Lesson 2Pronunciation - 2

Basic Vowels in Bulgarian

THE FOCUS OF THIS LESSON IS BULGARIAN BASIC VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS

Vowels : "-А” "-Е“ "-И“ "-О“ "-У“ "-Ъ“

1. "-А" Pronounced as [ah] as in "father," never

as the [a] in "cat."

For Example: аромат ("aroma")2. аз ("I")

2. "-Е" Pronounced like [e] as in "best." For Example: 1. елен ("deer")2. едно ("one")

3. "-И" Pronounced like [i] as in "igloo." For Example: 1.илюзия ("illusion")2. игла ("pin")

4. "-О" Pronounced like [o] as in "order." For Example: 1. обяд ("lunch")2. огън ("flame")

5. "-У" Pronounced like [oo] as in "tool." For Example:1. ухо ("ear")2. улица ("street")

6. "-Ъ" Pronounced like [u] as in "turn." For Example:1. пръст ("finger")2. жълто ("yellow")

Pronunciation - 3Five Special

Bulgarian Letters

The Focus of This Lesson is Five Special Letters that Look Like

English Ones but are Pronounced Differently in Bulgarian

In Bulgarian, there are five letters that look like the English letters but are pronounced differently. Unlike them, letters like "-к," "-м," and "-т" are direct equivalents of the English "-k," "-m," and

"-t." The specific five letters that look like English ones but are pronounced differently can be

difficult for a beginner in Bulgarian, so it is better to take a detailed look at them.

The five special letters are "-в," "-н," "-р," "-с," and "-х." They are pronounced as [v], [n], [r], [s], and

[h].

I. "-В" 1. виждам ("to see")2. съжалявам ("sorry")Pronounced as [v], for example, [vijdam]

"to see" and [syjalyavam] "sorry."

II. "-Н" Новият Завет (the New Testament)2. Нова (a Bulgarian television network)Pronounced as [n], for example, [Noviyat

Zavet] ("the New Testament"), and [Nova] ("Bulgarian television network").

III. "-Р" 1. роза ("rose")2. време ("time" or "weather")Pronounced as [r], for example, [roza]

"rose," and [vreme] "time" or "weather."

IV. "-С" 1. специалност ("specialty")2. последен ("last" or "final")Pronounced as [s], for example,

[specialnost] "specialty," and [posleden] "last" or "final."

V. "-Х" 1. хора ("people")2. смях ("laughter")Pronounced as [h], for example, [hora]

"people," and [smyah] "laughter."

Pronunciation - 4Five Common

Bulgarian Pronunciation

Mistakes

The Focus of This Lesson is the Five Most Common Mistakes People

Make When They Pronounce Bulgarian

1. Remember to Trill Your "-R's"!

Remember that in Bulgarian, we don't pronounce the letter "-R" in the same way as it is pronounced in English. We trill it, much like the "-r" in Spanish. One of the ways that people can automatically detect a foreign accent over the phone is by the way you pronounce this particular sound. For example, if you want some traditional Bulgarian alcoholic drink, you ask for rakiya with a trilled "-r." If you asked for rakiya with an English-like "-r," the shopkeepers might have some trouble figuring out what exactly you want!

2.THE BULGARIAN "L"

There is no great chance that you might learn this incorrectly, but the way the Bulgarians pronounce "L" varies. Many young people often pronounce it as an approximate [w]. This phenomenon, commonly known as мързеливо "л" (lazy "l") in Bulgaria, was first registered in the 1970s and isn’t connected to original dialects. Similar developments, termed L-vocalization, have occurred in many languages, including Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Brazilian Portuguese, and certain dialects of English, such as Cockney. When you pronounce "L," make sure you say it as in "call" and not as in "caw."

3. VOICED AND VOICELESS CONSONANTS

In Bulgarian, a letter that represents a voiced consonant can represent its voiceless counterpart and vice versa. This occurs when it is placed adjacent to a voiceless or voiced consonant, respectively. This also happens when a voiced consonant is in a final syllable, for example, вторник /ftornik/ "Tuesday;" нож /nɔʃ/ "knife;" сграда /zgradɐ/ "building;" and сватба /svadbɐ/ "wedding."

4. THE STRESS IN BULGARIAN

The word stress in Bulgarian is also very important. You can be recognized as non-native speaker by putting the stress on a wrong syllable. You must notice that Bulgarian stress is also distinctive; for example, в'ълна /ˈvɤɫnɐ/ ("wool") and вълн'а /vɤɫˈna/ ("wave") are only differentiated by stress. The same goes for the words п'ара ("steam") and пар'а ("coin").

5. WATCHOUT FOR SIMILAR SOUNDINGWORDS!

In Bulgarian there are many words that sound exactly the same or almost the same but have different meanings. As a beginner in Bulgarian, it can be easy to mix up similar sounding words.

Some infamous examples include, 1. Jena ("woman") vs. jenya ("marry")2. Kosa ("hair") vs. koza ("goat")