How to read and say Bulgarian

Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, and the language is famous for introducing this writing system which Russian, the other East Slavic languages and Serbo-Croatian (and other non-Slavic languages as well) would adopt later, the latter with considerable differences. The language is usually phonetic though there are few sounds denoted by digraphs and few combinations denoted by a single letter.

Stress is generally unpredictable. Fortunately, most Bulgarian dictionaries and language-books put the accent on the stressed syllable.

Vowels

Unstressed "а" and "ъ", "о" and "у", "е" and "и" tend to be shorter and weaker compared to their stressed counterparts, approaching each other, though without merging completely, presenting a challenge for Bulgarian learners. You shall hear the 'ти' as a 'tchee' sound. Because the 't' becomes palatal and not said behind the teeth like in "ten"

a ah [a]

like in father or car (when stressed); when at the end of the word sounds like stub. Sounds like "uh" as in the Bulgarian letter 'ъ' when unstressed.

e eh [e]

like in pen or attend (when stressed); Sounds like a weak 'ee' when unstressed.

и ee [i]

like in machine or to be (when stressed); Sounds like a weak 'eh' as in the Bulgarian letter 'e' when unstressed.

o oh [כ]

like in more or score (when stressed); Sounds like a weak 'oo' when unstressed.

у oo [u]

like in rule or moon (when stressed); Sounds like a weak 'oh' when unstressed.

ъ uh [ə]

like in about (unstressed) or stub (when stressed). Sounds like a strong 'ah' when unstressed. This letter never appears at the start of a word, other than for the word "ъгъл", the Bulgarian word for "corner".

Semivowels:

й y (i-kratko/short i)

like in yes or play

Before a vowel (after another vowel or at the beginning of a word) denotes a diphthong like in "crayon" or "yes". After a vowel at the end of the word similar to English 'y' as in "play" or "fly". Can be used only next to vowels and not before or after a consonant.

Consonants

Voiced consonants at the end of a word are pronounced as voiceless.

б bə

like in boy or rubbish, on the end of a word pronounced "p"

в və

like in ever or vineyard, on the end of a word pronounced "f"

г gə

like in gull or legacy, on the end of a word pronounced "k"

д də

like in deal or madness, on the end of a word pronounced "t"

ж zhə

like in pleasure or conclusion, on the end of a word pronounced "sh"

з zə

like in zoo or freezing, on the end of a word pronounced "s"

к kə

like in kite or rock

л lə

like in leak or look. Becoming (younger generations in some areas) closer to weak "w" as in saw (cf. Polish ł).

м mə

like in mine or ham

н nə

like in note or monkey

п pə

like in pork or comply

р rə

slightly to moderately rolled "r" as in Spanish, etc. Like in Spanish pero or otro

с sə

like in spit or cast

т tə

like in time or lightning [ at times becoming palatal with 'ти' and 'тя' ]

ф fə

like in feed or left

х hə

like in hotel or coherent [ usually aspirated similar to 'ck' in "lick"]

ц tsə

like in tsunami

ч chə

like in cheap or kitchen

ш shə

like in sheep or mishmash

щ shtə

"Sht", as in German "Still" or "Stettin" NOT shch like in Russian.

ь [']

not a sound itself, denotes softening (palatization) of preceding consonant; unlike Russian and other Slavic languages, this is very rarely used and the softening is less dramatic in Bulgarian than in other Slavic languages;

дж dzhə

like in join or edge. Mainly used for foreign loan words.

Common diphthongs

NOTE

In the middle or end of words, they are я-ia, йе-ie, йо/ьo-io and ю-iu

я yah

like in yacht or German Ja (when stressed); Sounds like 'yuh' when unstressed.

йе yeh

like in yes or yellow

йо/ьo yoh

like in yogurt or coyote. The latter is usually stressed

ю yoo

like in you or cute

Note that 'ю' and 'я' denote diphthongs [yoo] and [yah] after a vowel and at the beginning of a word, and tend to be pronounced 'ia' or 'io' in the middle or end of the word. The soft sign will not be included here as it is very rarely used since 1945.