език

Bulgarian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *ęzykъ, from Early Proto-Slavic *inzū́kus, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *inźūˀ-kas (perhaps directly linked to the non-standard variant е́нзик), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *inźūˀ, from earlier *dinźūˀ, from Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛˈzik]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ik

Noun

ези́к • (ezík) m (relational adjective ези́чен or ези́ков)

1. (anatomy) tongue, glossa
2. tongue (of a shoe, bell, etc.), pawl, catch, clapper
3. (system of communication using words or symbols) language, speech, tongue, lingo
4. (the particular words used in speech or a passage of text) language, style, idiom, parlance, wording
5. jargon, cant

Usage notes

• The derived adjective ези́чен (ezíčen) refers specifically to "tongue" while ези́ков (ezíkov) refers specifically to "language".

Declension

Declension of ези́к

	singular	plural
indefinite	ези́к ezík	ези́ци ezíci
definite (subject form)	ези́кът ezíkǎt	ези́ците ezícite
definite (object form)	ези́ка ezíka
count form	—	ези́ка ezíka

Further reading

• “език”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014