Love and Sexuality in Non-standard Bulgarian Language Varieties

Abstract

This article offers a critical view at the vocabulary related to love, sex, people involved in romantic relationships and their roles in love-play. The analysis covers a period of more than hundred years – from the end of the nineteenth century, through the years of the communist regime to the present day. During this period, the specific slang and colloquial vocabularies related to love and to sex have undergone significant changes, both in terms of the abundance of words and their meanings, as well as in terms of origin, diffusion and use of the lexical units. Their function in cinema, literature, popular songs, the media and even in the official political discourse is also analysed. Particular attention is paid to the “unslangisation” of a number of lexemes and their gradual integration into colloquial speech and into the language practice of people of all ages, professions and social statuses.