Basque to Bulgarian: identify what is counted before choosing the noun form
The same quantity can require different target forms
Laka’s Basque grammar illustrates numeral phrases with txori bat, one bird, and bi txori, two birds. It also records a western placement of bi after the noun. A Bulgarian rendering should preserve the quantity without assuming that the source noun’s shape or numeral position determines the required target ending.
The Bulgarian Language Institute distinguishes ordinary plural forms for people from a special count form used with relevant masculine nouns that do not denote people. Its contrast between “двама кандидати” and “два кандидата” shows that the target choice can depend on whether candidates are individuals or, for example, teams or companies. The number two alone does not settle the phrase.
A Basque numeral phrase also carries reference information
Laka contrasts an indefinite phrase containing three birds with definite and demonstrative variants. This is a separate distinction from the number itself. In translation, identify both how many items are mentioned and whether the writer refers to an already identified set. Choosing a Bulgarian count form should not cause that reference information to disappear.
In an original competition update, two applicants may mean two named people or two organizations whose names were given earlier. The same quantity and similar source vocabulary can therefore require different Bulgarian noun forms. Read the surrounding description before choosing the target phrase; a generic English bridge translation such as two candidates can hide precisely the distinction Bulgarian needs.
The meaning of a target noun can change its counting behavior
The Institute’s guidance gives examples in which one Bulgarian noun refers either to a person or to something else. A member of a committee differs from an article in a law; an editor can be a person or a computer program. The relevant count-form choice follows the intended meaning, not the spelling of the isolated target dictionary entry.
For a Basque technical or administrative text, determine whether the counted entities are participants, document provisions or software tools. Do not introduce a personal-number form simply because the Bulgarian equivalent can name a person in another context. Equally, describing human participants through a nonpersonal count form can misrepresent the group being discussed.
Do not correct away a documented exception
A separate Institute explanation accepts both “два дена” and “два дни” for two days. It identifies this as an exception to the general count-form pattern. A Basque duration should therefore not be judged mistranslated solely because the Bulgarian result uses one of those two accepted variants.
This matters when reviewing an itinerary that counts visitors, pieces of equipment and days. The phrase for visitors involves people; equipment may require a nonpersonal count form; days permit the documented alternative. Evaluate each counted noun on its own terms. The Basque source establishes the quantity and reference, while Bulgarian supplies additional choices conditioned by noun meaning and its grammatical pattern.
Language references