Bulgarian phonology

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
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This article discusses the phonological system of the Bulgarian language.

The phonemic inventory of Contemporary Standard Bulgarian (CSB) has been a contested and controversial matter for decades, with two major currents, or schools of thought, forming at national and international level:[1][2][3][4][5]

The first one considers that there are only 28 phonemes in Contemporary Standard Bulgarian: 21 consonants, 1 semivowel and 6 vowels and that only one of them, the semivowel /j/, is palatal.[6][7] This was the general consensus reached by all major Bulgarian linguists prior to the Soviet occupation of Bulgaria in 1944, and still continues to be the view held by multiple modern Bulgarian and probably a majority of Western phonologists.[8][9][3][10]

The second school of thought is based on a sketch of Eastern Bulgarian consonantism made by Russian linguist Nikolai Trubetzkoy in his 1939 book Principles of Phonology, where he introduced palatalization as additional phonemic distinction in Bulgarian, much like in his native language, Russian.[11] In Bulgaria, the concept was launched in the late 1940s by two younger linguists, Stoyko Stoykov and Lyubomir Andreychin, who proclaimed the existence of 17 new palatalized phonemes, rounding Standard Bulgarian's phonemic inventory to 45 phonemes, 18 of which are palatal.[12][13]

Both Stoykov and Andreychin had rejected Trubetzkoy's ideas in the early 1940s, before Bulgaria's occupation by the Red Army.[14][15] The concept got quick approval from the Bulgarian Communist Party and Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The 17 palatals became a staple of all published standard Bulgarian grammars and phonologies during the totalitarian era.[16] The consonant model has not fared well abroad, routinely being called into question or outright rejected, including in the 1999 Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, which sided with the traditional interpretation.[17][18]

  1. ^ Mihaylov, Miroslav (2021). Фонетика на съвременния български книжовен език [Phonetics and Phonology of Contemporary Standard Bulgarian]. pp. 48–54.
  2. ^ van Campen & Ornstein (1959), pp. 266–270.
  3. ^ a b Ignatova-Tzoneva (2008), pp. 7–12.
  4. ^ Choi (1994), pp. 10–14.
  5. ^ Sabev (2013), Note 1: [In other accounts of the Bulgarian sound system a set of the so-called "soft" (i.e. palatal or palatalised) consonants is also included: /pʲ/, /bʲ/, /tʲ/, /dʲ/, /c/ (=kʲ ), /ɟ/ (=gʲ ), /tsʲ/, /dzʲ/, /mʲ/, /ɲ/ (=nʲ ), /rʲ/, /fʲ/, /vʲ/, /sʲ/, /zʲ/, /ç/ (=xʲ ), /ʎ/ (=lʲ )]. [dzʲ] and [ç] do not occur in native words, though they do in foreign names: Дзян [dzʲan] 'Jian', Хюс/Хюз [çus] 'Hughes'. However, the phonemic status of the "soft" consonants is questionable. Before front vowels they should be regarded as allophones of the corresponding "hard" (i.e. non-palatal or non-palatalised) consonant phonemes, since the palatalisation here is occurs naturally, to facilitate articulation. Before non-front vowels these can be interpreted as combinations of C + /j/.].
  6. ^ Sabev (2013), Note 1.
  7. ^ Ternes & Vladimirova-Buhtz (1999), pp. 56.
  8. ^ Teodorov-Balan (1940), p. 84.
  9. ^ Mangold (1988), pp. 102.
  10. ^ Danchev (2001), pp. 132–134.
  11. ^ Trubetzkoy (1971), pp. 239–240.
  12. ^ Stoykov, Stoyko (1961). Увод във фонетиката на българския език [Introduction to Bulgarian Phonetics]. Sofia: Издателство „Наука и изкуство".
  13. ^ Andreychin (1950), pp. 492.
  14. ^ Stoykov, Stoyko (1942). Български книжовен изговор: Опитно изследване [Bulgarian Literary Pronunciation: Field Study]. Sofia: State Printing House. p. 11. Едни от езиковедите, излизайки предимно от слуховия им характер (акустичния ефект), ги смятат за отделни самостойни звукове наред с останалите меки и твърди съгласни, а други, излизайки предимно от учленителните им особености, ги смятат за съчетание (комбинация) от твърда съгласна и [ й ], образувано от две едновременни, но отделни и независими едно от друго учленителни движения – едно движение на устните или на предния език за съответната твърда лабиална или алвеолна съгласна, а друго движение на средния език върху твърдото небце за съгласната [й]. Трябва да се подчертае, че между меките (палаталните) и смекчените (палатализуваните) съгласни няма резки учленителни и слухови граници, та затова понякога е доста трудно да се определи точно една съгласна дали е мека или е смекчена [Judging primarily by their auditory nature (acoustic effect), some linguists regard them as standalone sounds, right next to the other hard and soft consonants, while others, starting primarily from their articulatory properties, consider them to be a combination of a hard consonant and [j] formed by two simultaneous, yet separate and full independent articulatory movements—one of the lips or the tip of the tongue to form the corresponding hard labial or alveolar consonant and the other one by the middle part of tongue raising itself towards the palate to form the consonant [j]. It needs to be emphasised that soft (palatal) and softened (palatalised) consonants are not divided by strict articulatory or auditory lines, which sometimes makes it difficult to determine whether a specific consonant is soft or just softened]
  15. ^ Andreychin, Lyubomir (1942). Основна българска граматика [Basic Bulgarian Grammar]. Sofia: Hemus. pp. 26, 33. Когато мястото на образуване на една съгласна се премести или разшири малко към средата на небцето и на езика (при запазване на другите учленителни особености), нейният изговор получава особен оттенък, който наричаме мек: л – ль, н – нь, т – ть, к – кь и пр. [When a consonant's place of articulation moves or somewhat widens towards the middle of the palate and tongue (while all other articulation characteristics remain unchanged, this articulation is given a particular nuance that we refer to as 'soft': l – lʲ, n – nʲ, т – тʲ, к – кʲ and so on]
  16. ^ Tilkov, Dimitar; Boyadzhiev, Todor (1977). Българска фонетика [Bulgarian Phonetics]. p. 126.
  17. ^ Ternes & Vladimirova-Buhtz (1999), pp. 55–56.
  18. ^ Townsend & Janda (1996), pp. 286–287.