Bulgarian For English Speakers PDF
Bulgarian For English Speakers PDF
Bulgarian For English Speakers PDF
for English
Speakers
Bulgarian
for English Speakers
:
:
-
:
:
! - "
#
:
60/90/16
: 24
ISBN 954-8805-69- 3
2005
www.gramma-bg.com
2
CONTENTS
The Bulgarian Alphabet
Pronunciation Table ............................................................................................ 9
How to read Bulgarian ...................................................................................... 11
LESSON 1
DIALOGUES. ..................................................................................................... 27
GRAMMAR NOTES .......................................................................................... 34
Categories of Person, Gender and Number ................................................ 34
Personal Pronouns ...................................................................................... 35
Auxiliary Verb $% (to be) - Positive, Negative, Interrogative
and Negative-Interrogative Forms. ......................................................... 35
The Present Tense of the Verb $% (to be) - Conjugation of the Verb ...... 35
Nouns Used When Speaking about Countries and Nationalities ............... 37
Interrogative Pronouns &'?, &*?, &+?, &8? (who?; which?);
%?, ?, &?, 8? (what?) .................................... 39
LESSON 2
DIALOGUES. ..................................................................................................... 44
GRAMMAR NOTES. ......................................................................................... 57
The Noun.
Gender of the Noun. ..................................................................................... 57
Use of the Article with Nouns of Masculine,
Feminine and Neuter Genders in the Singular ...................................... 58
Demonstrative Pronouns for Near and Distant Objects. .............................. 60
Short Accusative Forms of the Personal Pronouns in the 3rd Person,
Singular and Plural. ................................................................................ 60
Forms of Address. Vocative Forms. .............................................................. 62
Imperative Forms of Some Frequently Used Verbs. .................................... 62
LESSON 3
DIALOGUES. ..................................................................................................... 67
GRAMMAR NOTES. .......................................................................................... 81
Modes of Conjugation. Groups of Verbs. First, Second and Third Group. ... 81
The Present Tense of the Verb 8 (to have).
Impersonal use of 8 (to have) - 8 (there is) ................................... 83
Verbs of the Third Group in Present Tense - Conjugation
of Some Frequently Used Verbs ............................................................ 84
Cardinal Numbers From 1 To 10 .................................................................. 86
Ordinal Numbers From 1 To 10 .................................................................... 87
The Prepositions (in), = (on, at), +> (in, during, through) ................ 89
LESSON 4
DIALOGUES. ..................................................................................................... 92
GRAMMAR NOTES ........................................................................................ 102
Countable Form of Masculine Nouns in the Singular .............................. 102
Plural of Masculine, Feminine and Neuter Gender Nouns ....................... 102
Use of the Article with Masculine,
Feminine and Neuter Gender Nouns of in Plural ................................ 105
Cardinal Numbers From 10 To 1000 ......................................................... 106
Questions &? (when?), %!+? (where?), >@&? (why?) ................ 107
LESSON 5
DIALOGUES ..................................................................................................... 111
GRAMMAR NOTES ......................................................................................... 119
Present Tense of Verbs of the First Group - Conjugation.
Positive, Negative, Interrogative and Negative-Interrogative Forms .... 119
Possessive Pronouns - Short Forms ......................................................... 121
The Past Simple Tense of the Verb $% (to be) - All Forms ..................... 123
LESSON 6
DIALOGUES. ................................................................................................... 127
GRAMMAR NOTES. ....................................................................................... 138
Present Tense of Second Group Verbs - All Forms ................................... 138
Ordinal Numerals from 10 To 1000 ............................................................ 140
The Adjective. Agreement of the Adjective with the Noun.
Use of the Article with Adjectives.
Forming Degrees of Comparison ........................................................ 141
Comparison of Adjectives .......................................................................... 143
LESSON 7
DIALOGUES. ................................................................................................... 147
GRAMMAR NOTES ........................................................................................ 157
Future Tense of the Verb $% (to be) ....................................................... 157
Future Tense of Verbs Maintaining the Same Form
in the Present and the Future Tense .................................................... 158
Negative Pronouns .................................................................................... 160
The Position of the Interrogative Particle E8 ............................................. 161
The Prepositions =! (above, over, more than), &! (under, less than),
+! (in front of, before), +!8 (ago, before), $E+! (after, in) ...... 162
LESSON 8
DIALOGUES. ................................................................................................... 165
GRAMMAR NOTES. ........................................................................................ 174
The Present Tense of Reflexive Verbs ........................................................ 174
The Place of the Reflexive Personal Pronoun .......................................... 175
183
195
195
196
197
199
LESSON 10
DIALOGUES. ................................................................................................... 202
GRAMMAR NOTES. ....................................................................................... 211
Imperfective and Perfective Aspects of Bulgarian Verbs
(1st and 2nd Form of Verbs) ................................................................. 211
The Future Tense (KL ) - Formation; Positive,
Negative, Interrogative and Negative-Interrogative Forms ................. 212
Use of the 2nd Form of Verbs after the Modal Verbs &
(can, may, to be able to), "* (must, should, would,
have to, have got to, need to, ought to), 8$ (want) ...................... 217
Indefinite Pronouns .................................................................................... 219
Demonstrative Pronouns "%, ", "&, "8
(such; like this/these) ............................................................................ 220
Preposition 8> (throughout, in, around, about) ........................................ 220
LESSON 11
DIALOGUES. ................................................................................................... 223
GRAMMAR NOTES. ....................................................................................... 235
The Future Tense - Continuation .............................................................. 235
The Imperative Mood ................................................................................. 235
LESSON 12
DIALOGUES. ................................................................................................... 242
GRAMMAR NOTES ........................................................................................ 252
The Past Simple Tense .............................................................................. 252
The Location of the Short Accusative Form of Personal Pronouns .......... 260
The Location of the Short Accusative and Dative Forms of Personal
Pronouns Used Simultaneously ......................................................... 261
The Preposition +Y!J (&+Y!J) (between) ................................... 261
LESSON 13
DIALOGUES .................................................................................................... 264
GRAMMAR NOTES ........................................................................................ 274
The Past Simple Tense
of the verb Z - [ .................................................................... 274
The Past Simple Tense - Continuation ...................................................... 274
The Compound Predicate in the Past Simple Tense ................................ 277
Complex Sentences Containing Subordinate Object Clauses ................. 279
LESSON 14
DIALOGUES. ................................................................................................... 285
GRAMMAR NOTES ........................................................................................ 294
The Active Past Simple Participle .............................................................. 294
The Past Indefinite Tense .......................................................................... 295
The Past Perfect Tense - Meaning, Formation, Forms ............................. 299
LESSON 15
DIALOGUES. ................................................................................................... 304
GRAMMAR NOTES. ....................................................................................... 310
The Past Continuous Tense - Conjugation and Forms ............................. 310
The Verbal Adverb ..................................................................................... 312
The Passive Participle. The Passive Voice
The Present, Past and Future Tenses of Passive Constructions .............. 312
LESSON 16
DIALOGUES. ................................................................................................... 318
GRAMMAR NOTES ........................................................................................ 331
The Future in the Past ................................................................................ 331
The Conditional Mood ............................................................................... 332
The Future Perfect Tense ........................................................................... 334
The Narrative Mood / The Indirect Indicative Mood .................................. 335
TABLES
TABLE 1
A Comparison of Bulgarian and English Tenses
Juxtaposition of the Tenses - A Simple Guide ................................................ 338
TABLE 2
Verb (to be) - Present, Past, and Future Tenses - All Forms .................... 340
TABLE 3
Present Tense of the Verbs of the First, Second, and Third Groups ............... 341
TABLE 4
First and Second Forms of Some Verbs . ..................................................... 342
TABLE 5
The Past Simple Tense of the Verbs from Table 4. .......................................... 343
TABLE 6
Past Continuous Tense ................................................................................... 344
TABLE 7
Future (Simple) Tense ..................................................................................... 345
TABLE 8
Prepositions and Their Meanings ................................................................... 347
TABLE 9
Pronouns ......................................................................................................... 354
TABLE 10. ....................................................................................................... 358
/ Confirmation and Agreement
/ Disagreement
/ Requests
/ Warnings
!/ Gratitude
+/ Excuses or Apologies
Y/ Lack of Information
>/ Suppositions or Assumptions
8/ Neglect or Ignorance
'/ Hope
/ Praise
E/ When Somebody Is Waiting for Us
TABLE 11
Some Frequently Used Idiomatic Expressions in Bulgarian ......................... 362
TABLE 12
Business Contacts and Correspondence ........................................................ 363
The Customs .................................................................................................... 364
Travelling .......................................................................................................... 366
In Town ............................................................................................................. 368
At the Hotel ....................................................................................................... 369
At thePost Office. On theTelephone .................................................................. 370
At the Bank. Money ............................................................................................ 371
At the Restaurant .............................................................................................. 372
Shopping .......................................................................................................... 375
At the Doctors .................................................................................................. 379
At the Chemists ................................................................................................ 380
The Human Body .............................................................................................. 381
Family. Relatives ............................................................................................... 382
Holidays ............................................................................................................ 382
Education. Occupations .................................................................................... 383
List of Abbreviations:
English:
abt. about
e.g. (exempli gratia) for example
i.e. (id est) that is
n noun
m masculine
f feminine
ntr neuter
sng singular
pl plural
adj adjective
v verb
1p 1st person
2p 2nd person
3p 3rd person
1gr 1st group
2gr 2nd group
3gr 3rd group
1f 1st form
2f 2nd form
colloq. colloquial speech
o.s. oneself
o.s ones
s.b. somebody
s.o. someone
s.th. something
Bulgarian:
.. /masculine gender
..
/feminine gender
..
/neuter gender
..
/singular
..
/plural
^.. ^ _
/the Present
Tense
K.. KL /the Future
Tense
...
_
/the Past Simple Tense
.
..
_
/the Past Continuous Tense
.
`..
`
/the Past
Indefinite Tense
.`..
`
/the Past
Perfect Tense
K..
. KL
/the Future in the Past
&
`
$
"
J
#}
~
_
@L
%
*
[a]
[b]
[v]
[g]
[d]
[e]
[zh]
[z]
[i]
[y]
[k]
[l]
[m]
[n]
[o]
[p]
[r] (hard)
[s]
[t]
[u]
[f]
[h] (aspirate)
[ts]
[ch]
[sh]
[sht]
[]
[~] (softener)
[yu]
[ya]
Examples of respective
English sounds
after, past, path
bit, bright, be, bear
vogue, vivid, violin, vision
get, go, glory, tag
day, dream, destiny, devotion
set, bet, tell, let
illusion, vision, division, fusion
zero, amazing, Zen, zip
grin, inn, sit, hit
boy, toy, yacht, yeoman
key, kid, keep, kit
live, light, letter, litter
man, miracle, make, almost
night, not, near, on
opt, top, stop, dot
pet, pall, please, part
red, rest, read, rubber
set, sit, stop, said
top, talk, tell, let
put, look, took, pudding
fusion, fire, flame, fantasy
hope, hear, had, hut
tsunami, sits, meets
chair, teach, charity, chat
she, shall, shark, shift
ashtray, fishtail, wished, washed
camel, campus, letter, better
(no literal English equivalent)
yurt, you, new, music
yard, yarn, Yankee
INTRODUCTION
"
is a short ;
is an aspirate consonant;
10
(a)
(b)
(v)
(g)
(d)
(e)
(zh)
(z)
(i)
('i 'kratko)
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@
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F
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J
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(k)
(l)
(m)
(n)
(o)
(p)
(r)
(s)
(t)
(u)
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K
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Q$
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[%
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(f)
(h)
(ts)
(ch)
(sh)
(sht)
('er go'lyam)
('er 'malk)
(yu)
(ya)
L
How to read words. The placing of stress.
All the letters in words should be pronounced in the way they are marked
in the Pronunciation Table. Some more explanations as well as special cases
and exceptions are given below.
Bearing in mind that word stress in Bulgarian takes a different place in
each word, there are no rules for learning the placing of stress. Therefore,
each new word should be learned by itself. For the purpose of marking stress,
in this book we have adopted the sign ['] preceding the stressed syllable.
Vowels:
When the wide (open) vowels , , are stressed, they should be
pronounced clearly:
[a] [o] [e]
Examples:
& [a]
_^
^
`
['avgust]
[grat]
[mlat]
['kazvam]
[po'dark]
August
a town; a city
young
to say
a present
11
< [o]
[`
`[
[
`
[
['opit]
['prolet]
['ostrof]
[sport]
[kri'lo]
experience
spring
island
sport
wing
[e]
K
K
['eftin]
['bezhof]
[bes]
[k'de]
[mom'che]
cheap
beige
without
where
boy
However, when the vowels and are unstressed, they get narrower by
reducing their length:
becomes [ ]
.
(a medial sound of [a] and [])
becomes [o]
.
(a medial sound of [o] and [u]).
Examples:
& [ ]
.
K
`
Z^
K[
['azbuk ]
.
['lamp ]
.
['knig ]
.
[v 'blok ]
.
[n . cho'vek ]
.
alphabet
lamp
book
in the block
to/of the man
< [o]
.
K
`
Z
[o'rel]
.
[o'bufk]
.
[mo're]
.
[po'le]
.
[ o'ris]
.
eagle
shoe
sea
field; ground
rice
12
Examples:
[]
`
j^
`
`
[pt]
['gl]
[prst]
[pk]
[t 'kf]
.
way
angle; corner
soil
but; yet
such
J [u]
Z
^
^
[um]
['uch ]
.
[u'chitel]
[ur 'gan]
.
[dru'gar]
mind
to study; to learn
teacher
hurricane
mate; friend
[i]
Z
Z
`
[mil]
[ili]
['kin o]
.
[pri'yatel]
[ide'alno]
.
dear; kind
or
cinema
friend
perfectly, ideal
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The alteration of to [ ]
. is the most frequently found.
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In
particular,
becomes
[ ]
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. at the end of some words.
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The other above-mentioned vowel reductions are not as pronounced.
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The diphthong vowels [yu] and [ya] are each made up of two
letters/sounds:
= +
= +
However, they should be read as single sounds.
The diphthong vowel should be pronounced [yu]:
\
[yu]
^
[yuk]
South
['yuzhen]
southern
}
[yuf'ka]
noodles
[yu'nak]
hero
_
['yun osh
teenager
. ]
.
13
['yablk ]
.
['yastrep]
['yatka]
[ ob'yav
]
.
.
['yagod
. ]
.
apple
hawk
kernel
ad(vertisement)
strawberry
Z
['pravy ]
.
['misly ]
.
['angliy ]
.
['pey ]
.
[na u'chitely ]
.
to do
to think
England
to sing
to/of the teacher
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The vowel alterations
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to [ ]
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. and
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to [y ]
.
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are the most frequently found.
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In particular, a becomes [ ]
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. and becomes [y ]
. at the end of some
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words.
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Other vowel reductions are not as pronounced.
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Consonants.
Voiced consonants should be pronounced in one of two ways:
When a voiced consonant is placed in any position in a given word,
except as the last letter, it should be pronounced in the usual way as a
voiced consonant.
Examples:
' [b]
KK
['bab ]
grandmother
.
K
['byal ]
white (f)
.
14
K
^
~K
[broy]
[bl'gariy ]
.
['hubost]
number; copy
Bulgaria
beauty
[v]
[vr 'ta]
.
['vtre]
[vn]
['vyarv m]
.
['varn ]
.
door
in
out
to believe
Varna (a Bulgarian city)
( [g]
^
[^
^[
^
^_
['garv n]
.
['mnogo]
.
[ge'roy]
[go'lyam]
['greshk ]
.
raven
much; many
hero
big
mistake; error
[d]
[
K
[dr'vo]
[den]
[do'br]
[de'te]
[da]
tree
day
good
child
yes
) [zh]
Y
Z
[zhe'na]
['yuzhen]
[zhe'neva]
['zhito]
[zhif]
woman
southern
Geneva
wheat
alive
* [z]
K
['zebr ]
.
[izvi'nyav m]
.
[zo'ra]
[iz'vesten]
[zvez'da]
zebra
to excuse
dawn
well-known
star
15
When the last letter of the word represents a voiced consonant, the
voiced consonant devocalizes and becomes voiceless. Each devocalized
voiced consonant obtains the sound of the respective voiceless
consonant. Therefore:
K
^
[b]
[v]
[g]
[d]
[zh]
[z]
Examples:
' [p]
~K
K
^K
KK
^K
becomes ` [p]
becomes } [f]
becomes [k]
becomes
[t]
becomes _ [sh]
becomes [s]
[hlyap]
[dp]
['glp]
[bop]
[grup]
bread
oak
pigeon
beans
rude
[f]
Z
Z
~K
[vf ]
['molif ]
['nik kf
]
.
[k 'kf
]
.
['hub f
. ]
in
pencil
none; any; no
what
beautiful; pretty
( [k]
^
^
^
^
^
['dlk]
[vlok]
[druk]
[drak]
[yuk]
long
bank deposit
other; another
dear
South
[t]
^
K
K
^
[glat]
['obet]
[blet]
[grat]
[nat]
hunger
lunch
pale
city; town
above
16
) [sh]
B!
!!
[tara'lesh]
[v 'lesh]
.
[vish]
[drsh]
[ush]
hedgehog
rainfall; snowfall
Look!
Hang it!
as if
* [s]
`
K
[pres]
[vles]
[iz'les]
[sles]
[bes]
through
come in
go out
come down
without
['pesen]
song
`
['pamet]
memory
['pleven]
Pleven (a Bulgarian city)
17
K [f]
}Z
}
}
} Z
} _Z
['filtr]
[film]
[f n'taziy
]
.
.
[f v
. o'rit]
.
[f l'shif]
.
filter
film; movie
fantasy
favourite; pet
false; fake
- [k]
Z
`
Z
[kray]
['kriy ]
.
['krp ]
.
[k 'set
]
.
.
['isk m]
.
end
to hide
towel
cassette (tape)
to want
F [t]
K
`
`
Z
['tryabv ]
.
[tr'py ]
.
[tr'penie]
['tikv ]
.
[t ole'rantn
ost]
.
.
must, to have to
to bear
patience
pumpkin
tolerance
X [sh]
_^
`Z_
_
_}
[she'ga]
['pish ]
.
[shans]
[shef]
[sh ot'landiy
]
.
.
joke
to write
chance
boss; a chief
Scotland
@ [s]
Z
Z
$[}
[sto'y ]
.
['stay ]
.
['istin ]
.
['istinski]
['sofiy ]
.
to stay
room
truth
true, real
Sofia
18
Examples:
/ [l]
`
[
Z
K[
['lamp ]
.
['lotk ]
.
['lilaf]
[lyu'bof]
[let]
lamp
boat
lilac
love
ice
; [m]
[^
['mam ]
.
['mnogo]
.
['malk o]
.
[miriz'ma]
['mlyak o]
.
Mum
much, many
a few; a little, small
smell
milk
! [n]
Z
['nyak oy]
.
['nyakde]
['nik oy]
.
[ne]
[n 'dezhd
]
.
.
somebody
somewhere
nobody
not
hope
? " [r]
[
ZK
`
`
`
['roz ]
.
['rib ]
.
[pret]
[pri]
[pri'yatel]
rose
fish
before; in front
at
friend
[nay]
most
[moy]
my
[yot]
iodine
'[
['yonk o]
Yonko (a mans name)
.
[stoy]
stay
19
The letter is not used alone either. This letter softens the sounds before/after which it is placed. is almost always used in the combination ,
pronounced [~o]=[yo].
Examples:
# [~]
[
}
[
Z
_}[
[ k'tyor]
.
[f nt
. 'zyor]
.
['siny o]
.
['vany o]
.
[sh o'fyor]
.
actor
dreamer
blue
Vanyo (a mans name)
driver
~
['haide]
['hvaly ]
.
['hor ]
.
[hristi'yanin]
[hrast]
Come on!
to praise
people
Christian (m)
bush
The letter % [sht] comprises two separate consonants: [sh] and [t]
linked as single sound.
Examples:
[ % [sht]
L
L
L
L`
L K
20
[shtu'rets]
['shtuk ]
.
['shtastie]
['shtamp ]
.
[shtap]
cricket
pike
happiness
print
staff; headquarters
[tsar]
['tsig nin]
.
[tsirk]
[tsyal]
['tsrkv ]
.
tsar; king
gypsy (m)
circus
whole
church
[che'ta]
[chis'lo]
['chetiri]
['chisty ]
.
['chudo]
.
to read
number
four
to clean
wonder
There also are two sounds, and that although not included in the
alphabet, should be pronounced as a single sound.
Examples:
[dzh]
K
[dzhop]
[dzhas]
[dzhin]
['dzhentlmen]
`
[dzhip]
[dz]
[dzen]
[dzn]
pocket
jazz
gin
gentleman
jeep
Zen
ting
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These are the main rules on reading Bulgarian. For ease of use we
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shall simplify some of them, as you will see in the pronunciation
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examples that follow.
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21
M
^
.
[as sm angli'chanin.]
I am (an) English(man).
" K^
?
[ti 'blgarin li si?]
Bulgarian
is very difficult for me.
[
.
['moyat mzh e le'tets.]
My husband is a pilot.
[
.
['moyata zhe'na e 'lekar.]
My wife is a doctor.
22
.
.
.
8 ^ L `Z
.
['imame go'lyama 'kshta
f pro'vintziyata.]
Y $[}.
[zhi'veem f 'sofiya.]
We live in Sofia.
`
KZ ^
.
[aparta'mentt ni e
'blizo do 'garata.]
Our apartment
is near the station.
.
.
$
.
[se'stra mu e o'mzhena.]
^ Z
.
[bl'gariya e kra'siva stra'na.]
Y[
~ .
[zhi'vott tuk mi ha'resva.]
- Z ^[
?
- [ K
^Z.
.
Z?
- >
Z
Z
Z. = Z ^[
.
- ?
- .
.
?
-
.
.
.
.
.
23
- [ K[
_?
-
Z
.
K[
[ `
.
[- kak'vo ra'botish?
- as sm zhurna'list. ra'botya za
ed'no spi'sanie]
- ?
- .
.
- 8 ~
KZ?
- Z ~
Z
.
- ?
-
.
- "
^
?
- =,
Z
.
- ?
- =
_ .
- Is she English?
- No, she is Russian.
- What is her name?
- Her name is Natasha.
[- tya angli'chanka li e?
- ne tya e rus'kinya.
- kak se 'kazva?
- 'kazva se na'tasha.]
- ?
- , .
- ?
- .
- Hello, Julia.
- Hello, Tanya!
- How are you?
- I am fine, thank you. And you?
- So-so.
[- zdra'vey 'yuliya
- zdra'vey 'tanya
- kak si
- blagoda'rya. do'bre sm .a ti?
- 'gore 'dolu.]
- e, .
-, !
- ?
- . . ?
- -.
24
- ![K
, ^`!
- ![K
, ^`Z
!
-
.
8
.
8 ^[
L .
- > `
, ^`Z
.
J`
.
Y
L `Z
}, ,
?
- ^ . E
},
KZ
.
[-'dobr den.
-'dobr den.
- Pri'yatno mi e. 'kazvam se i'van
'kunchev. 'imam ugo'vorena 'sreshta.
- zapo'vyadayte, gospo'din 'kunchev.
gospo'din up'ravitelyat vi o'chakva.
zhe'laete li 'neshto za 'piene ka'fe, chay, mine'ralna vo'da?
- blagoda'rya vi. ed'no ka'fe,
ako o'bichate.]
- o !
- o !
- . a
. .
- , - .
.
, , ?
- . E ,
.
- ![K , !
- ![K , L.
&
K _?
- "-L `
Z^
~
^.
$ L L.
-
[^ . @
.
L
` .
-
.
! [!
- e, !
- e, .
?
- -
. .
- .
. .
- . !
25
`
.
- = Z _ `.
- , !
?
- -
.
- ,
.
- .
NOTA BENE
In Bulgarian, there are two styles of fonts. Note that small letters like ,
, , , , , sometimes confuse English speaking people because of
their similarity with Latin letters.
K
^
!
+
Y
>
8
'
26
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
E
=
&
`
$
"
J
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
!
"#
#}
~
=
=
$%
&
_
@L
%
*
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
'(
)*
+,
-.
/0
1
23
45