Bodo to Bulgarian: only identifies a restricted participant rather than a smaller we
An exclusive-focus suffix is not a first-person group pronoun
Basumatary’s Bodo study labels certain suffixes exclusive and illustrates them with meanings such as only he or she and only I. In those examples the restriction concerns the participant allowed to perform an action; it is not a choice between a we that includes the listener and a we that excludes them.
The source example aŋ-lo restricts a future journey to the speaker. A Bulgarian translation should therefore preserve the only meaning rather than invent a group travelling without the listener. Recover what the suffix restricts: the actor, the action or another part of the proposition. The article’s terminology should not replace interpretation of its actual examples.
Future time does not express the restriction by itself
The Bulgarian documentation identifies ще as an auxiliary particle associated with the future. A Bodo sentence saying that only one person will go consequently requires both future reference and the participant restriction. Translating the time while omitting the focus meaning would allow other travellers whom the source excludes.
The converse is equally relevant. A Bulgarian sentence that identifies only one person but places the event in the wrong time does not preserve the Bodo plan. Keep the source suffix’s restrictive contribution separate from the source verb’s temporal interpretation, then construct a target statement that expresses both.
A confirmation question still needs to ask the same thing
The Bulgarian documentation gives ли as a yes–no question particle. If the Bodo source asks whether only a particular person will act, the target should preserve that restricted proposition inside the question. It should not ask merely whether that person will act at all.
This changes the kind of correction an answer can supply. A respondent might confirm that the named person is going while rejecting the claim that nobody else is going. The Bulgarian question must leave those possibilities distinguishable rather than remove the scope of only during translation. Identify the proposition being checked before adding the target question construction.
Respectful reference does not settle the focus scope
Basumatary also distinguishes ordinary and honorific Bodo pronouns and their plural formations. A restricted actor may therefore be one respected person or a genuine group. Bulgarian wording must preserve the source count and social reference without interpreting an honorific form as evidence that the restrictive suffix includes several people.
A Bodo announcement might specify that only the respected guest will speak, while several other guests attend. The target must retain the difference between attendance and speaking, as well as the restriction on the speaker. A correct future particle and a polite-looking reference are insufficient if the translation changes the set of people permitted to act. Recover the restricted participant first, then express the event’s time and the sentence’s statement or question status.
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