Bulgarian Alpha bet
| Bulgarian Cyrillic Alpha bet Българска кирилска азбука | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Script type | |
Time period | 9th century – present |
| Languages | Bulgarian |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Egyptian hieroglyphs[1]
|
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Cyrl(220),Cyrillic |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Cyrillic |
| subset ofCyrillic (U+0400...U+04FF) | |
TheBulgarian Cyrillic Alpha bet(Bulgarian:Българска кирилска азбука) is used to write theBulgarian language. TheCyrillic Alpha betwas originally developed in theFirst Bulgarian Empireduring the 9th – 10th century AD at thePreslav Literary School.[2][3]
It has been used inBulgaria(with modifications and exclusion of certain archaic letters via spelling reforms) continuously since then, superseding the previously usedGlagolitic Alpha bet,which was also invented and used there before theCyrillic scriptovertook its use as a written script for theBulgarian language.The Cyrillic Alpha bet was used in the then much bigger territory ofBulgaria(including most of today's Serbia), North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Northern Greece (Macedonia region),RomaniaandMoldova,officially from 893. It was also transferred fromBulgariaand adopted by theEast Slavic languagesinKievan Rus'and evolved into theBelarusian,RussianandUkrainianAlpha bets and the Alpha bets of many other Slavic (and later non-Slavic) languages. Later, some Slavs modified it and added/excluded letters from it to better suit the needs of their own language varieties.
History[edit]
In the 9th century, theBulgarian Empireintroduced theGlagolitic Alpha bet,devised bySaint CyrilandSaint Methodius.The Glagolitic Alpha bet was gradually superseded in later centuries by theCyrillic script,developed around thePreslav Literary School,Bulgariaat the end of the 9th century.
SeveralCyrillic Alpha betswith 28 to 44 letters were used in the early and middle 19th century during the efforts[clarification needed]on the codification of Modern Bulgarian until an Alpha bet with 32 letters, proposed byMarin Drinov,gained prominence in the 1870s: it was used until the orthographic reform of 1945, when the lettersyat(uppercaseѢ,lowercaseѣ) andyus(uppercaseѪ,lowercaseѫ) were removed from its Alpha bet, reducing the number of letters to 30. Yat was also known as "double e" (двойно е/е-двойно), and yus was also known as "big nasal sign" (голяма носовка), crossedyer(ъ кръстато), and "wideyer"(широко ъ).
Although Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic Alpha bet, some letter shapes in Bulgaria were made to look more 'Latin' in the 20th century[4](see the pictures on the right in the article), however they are rarely used today and most typefaces do not support them.
With theaccession of Bulgaria to the European Unionon 1 January 2007, theCyrillic scriptbecame the third official script of theEuropean Union,following theLatinandGreekscripts.[5]
List[edit]
Overview[edit]
| А а | Б б | В в | Г г | Д д | Е е | Ж ж | З з | И и | Й й |
| К к | Л л | М м | Н н | О о | П п | Р р | С с | Т т | У у |
| Ф ф | Х х | Ц ц | Ч ч | Ш ш | Щ щ | Ъ ъ | Ь ь | Ю ю | Я я |
See also:
Detailed table[edit]
The following table gives the letters of the Bulgarian Alpha bet, along with theIPAvalues for the sound of each letter. The listed transliteration in the Official transliteration column (known as theStreamlined System) is official in Bulgaria and is listed in the Official orthographic dictionary (2012). For other transliteration standards seeRomanization of Bulgarian.
| Bulgarian Alpha bet[a] | ISO 9 | Official transliteration | IPA[b] | Name of letter | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| А а (а) | A a | A a | /a/,/ɐ/or/ə/ | а | a as in "apart" |
| Б б | B b | B b | /b/or/p/ | бъ | b as in "bug" |
| В в (в) | V v | V v | /v/or/f/ | въ | v as in "vet" |
| Г г (г) | G g | G g | /ɡ/or/k/ | гъ | g as in "good" |
| Д д (ɡ/д)[c] | D d | D d | /d/or/t/ | дъ | d as in "dog" |
| Е е | E e | E e | /ɛ/ | е | e as in "best" |
| Ж ж | Ž ž | Zh zh | /ʒ/or/ʃ/ | жъ | s as in "treasure" |
| З з | Z z | Z z | /z/or/s/ | зъ | z as in "zoo" |
| И и (и) | I i | I i | /i/ | и | i as in "machine" |
| Й й (й) | J j | Y y | /j/ | и кратко | y as in "yes" or "yoyo" |
| К к | K k | K k | /k/or/ɡ/ | къ |
k as in "kick" |
| Л л (л) | L l | L l | /l/before е and и,/ʎ/before ю, я and ь,/ɫ/elsewhere | лъ | l as in "call" or "lend" |
| М м | M m | M m | /m/ | мъ | m as in "man" |
| Н н | N n | N n | /n/ | нъ | n as in "normal" |
| О о | O o | O o | /ɔ/,/o/ | о | o as in "order" |
| П п (п) | P p | P p | /p/or/b/ | пъ | p as in "pet" |
| Р р | R r | R r | /r/ | ръ | trilled r as in Spanish "perro" |
| С с | S s | S s | /s/or/z/ | съ | s as in "sound" |
| Т т (т) | T t | T t | /t/or/d/ | тъ | t as in "stick" |
| У у | U u | U u | /u/,/o/or/ʊ/ | у | оо as in "boot" |
| Ф ф | F f | F f | /f/or/v/ | фъ | f as in "food" |
| Х х | H h | H h | /x/ | хъ | ch as inScottish Englishloch |
| Ц ц (ц) | C c | Ts ts | /t͡s/ | цъ | ts as in "fits" |
| Ч ч | Č č | Ch ch | /t͡ʃ/ | чъ | ch as in "chip" |
| Ш ш (ш) | Š š | Sh sh | /ʃ/or/ʒ/ | шъ | sh as in "shot" |
| Щ щ (щ) | Št št[d] | Sht sht | /ʃt/ | щъ | sht as in "shtick" |
| Ъ ъ | Ǎ ǎ[d] | A a | /ɤ/,/ɐ/or/ə/ | ер голям | u as in "turn" |
| Ь ь | ʹ[d] | Y y | /j/or not pronounced | ер малък | soft sign:y as in "canyon" |
| Ю ю | Ju ju[d] | Yu yu | /ju/,/jo/,/ʲu/or/ʲo/ | ю | yu as in "youth" |
| Я я | Ja ja[d] | Ya ya | /ja/,/jɐ/,/ʲa/or/ʲɐ/ | я | ya as in "yarn" |
- ^Lowercasecursivecharacters are shown in brackets when they look significantly different from their correspondingroman type.SeeLetterforms and typography of Cyrillic scriptfor more information.
- ^SeeHelp:IPA/Bulgarianfor details.
- ^Forд,bothɡandдare used.
- ^abcdeThe romanizations of these characters differ from the current version,ISO 9:1995,as it[clarification needed]was never officially adopted as a Bulgarianstandard.
Most letters in the Bulgarian Alpha bet stand for just one specific sound. Five letters stand for sounds written in English with two or more letters. These letters areч(ch),ш(sh),щ(sht),ю(yu), andя(ya). Two additional sounds are written with two letters: these areдж(/dʒ/) andдз(/dz/). The letterьmarks the softening (palatalization) of any consonant (exceptж,ч,andш) before the letterо,whileюandяafter consonants mark the palatalization of the preceding consonant in addition to representing the vowels/u/and/a/.[6]
The names of most letters are simple representations of their phonetic values, with consonants being followed by/ɤ/– thus the Alpha bet goes:/a/–/bɤ/–/vɤ/,etc. However, the name of the letterЙis "i-kratko" (short i), the name ofЪis "er-golyam" (largeyer), and the name ofЬis "er-malak" (small yer). People often refer toЪsimply as/ɤ/.
TheBulgarianAlpha bet features:
- The Bulgarian names for the consonants are[bɤ],[kɤ],[ɫɤ]etc. instead of[bɛ],[ka],[ɛl]etc.
- Е represents/ɛ/and is called "е"[ɛ].
- The sounds/dʒ/(/d͡ʒ/) and/dz/(/d͡z/) are represented by дж and дз respectively.
- Short I(Й, й) represents/j/.
- Щ represents/ʃt/(/ʃ͡t/) and is called "щъ"[ʃtɤ]([ʃ͡tɤ]).
- Ъ represents the vowel/ɤ/,and is called "ер голям"[ˈɛrɡoˈljam]('big er'). In spelling however, Ъ is referred to as/ɤ/where its official label "ер голям" (used only to refer to Ъ in the Alpha bet) may cause some confusion. The vowel Ъ/ɤ/is sometimes approximated to the/ə/(schwa) sound found in many languages for easier comprehension of its Bulgarian pronunciation for foreigners, but it is actually a back vowel, not a central vowel.[citation needed]
- Ь is used on rare occasions (only after a consonant [and] before the vowel "о" ), such as in the words 'каньон' (canyon), 'шофьор' (driver), etc. It is called "ер малък" ('small er').
Thegrave accentis used to distinguish the pronoun⟨ѝ⟩'her' from the conjunction⟨и⟩'and'.Ѝis not considered a separate letter but rather a special form ofИ.
Writing[edit]
Bulgarian is usually described as having aphonemic orthography,meaning that words are spelt the way they are pronounced. This is largely true, but there are exceptions. Three of the most cited examples are:
- The sounds[ɐ]and[o],which appear only in unstressed syllables, are written with two different letters each – "а"or"ъ",and"о"or"у"respectively.
- The vowel in stressed verb endings-а,-ат,-яand-ятand the stressed short definite articles-aand-яis pronounced[ɤ].Thusчета( "I read" ) is pronounced[t͡ʃeˈtɤ],andмъжа( "the man" ) is pronounced[mɐˈʒɤ].
- Voiced consonants are pronounced unvoiced when at the end of a word or when preceding an unvoiced consonant – e.g.втори( "second" ) is pronounced[ˈftɔri],andград( "city" ) is pronounced[ˈɡrat].Similarly, unvoiced consonants are pronounced voiced when preceding a voiced consonant – e.g.сграда( "building" ) is[ˈzɡradɐ].(The voiced consonant "в"is an exception – it does not cause the preceding unvoiced consonant to become voiced –сватба(wedding) is[ˈsvadbɐ].)
Modern developments[edit]
Since the time of Bulgaria'sliberationin the late 19th century, the Bulgarian language has taken on a large number of words from Western European languages. All of these are transcribed phonetically intoCyrillic,e.g.:
- French – e.g.тротоар(trottoir–sidewalk),тирбушон(tire-bouchon– corkscrew),партер(frompar terre– ground floor)
- German – e.g.бинт(Bind– bandage),багер(Bagger– digger),бормашина(Bohrmaschine– drill)
Notable is the transliteration of many English names through German, e.g.:
- Washington →Вашингтон(Vashington), Scotland →Шотландия(Shotlandiya)
In the years since the end of communism and the rise of technology, the tendency for borrowing has shifted mainly to English, where much computer-related terminology has entered and beeninflectedaccordingly – again, in a wholly phonetic way. Examples include:
- кликвам на файла(click(klik)-vam na file(fayl)-a) – I click on the file
- даунлоудваш го на десктопа(download(daunloud)-vash go na desktop-a) – you download it onto the desktop
- чатим в нета(chat-im v net-a) – we chat on the net
The computer-related neologisms are often used interchangeably with traditional Bulgarian words, e.g. 'download' and 'upload' can be simplyсвалямandкачвам(svalyamandkachvam– 'to bring down' and 'to put up').
Use of Roman script in Bulgarian[edit]
The insertion of English words directly into a Cyrillic Bulgarian sentence, while frowned upon, has been increasingly used in the media. This is done for several reasons, including –
- To shorten what would otherwise be a longer word or phrase –
- Янките против още US войски в Афганистан[7](instead ofамерикански- American)
- The Yanks oppose moreUStroops in Afghanistan
- To avoid the need to transcribe to Cyrillic or translate to Bulgarian well known abbreviations:
- Ние не сме видели края на SOPA, PIPA и ACTA[8](instead of, for example,СОПА, ПИПА и АКТА)
- We have not seen the end ofSOPA,PIPAandACTA
Brand names are also often not transcribed:WikiLeaks,YouTube,Skype– as opposed toУикиликс,Ю-Тюб,Скайп.However, this is not always the case, as in the headline "Фейсбук vs. Гугъл"[9](official transliteration:Feysbuk vs. Gugal). Note the inconsistency here – despite the insistence on Cyrillic, the "vs." has been retained in Roman script.
The 2012Official Orthographic Dictionary of the Bulgarian Languageby theBulgarian Academy of Sciencespermits widely known proper names to remain in their original Alpha bet. Example sentences are given, all containing names of American IT companies:Yahoo,Microsoft,YouTube,PayPal,Facebook.
Keyboard layout[edit]
The standard Bulgariankeyboard layoutfor personal computers is as follows:
See also[edit]
| South Slavic languagesand dialects |
|---|
References[edit]
- ^Himelfarb, Elizabeth J. "First Alphabet Found in Egypt", Archaeology 53, Issue 1 (Jan./Feb. 2000): 21.
- ^Curta, Florin (2006-08-31).Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250.Cambridge University Press. pp. 221–222.ISBN978-0-521-81539-0.
- ^Hussey, J. M. (2010-03-25).The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire.OUP Oxford. p. 100.ISBN978-0-19-161488-0.
- ^Gornitsky, Roman."Soyuz Grotesk: release notes".The Temporary State.Retrieved18 November2018.
- ^Leonard Orban (24 May 2007)."Cyrillic, the third official Alpha bet of the EU, was created by a truly multilingual European"(PDF).europe.eu.Retrieved3 August2014.
- ^pg. 11–12 ofПравопис и пунктуация на българския език.(Orthography and punctuation of the Bulgarian language).Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.2011.
- ^The Yanks oppose more US troops in AfghanistanArchivedApril 12, 2015, at theWayback Machine(in Bulgarian)Monitor.bg, 13 Nov 2009. Retrieved 16 Sept 2012.
- ^Wikipedia: We are aware that we have not seen the end of SOPA, PIPA and ACTA(in Bulgarian)Darik News, 23 Feb 2012. Retrieved 16 Sept 2012.
- ^"Standart News".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-09-26.Retrieved2015-04-11.
External links[edit]
| Authority control databases:National |
|---|
