The derivation of diminutives from abstract noun bases in Bulgarian

The paper reviews the formal and semantic characteristics of the formation of diminutives in Bulgarian, where the process affects nouns, adjectives, numerals, adverbs, verbs and pronouns. The derivation of diminutives from abstract nouns is analyzed on the basis of material excerpted from blogs and forums in the Bulgarian Google, in which significant activation of the process in the language practices of young speakers is observed. The factors which facilitate or constrain the derivation of diminutives from abstract nouns are studied, as well as the semantic interaction between diminutive suffixes and certain semantic components (both denotative and connotative) of base words