of verb
| -sa/se
|''بَرسَ (bar-sa)''
|-
|Third person imperative
| -tur/tür
|طَنْطُرْ (tan-tur)''
|}

==See also==
* [[Buyla inscription]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Bulgar}}
{{wiktionary category}}
*[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-80003/Turkic-languages Britannica Online] – The article describes the position of Bulgar and Chuvash in the classification of the Turkic languages.
*{{cite web|url= http://starling.rinet.ru/Texts/bulgar.pdf |title=Sergei Starostin's ''Tower of Babel'' }} – A Russian Turkologist's take on Danube Bulgar inscriptions and the Bulgar calendar, in Russian. The article contains a tentative decipherment of inscriptions based on the Turkic hypothesis.&nbsp;{{small|(350&nbsp;[[Kibibyte|KiB]])}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120718213232/http://www.kroraina.com/bulgar/rashev.html Rashev, Rasho. 1992. On the origin of the Proto-Bulgarians. p. 23–33 in: Studia protobulgarica et mediaevalia europensia. In honour of Prof. V. Beshevliev, Veliko Tarnovo] – A Bulgarian archeologist's proposal. The author concedes that the ruling elite of the Bulgars was Turkic-speaking as evidenced by the inscriptions etc., but stipulates that the bulk of the population was Iranian.

{{Turkic languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulgar Language}}
[[Category:Bulgar language| ]]
[[Category:Oghur languages]]
[[Category:Medieval languages]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Asia]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of Europe]]
[[Category:Turkic languages]]