Language/Bulgarian/Grammar/Consonants

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Bulgarian Grammar → Alphabet and sounds → Consonants

Hello, and welcome to this lesson on Bulgarian consonants! As your Bulgarian language teacher for the past 20 years, I am thrilled to introduce you to the complex world of Bulgarian consonants. Bulgarian has a total of 30 consonants, and mastering them is the key to achieving fluency in the language. In this lesson, we will focus on the most important consonant sounds and letter combinations in Bulgarian.

Finish this lesson and explore these related pages: Comparatives and Superlatives & DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS – Показателни местоимения.

Consonant sounds

Bulgarian consonants can be divided into several different groups based on their sound characteristics. The most important groups are:

Voiceless consonants

Voiceless consonants are pronounced with the vocal cords not vibrating. In Bulgarian, the voiceless consonants are:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
п	p	p
т	t	t
к	k	k
ч	č (ch)	ch
ш	š (sh)	sh
щ	sht	sht
ф	f	f
с	s	s

Voiced consonants

Voiced consonants are pronounced with the vocal cords vibrating. In Bulgarian, the voiced consonants are:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
б	b	b
д	d	d
г	g	g
ж	ž (zh)	zh
з	z	z
ю	j (y)	y
в	v	v
л	l	l
м	m	m
н	n	n
р	r	r
й	j (y)	y

It is important to note that the Bulgarian letters "дж" and "дз" represent single sounds in Bulgarian, but they are considered combinations of the sounds "д" and "ж", and "д" and "з", respectively.

Nasal consonants

Nasal consonants are pronounced with the air flowing through the nose. In Bulgarian, the nasal consonants are:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
м	m	m
н	n	n

Letter combinations

Bulgarian has several letter combinations that represent single consonant sounds. These include:

• "ж" (zh) - a combination of "з" and "х" sounds
• "ш" (sh) - a combination of "с" and "х" sounds
• "ч" (ch) - a combination of "т" and "ш" sounds
• "щ" (sht) - a combination of "ш" and "т" sounds
• "дж" (dzh) - a combination of "д" and "ж" sounds
• "дз" (dz) - a combination of "д" and "з" sounds

It is important to note that some of these letter combinations are also represented by single letters in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Practice

Practice is key to mastering Bulgarian consonants. Here are some words to practice each of the consonant sounds we discussed:

• п - пук (puk) - to burst
• т - топ (top) - hot
• к - кит (kit) - whale
• ч - чанта (chanta) - bag
• ш - шум (shum) - noise
• щ - щурец (shturets) - squirrel
• ф - философия (filosofiya) - philosophy
• с - син (sin) - blue
• б - банан (banan) - banana
• д - дете (dete) - child
• г - глас (glas) - voice
• ж - жито (zhito) - wheat
• з - звезда (zvezda) - star
• ю - юли (yuli) - July
• в - весел (vesel) - happy
• л - любов (lyubov) - love
• м - мед (med) - honey
• н - нос (nos) - nose
• р - радост (radost) - joy
• й - май (may) - May

I hope this lesson has been helpful and informative! Don't hesitate to practice, and remember that mastering Bulgarian consonants takes time and patience.

Sources

• Bulgarian phonology - Wikipedia
• Watch Out! How to Avoid the Most Common Bulgarian Mistakes.
• Just how hard is it to learn Bulgarian? (insights on Bulgarian grammar)
• Bulgarian Language - Structure, Writing & Alphabet

Table of Contents - Bulgarian Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Alphabet and sounds

• Cyrillic alphabet
• Vowels
• Consonants

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Greetings and Introductions

• Greetings
• Introducing yourself
• Numbers 0-100

  ---

Bulgarian Traditions

• Bulgarian Folklore
• Cuisine
• Holidays and Customs

  ---

Nouns and Adjectives

• Gender
• Cases
• Adjectives

  ---

At the Restaurant

• Ordering Food
• Making Special Requests
• Paying the Bill

  ---

Bulgarian Cinema and Literature

• Bulgarian Cinema
• Bulgarian Literature
• Literary Translation

  ---

Verbs and Tenses

• Present Tense
• Perfective and Imperfective Verbs
• Past Tense

  ---

Traveling

• Transportation
• Booking a Hotel
• Asking for Directions

  ---

Bulgarian Music

• Bulgarian Pop Music
• Traditional Bulgarian Music
• Music Festivals

  ---

Future Tense and Modals

• Future Tense
• Modal Verbs
• Conditional Sentences

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Celebrations and Festivities

• Birthday Parties
• Weddings and Marriage Customs
• Religious Holidays

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Bulgarian Theatre and Performance Arts

• Bulgarian Theatre
• Puppet Theatre
• Dance

Other Lessons

• Conditional Sentences
• Types of Questions – Видове въпроси
• Pronouns
• GENDER AND NUMBER OF ADJECTIVES – Род и число на прилагателните
• Vowels
• DEFINITE ARTICLE OF NOUNS – Членуване на съществителните
• GENERALIZING PRONOUNS – Обобщителни местоимения
• DEFINITE ARTICLE OF ADJECTIVES – Членуване на прилагателните
• Give your Opinion
• Comparatives and Superlatives

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