Language/Bulgarian/Pronunciation/Voicing
Bulgarian resonants are all voiced (as is true of vowels in Bulgarian as well).
Obstruents, however, can be arranged in pairs (e.g. д-т, ж-ш), where the articulatory difference between them lies in whether the vocal cords are vibrating (voiced) or not (voiceless).
In almost all of these pairs the voicing distinction is a phonemic one, capable of distinguishing meaning in pairs of words (e.g. дом [дом] ‘home’ – том [том] ‘volume/tome’; кажа [кажъ] ‘I say’ – каша [кашъ] ‘kasha’). There are, however, specific positions in which the voicing distinction is neutralized. In word-final position and in position before a voiceless obstruent only voiceless obstruents occur in pronunciation, regardless of orthography. Thus, for example рядко ‘rarely’ is pronounced [р’атку] and рог ‘horn’ is pronounced [рок]. Conversely, in position before voiced obstruents only voiced obstruents occur. Thus сборник ‘collection’ is pronounced [зборник]. Under this specific condition, although it happens rarely, we also encounter the sound γ, a voiced counterpart to х. Hauge (1999:7) provides бих дошъл ‘I would have come’ as an example of this, being pronounced [биγ душъл], which also illustrates that when there is no pause between words in rapid speech, consonant clusters over word boundaries may follow these voicing assimilation patterns. Maslov (1981:43) cites град Бургас ‘the city of Burgas’ and от Бургас ‘from Burgas’ as examples of this, where the д in град does not devoice in word-final position and the т in от does undergo the regressive voicing assimilation. Note that resonants and vowels, all of which are voiced, neither undergo devoicing in final position or before voiceless obstruants, nor do they cause voicing of obstruents which precede them. And note too the peculiarity that в and в’, although they do undergo devoicing to ф and ф’ in the relevant environments described above, do not themselves cause preceding obstruents to undergo voicing assimilation. Thus вторник ‘Tuesday’ is [фторник] (not *[вт]), but отварям ‘I open’ is [утвар’ъм] (not *[дв]).
Consider broadening your understanding by checking out these related lessons: Alphabet and Pronunciation, How to count to 10 in Bulgarian (with audio) & Palatalization.
Sources[edit | edit source]
http://www.seelrc.org:8080/grammar/pdf/stand_alone_bulgarian.pdf
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]