Orthography#

The [[Writing Systems|writing system]] used by the [[index|Bulgarian]] language is an [[Writing Systems#Alphabets|alphabet]] with 30 letters adapted from the [[Cyrillic Script]].

Diacritics#

The [[TODO|grave accent]] is used in the following cases:
- To distinguish the [[Pronouns#Possessive Pronouns|possessive pronoun]] "ѝ" from the [[TODO|conjunction]] "и".
- To distinguish heteronyms such as "вълна̀" (wave) and "в̀ълна" by showing which syllable is stressed.
- To distinguish the verb comparative particle "по̀" (more) from the [[TODO|preposition]] "по".

Phonology#

Bulgarian features

Vowels#

There are six [[TODO|vowel]] [[TODO|phonemes]] in [[index|Bulgarian]].

The phonemes /a/, /ɤ/, /ɔ/, /u/, /ɛ/, /i/ are indicated by the letters а, ъ, о, у, е, и, respectively. In practice, however, most of these are often represented by different [[TODO|allophones]] depending on whether they are stressed:
- The [[TODO|phonemes]] /a/ and /ɤ/ are actualized as respectively [a] and [ɤ] when stressed but commonly neutralize to [ɐ] when unstressed;
- The [[TODO|phonemes]] /ɔ/ and /u/ are actualized as respectively [ɔ] and [u] but commonly neutralize to [o] when unstressed.

Many speakers also tend to actualize /ε/ as [i], but this practice is considered incorrect.

Consonants#

Phonation#

[[ndex|Bulgarian]] divides [[TODO|obstruent]] [[TODO|consonants]] into distinct pairs of voiced and voiceless consonants.

There are many situations where voiced consonants become voiceless and vice versa:
- Voiced consonants become voiceless at the end of words, unless the next word starts with a voiced consonant as well.
- Voiced consonants become unvoiced before voiceless consonants.
- Voiceless consonants become voiced before voiced consonants. However, [s] does not turn into [z] when followed by [v].

Bibliography#

1. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_phonology|Bulgarian phonology]]