INTERACTION BETWEEN DIALECT AND LITERARY LANGUAGE IN THE SERMON FOR CHEESEFARE SUNDAY BY PRIEST STEFAN CHERNOOKOV FROM VODEN, PUBLISHED IN THE EXHARCHIC NEWSPAPER NOVINI / VESTI (1893–1912)

Being the official organ of the Bulgarian Exarchate, Novini, later Vesti (1890–1912), whose slogan stated ‘A newspaper for political, scientific, and spiritual enligh-tenment’, addressed far more than merely religious themes. Its language policy was fundamentally rooted in the ideal of uniting the Bulgarian people across all territories that remained under Ottoman rule and elevating the national spirit. The Christian sermon by priest Stefan Chernookov, Sermon for Cheesefare Sunday, published in the Exarchic newspaper on 26 February 1893, provides a striking example of the interaction between the two main aspects of this policy: the spiritual and the linguistic dimensions of Bulgarian cultural identity.