Bolgánys

Bolgánys
Total population
	33-100
Regions with significant populations
Languages
	Bolgány
Religion
	Christianity , Atheism

The Bolgánys (also called Bolgáns or Bolgånys) are an ethnographic group in the Carpathian Basin, mostly in the Szigetköz and other parts of Transdanubia. They speak Hungarian with an individual dialect.

The Bolgány national consciousness is a concept closely related to the Szigetköz, whose feelings many people can hold for themselves, but this does not necessarily mean that they define themselves as Bulgarians, mainly because of this, the number of Bolgánys cannot be specifically measured.

Etymology

According to some, the word Bolgány originates from the Romanian language, the Oláh dialect, within it also from the word balc. Which means casting area. Although it is indeed a good assumption from a topographical point of view, it is unlikely that Romanian language influence ever prevailed in the Szigetköz.

According to one theory, the word bolgány can be derived from the name of a prickly plant called thistle. Which in Hungarian is called "bogáncs". This could even be possible, since the thistle is a very common plant in the Szigetköz area. However, this is not very convincing, since no historical information points to this.

To the south of Bolgánymajor (the historical settlement inhabited by Bolgánys) there is a village probably once inhabited by Kuns, Kunsziget, which is why it was important to investigate whether a word similar to Bolgány can be found in Kun or other Kipchak languages. you can find a term very similar to bolgány, balkány. This is even more interesting after we know that in the Bolgány dialect, it is common for the tone of "a" to be more closed in the syllable after "á", which is why it sounds more like "o". By the way, balkán means swamp in the Kun language, and a seasonal lake in the Besenyő language. Bolgánymajor The often marshy area near the Mosoni-Danube, so it is very likely that the word Bolgány and the folk name originate from here. This is currently the most accepted theory.

History

The first mention of the Bolgány people dates from 1878

The formation of Bolgány national consciousness can be traced back to the 1800s and 1900s. The local patriots of the time described the roots of the language and culture of Szigetköz (Land of the Bolgány). One of these was the linguist Sándor Szabó, who wrote in detail about the history of Szigetköz and also described the language used at the time. He also collected poems about the area. These writings served as the basis for the idea of the Bolgány language today.

Szigetköz has always been very unique in Hungary, as it is partially isolated from other areas due to its location between two rivers. For this reason, many individual traditions and customs have developed over time. However, local customs were influenced by the Croatians and Slovaks living in the area, as well as by the Turks who arrived in the 1600s and 1700s and the Swabians who also arrived at that time. In addition, Kunos also lived south of the Szigetköz, which is very unique, since they basically lived hundreds of kilometers from the Szigetköz, between the Danube and the Tisza.

The Szigetközian people settled early in an area rich in water and wildlife, which provided them with protection as well as livelihood. Ancient crafts related to the landscape and the living world were also developed. The environment determined not only the crafts, but also the construction methods. Furthermore, it was reflected in legends, fairy tales, folk songs, in a word, in spiritual culture as well.

Frequent floods, bed changes, and coastal erosion were a constant danger. Coastal reed weavings and rock embankments, embankments protecting settlements reduced the damage caused by floods, but did not provide security against large floods. Thus, it was only in the modern era that it was possible to live and work in the immediate vicinity of the river, since the river control carried out between 1886 and 1896 created a main river bed secured by stone embankments. They obstructed the flow of water with the stone dams and locks placed perpendicular to the water course, so navigation was ensured by holding back as much water as possible. The tributaries outside the built embankments became backwaters, most of which have been filled up today. The so-called saved site, protected from floods, was created, where you can find the agricultural cultures typical of the plains. The primeval landscape has survived only in a few places, on the wave field, in the hardwood groves, in the area of swamps and backwaters, and in the wet meadows.

The mill built by Schreiner, today's Labor

The life of people who settled in the area created by water was always determined by the Danube. The occupations that once provided bread and the characteristic buildings slowly disappeared, and in many cases only their traces remain today. The oldest occupation was fishing. Everyone caught fish because the water was at their feet. The old fishing tools are hardly or not used today. The old shepherding is not practiced either, floating grazing has ceased. In wet meadows, the herd eats rich grass all year round. The reeds, willow sticks and wood provided by nature were used for many things. Houses, tools, furniture, boats and ferries were made of them. They protected the washed-out shores with willow weaving. Today, few people can make sacks and doormats from corn husks. There are hardly any turtle carvers left who carve beautifully shaped turtles and turtles. Forestry and logging have changed a lot. Mechanized production eliminated the romance of forest work. In the past, boats and ferries were important means of transportation. Today, the difference is that it is not moved by human power, but by a motorboat. Three ancient occupations: ship towing, gold panning and milling have completely disappeared. The last gold miner died in 1944, and the last water mill was set on fire by the retreating German troops.

The origin of the Bolgány can be linked, among other things, to Bolgánymajor, which was a small inhabited settlement in the eastern part of Szigetköz. There is not much information about the time of its foundation, all that is known is that it had 31 inhabitants in 1913. The settlement was communed under socialism and turned into a productive area. Since 1991, no economic work has taken place in the area and it is completely uninhabited.During the socialist dictatorship of Hungary, the level of local patriotism decreased a lot, as it was suppressed.

Today, one of the most important preservation areas of the Bolgány culture is the Labor town built at one of the mills in the east of Szigetköz, where local traditional activities are also held. The builder of this place was Ernő Schreiner, born in 1891.

The Bolgány are basically all connected to the Szigetköz, but they live in smaller numbers in the Bakony and Balaton-Felvidék .It is customary to refer to the country of the seagulls in the public media as the country of 1000 islands, due to its unique landscape of marshy islands.

Culture

Gastronomy

Eating folk dishes is unfortunately already dying out, but many dishes are still alive, such as vinegar-roasted fish, which is a very unique dish. it is made from deep-fried carp with vinegar, red onion and spices, it is a festive dish, only eaten on rare occasions. In addition, a common sweet snack is Csikmák, which is a long pasta usually eaten with cottage cheese or poppy seeds. Regiment is a common dish that was eaten as lunch. the main ingredients are pasta cut into squares and potatoes. The pogátsǒ is a pastry similar to the Hungarian pogácsa. In addition to these, there are also many foods and drinks of Bolgány origin in the public mind, including istrec, profa and puffancs. The dish called ébrencs, which is a pie-like dough, was also recently invented from the latter. In addition to food, they also made a lot of tea, which is called tea in English. Because approximately 68 types of medicinal plants are native on the Szigetköz.

Traditional costume

Thanks to the proximity of the receiving markets, the villages of Szigetköz became urbanized early, so by the end of the 19th century, when the folk costumes of other regions had become colorful and characteristic, here the traditional clothing had already been replaced by the urban type. In general, decorative art appearing in a spectacular form is not typical either. Generally, this is why the folk clothing is simple, sometimes it is covered with a flower pattern, but only on small surfaces. The hair style on festive occasions is tightly braided hair.

Folk music

The most frequently used instruments in Bolgán music are the zither and the bagpipe. Horns are usually made of copper. The zither is used in two ways, its unique and rarer version is the so-called zither guitar, and tenor-sounding zithers are also used. Musical instruments are often decorated with floral designs. Besides music, dancing was also popular. The traditional folk dance is the Verbunk, whose name is of German origin and means reception, greeting. It is a folk dance of varying speed with changing figures and lots of improvisation.

Symbols

The national flag of the Bulgarians is blue-white-green. The symbols of the flag have historical roots. blue represents the Danube and Mosoni-Danube, green represents the landscape of Szigetköz, and white represents the culture of the people. The flag is also the flag of Szigetköz. the Coat of Arms was created at the same time as the flag.

The national flag
The Coat of arms
Folk houses in national color

Language

The language of the Bolganys is the Szigetközi dialect. Although it is not a separate language from Hungarian, it can be considered a regional language, since the words in its original form can be completely different from Hungarian. The language was spoken mostly as a permanent language in about 20-30 settlements and sporadically in a few more settlements. The language belongs to the Finno-Ugric languages, but also contains many words of Slavic, German and Turkish origin.

This language is only spoken by the oldest people of Szigetközi, probably a few hundred of them, despite the fact that there are groups trying to revive it.

Some words are Bolgány in Finnish and Hungarian.
Finnish	Hungarian	Bolgány	English
lehmä	Tehén	Búbëcce	Cow
näin	Fűrész	Firísz	Saw
metsä	Erdő	Rëmísz	Forest
paita	Ing	Ümög	Shirt
täti	Néni	Nënnë	Aunt
akaasia	Akác	Ëgáci	Acacia
nokkonen	Csalán	Csollán	nettle
makkara	Kolbász	kóbász	Sausage
Omena	Alma	Óma	Apple

Numbers in Manysi, Hungarian and Bolgány
Manysi	Hungarian	Bolgány	English
akwa	Egy	Ëty	One
kitïɣ / Kit	Kettő / Két	Köttű / Kít	Two
Hūrum	Három /Há	Hárum / Há	Three
ńila	Négy	Níty	Four
at	Öt	Üt	Five
Hōt	Hat	Hot	Six
sāt	Hét	Hít	Seven
ńollow	Nyolc	Nyúc	Eight
ōntəllow	Kilenc	Kilönc	Nine
yaŋ	Tíz	Tísz	Ten

Holidays

References