The monograph presents an in-depth analysis of the results from
the first in Bulgaria representative sociological study of the language attitudes of Bulgarians today with respect to the codification of the literary
norm understood as a continuous ongoing process.
The rich empirical material was analyzed through the prism of the
theory of literary languages. The complex interaction between codification and language attitudes, the intersection of which are symbolic functions of the standard language, is examined.
The respondents' opinions on four groups of questions in the survey were analysed: a) the functions of Standard Bulgarian today; (b) the
degree of obligatoriness of written language norms; c) the current state of
codification, and (d) comparison between self-assessment and the linguistic behaviour of respondents with respect to grammatical norms in
dynamics.
The theoretical model and the methodology of the empirical
sociological study are presented in the first part of the monograph. The
subject of analysis put forward in the second part includes: a hierarchy of
the functions of contemporary Standard Bulgarian; the degree of obligatoriness of written norms; the characteristics of codification – with regard to its content and technical aspects.
A number of important observations are made for the first time in
Bulgarian linguistics in terms of: (a) (e) the need for maintaining or
revising the existing codification; (b) demographic variables that justify
the choice of one response over another in the poll.
It is concluded that a revision of the codification complex from
different perspectives is necessary. To the greatest extent, this refers to
the meta-language of literary rules. The lack of reliable sources (documents) of codification on the Internet is the other main criticism of respondents to the accessibility of today's codification.
Another important conclusion is that the respondents' opinions on
the literary language in today's Bulgarian society are most strongly conditioned by two demographic factors – standard of living and education.