Русско-белорусско-болгарское соответствие один, адзін, един (опыт статистического анализа)

The Bulgarian word един ‘one’ and its Russian and Byelorussian equivalents один and адзін, have almost the same set of meanings although they are used differently in these related languages. This is confirmed by some statistic data. The word един is used almost twice as often because of its having acquired the function of an indefinite article. In Modern Bulgarian the category of indefiniteness is expressed not only by the zero article but also by the indefinite article един, една, едно. This, however, is not fully developed, as it does not cover all abstract nouns in Bulgarian. In some cases the use of един is optional.