Bulgarian to Arabic: deciding what the Bulgarian sentence leaves unsaid
A polite Bulgarian question can address one person
Before translating a Bulgarian request into Arabic, establish who is being addressed. Bulgarian Вие can address one person respectfully as well as several people. Arabic agreement adds distinctions that this form does not settle: gender and, in formal standard grammar, a separate dual number. A plural-looking Bulgarian form therefore does not by itself justify an Arabic plural instruction. A booking message to one customer and a notice to two visitors may require different Arabic wording even when their Bulgarian address looks identical.
The Bulgarian Academy gives Вие заета ли сте as the respectful question to one woman about being occupied. Its singular adjective is significant. The same guidance distinguishes this from plural agreement with an l-participle, as in Вие сте казали. Translating both by mechanically counting plural-looking endings would misidentify the participants. Resolve the addressee once, then apply the Arabic agreement needed throughout the question.
Move the article; rebuild the noun phrase
Bulgarian attaches its definite article after the relevant word. Arabic has the bound article الـ before the word. These are not interchangeable decorations that can be moved independently of the noun phrase. Identify which person or object the Bulgarian phrase picks out, then construct the Arabic expression with its own agreement and definiteness relationships. A translation that recognizes the noun but drops its definite reference can turn a particular reservation into reservations in general.
Gender also requires a fresh decision. Bulgarian distinguishes masculine, feminine and neuter nouns; Arabic grammatical description distinguishes masculine and feminine. A Bulgarian neuter label cannot be retained as a third Arabic agreement category. For a product description, check the Arabic noun chosen for the product before accepting the adjective and any subsequent pronoun. This prevents agreement being inherited from the Bulgarian label rather than the actual Arabic wording.
Small Bulgarian words do substantial work
The question particle ли is a useful warning against reading a Bulgarian sentence as an assertion. In the Academy question above it helps make a yes-or-no question. Its job must survive in Arabic, but its Bulgarian position is not a target-language word-order instruction. In a support conversation, compare the translated question with the requested answer: does it still invite confirmation, or has it become a statement about the customer?
Likewise, ще marks Bulgarian future constructions. Arabic documentation records سوف and the attached سـ as future devices, but this is not a promise that every occurrence of ще should receive the same token. Read the action and surrounding time expression together. A delivery estimate and a firm commitment can share future reference while differing in what the business is undertaking.
Use a standard-Arabic check appropriate to written messages
The Arabic grammatical distinctions discussed here concern the standard written system described by the cited treebank documentation. They should not be projected unchanged onto every spoken variety. For an Arabic email derived from Bulgarian, inspect addressee agreement first, definite reference second, and the difference between question, statement and future commitment third. These checks target information that Bulgarian packages differently, rather than treating a change from Cyrillic to Arabic script as the whole translation task.
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