Bulgarian Letter О: An Open O That Never Turns Into A
The Bulgarian letter О is the fifteenth letter of the alphabet and a vowel pronounced [ɔ], like the ‘o’ in British ‘hot’ or American ‘thought’. Its name is simply о. In unstressed syllables it moves toward [o], close to У. It never sounds like ‘a’ as in Russian. It is transliterated as o.
The Bulgarian letter О is a rounded vowel, an open ‘o’ made with the lips in a loose circle. It looks like English O and sounds close to the ‘o’ in British ‘lot’. Two details matter: what О does when it is unstressed, and how differently it behaves from Russian О.
How to pronounce the Bulgarian letter О
In a stressed syllable, open the jaw a little more than for English ‘go’ and do not glide into ‘oh-w’. The sound is short and steady. In unstressed syllables the phonology literature describes О rising toward a closer [o], so that unstressed О and У come close together. In relaxed speech an unstressed О can sound almost like ‘u’.
| Word | Transliteration | Meaning | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|
| око | oko | eye | |
| обичам | obicham | I love | |
| огън | ogan | fire | |
| село | selo | village | |
| добро утро | dobro utro | good morning |
In око (oko, eye) the stress falls on the first О, so the second one is a little closer and shorter. Listen for it with the play button.
Bulgarian О vs Russian О
This is the most important comparison on the page. Russian turns unstressed О into an ‘a’-like sound, called akanye: Russian ‘молоко‘ (milk) sounds like ‘malako’. Bulgarian reduces in the other direction, toward ‘u’. A Russian speaker who reads добро утро with akanye produces something like ‘dabro utra’. Bulgarians say something closer to ‘dobro utro’, with every vowel rounded. See good morning in Bulgarian to practice the phrase.
A heavy ‘u’ for every unstressed О is typical of eastern dialects. Standard speech keeps it as a closer ‘o’, so learners should not exaggerate the shift.
Bulgarian has no Ё. The sound ‘yo’ is written йо or ьо, as in Йордан (Yordan) and шофьор (shofyor, driver). Both are transliterated yo.
О as a grammar marker
Final –О usually marks a neuter noun or adjective: село (selo, village), дърво (darvo, tree), хубаво (hubavo, nice). The neuter definite article is –то, so ‘the village’ is селото (seloto). Adverbs often end in –о too: бързо (barzo, quickly), though the everyday добре (dobre, well, fine) ends in –е. Loanwords like радио (radio) and кино (kino, cinema) fit right into the neuter pattern.
That grammatical role helps make О the third most frequent Bulgarian letter. A corpus count by Sttmedia puts it at about 8.4%, after А and И.
Short words that start with О
Several of the most frequent Bulgarian words begin with О. The preposition от (ot, from; by) appears in almost every sentence, and още (oshte, more; still) is the word to use when you want another coffee. Отговор (otgovor, answer) and отворено (otvoreno, open) are both common on signs and forms. On a shop door, ОТВОРЕНО means open and ЗАТВОРЕНО means closed.
Transliteration
Under the 2009 Transliteration Act, О is always o. Пловдив is Plovdiv and Созопол is Sozopol, even if a local speaker makes the unstressed О sound closer to ‘u’. Our Bulgarian alphabet to English page lists the letter-by-letter equivalents.
Common mistakes with the Bulgarian letter О
- Saying the English ‘oh-w’ glide of ‘go’. Bulgarian О is a pure vowel.
- Applying Russian akanye and saying ‘a’ for unstressed О.
- Over-reducing unstressed О to a full ‘u’ in formal speech.
- Writing ё for the ‘yo’ sound instead of йо or ьо.
Before О comes Н; after it comes П.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce the Bulgarian letter О?
As an open ‘o’, similar to British ‘hot’. Unstressed, it becomes a little closer and can sound near ‘u’.
Does Bulgarian О sound like ‘a’ when unstressed, like in Russian?
No. Bulgarian unstressed О moves toward ‘u’, not toward ‘a’. Russian-style akanye sounds foreign in Bulgarian.
What does a final -о mean in Bulgarian?
It often marks a neuter noun or adjective, such as село (village). The neuter definite article is -то.
How is О transliterated?
As o in the official Streamlined System. The combinations йо and ьо become yo.
Sources
- Bulgarian alphabet (Wikipedia)
- Bulgarian phonology (Wikipedia)
- Transliteration Act, SG No. 19/2009 (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works)
- Bulgarian letter frequency (Sttmedia corpus count)