Prof. Krasimira Aleksova, DSc., Dr. Danka Apostolova, Assoc. Prof.
Sofia University
https://doi.org/10.53656/bel2024-5-4KA
Absract. The publication presents and analyzes the results of studies aiming to establish statistically significant relationships between thе factor type of specialty associated with the presence or absence of specialized linguistic knowledge (determined as independent variable) and the preferences of 3166 Bulgarian native speakers as to competing temporal forms of verbs in subordinate clauses (determined as dependent variables), when the context in 14 complex sentences with subordinate relative clauses or with subordinate adverbial clauses of time, of condition or of manner favors the occurrence of syntagmatic (contextual)
neutralization of oppositions in temporal features forming the meanings of tenses in
contemporary Bulgarian.
Keywords: contemporary Bulgarian; verb tense; main and subordinate clause; syntagmatic (contextual) neutralization; chi-square test; socio-demographic factors; type of specialty; perceptual linguistics
