Abstract
<jats:p>This study examines the competition between the full and reduced accusative and dative forms of the first- and second-person singular personal pronouns in Bulgarian (мене/мен, тебе/теб). Drawing on lexicographic and grammatical sources, corpus data, and a survey of 212 respondents, the analysis spans material from the early twentieth century to the present. The findings indicate that the reduced forms мен and теб are systematically preferred in both formal and informal communication and are generally perceived as more prestigious. Geographic distribution appears to play a minor role: respondents from western regions display a slightly greater tendency to use the full forms мене and тебе, although this difference is not statistically significant. Age and educational level do not emerge as influential factors. Corpus evidence corroborates these patterns, with мен occurring approximately six times more frequently than мене, and теб about three times more frequently than тебе. Overall, the study indicates that the reduced forms are firmly entrenched in contemporary standard Bulgarian and positively evaluated in terms of prestige, highlighting the need to update their treatment in lexicographic and grammatical accounts.</jats:p>