Bulgarian to Kannada: third-person respect is a separate translation decision
Bulgarian he or she does not settle the Kannada form
Bulgarian distinguishes gender in third-person reference, but Kannada also asks how the person is being presented socially and spatially. Kannada Kalike’s teaching chart contrasts avanu and avaḷu with respectful avaru. A Bulgarian sentence about a colleague or elder therefore does not have a complete target-pronoun solution merely because the person’s gender is known.
The chart records avaru both for several persons and for respectful singular reference. A Bulgarian singular subject must not be turned into several people just because a Kannada form also has plural use. Identify the actual participant count independently of the respect choice. This is especially useful in a Bulgarian account that repeatedly refers to one senior person through gendered pronouns: the appropriate Kannada reference may remain respectful without copying that visible gender distinction each time.
Near and distant reference can add another contrast
The same teaching material distinguishes remote and proximate demonstrative pronouns, including avaru and ivaru in respectful human reference. Bulgarian third-person pronouns alone do not necessarily specify the corresponding proximity choice. A target translator needs to know whether the text presents somebody here in the interaction or refers to somebody elsewhere in the discourse.
In a Bulgarian introduction, naming a person standing beside the speaker is different from discussing an absent colleague. The Kannada expression should fit that presentation rather than use a gender-matched form chosen in isolation. Proximity and respect are separate features: choosing respectful wording does not erase the need to identify which person is being introduced.
The speaker’s gender need not be encoded in the pronoun
The Kannada chart gives nānu for the first person and nīnu for singular second person without separate male and female pronoun entries. Bulgarian аз and ти likewise do not themselves distinguish the speaker’s or reader’s gender, although surrounding Bulgarian agreement can reveal it. Do not manufacture a gender distinction in the Kannada pronoun because a Bulgarian adjective happens to be masculine or feminine.
At the same time, the absence of gender in those personal pronouns is not a statement that every Kannada form lacks gender. The teaching material explicitly distinguishes the demonstrative system. A translation review should therefore examine the relevant target category rather than applying the broad and misleading rule that Kannada is either wholly gendered or wholly gender-neutral.
A courteous question must preserve its actual addressee
Bulgarian Вие can address one person respectfully. The Academy illustrates singular adjective agreement in Вие заета ли сте, while its l-participle guidance uses plural agreement for polite singular. These source clues must be interpreted together so that one customer remains one customer in Kannada.
Kannada Kalike also documents tāvu in respectful second-person use. This does not make it a universal substitution for every Bulgarian Вие; the target choice belongs to the particular interaction. The important distinction is between respect directed at the reader and respect shown while referring to someone else. Bulgarian polite second-person grammar cannot by itself choose the Kannada third-person reference elsewhere in the same message.
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