Bulgarian Letter З: The Z That Looks Like a 3
The Bulgarian letter З is the eighth letter of the alphabet and a consonant pronounced [z], like the ‘z’ in ‘zoo’. Its name is зъ (zuh). It looks like the number 3. At the end of a word or before a voiceless consonant it sounds like [s]. It is transliterated as z.
The Bulgarian letter З is a ‘z’, as in ‘zero’. Its shape is the problem: it is almost identical to the digit 3. On price tags, timetables and handwritten notes, learners regularly read a З as a number, or a number as a letter.
How to pronounce the Bulgarian letter З
З is a buzzing ‘z’ with the tongue tip near the upper teeth. It is a dental sound, like Bulgarian Д and Т, but the difference from English ‘z’ is slight.
| Word | Transliteration | Meaning | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|
| зима | zima | winter | |
| здравей | zdravey | hello | |
| звезда | zvezda | star | |
| зелен | zelen | green | |
| мраз | mraz | frost (said ‘mras’) |
З is the first letter of the most useful word in Bulgarian, здравей (zdravey, hello). The cluster здр is a mouthful, so practice it slowly: ‘z’, then ‘dr’, without a vowel in between. English speakers tend to insert a little ‘uh’, which makes the word sound like ‘zuh-dravey’. See hello in Bulgarian for the formal and casual versions.
When З sounds like С
At the end of a word З devoices to [s]: мраз (mraz, frost) is said ‘mras’. Inside a word it does the same before voiceless consonants. The phonology overview gives изток (iztok, east) as an example: it is pronounced ‘istok’.
The effect also runs the other way. A voiceless С before a voiced consonant takes on the buzz of З, so сграда (sgrada, building) is pronounced ‘zgrada’. Spelling never shows either change, which is why reading aloud from text takes practice.
The без-, из-, раз– rule: Bulgarian vs Russian
This is where Bulgarian spelling is kinder than Russian. Bulgarian keeps the prefixes без– (without), из– (out), раз– and въз– with their З, whatever follows. You write безплатен (bezplaten, free of charge) and изток (iztok, east), even though you say an ‘s’.
Russian changes the spelling to match the sound: ‘бесплатный‘, ‘исток‘. Russian speakers often carry that habit over and write ‘бесплатен‘, which is wrong in Bulgarian. The Bulgarian vs Russian alphabet page lists more such contrasts.
When transliterating, follow the letter, not the sound. Безплатен is bezplaten, and a village starting with Из– starts with Iz-.
The Bulgarian lowercase з
In Russian fonts lowercase з is a small copy of the capital. Bulgarian typefaces often give it a slightly handwritten feel, according to type.today. Compare з in Bulgarian letterforms with the plain Russian-style form. In handwriting, З is usually written like a 3 with a tail.
Name, transliteration and frequency
The letter is called зъ, ‘zuh’; Russian says ‘zé’. The 2009 Transliteration Act gives z, so Загора in Стара Загора becomes Zagora. З is moderately common, ranked 14th of 30 at about 2.4% of letters in a corpus count by Sttmedia. The preposition за (za, for) accounts for much of that. On the map, look for Стара Загора (Stara Zagora) and Казанлък (Kazanlak), the town of the Rose Valley.
Common mistakes with the Bulgarian letter З
- Reading З as the digit 3, especially in handwriting and on signs.
- Confusing it with Ж. З is ‘z’; Ж is ‘zh’.
- Pronouncing a full ‘z’ in мраз or at the end of words. Say ‘s’.
- Copying Russian spellings like бес– or ис-. Bulgarian keeps без– and из-.
After З comes И, a letter that looks like a backwards N.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce the Bulgarian letter З?
Like English ‘z’ in ‘zoo’. At the end of a word or before a voiceless consonant it sounds like ‘s’.
Is the Bulgarian З the number 3?
No, it is the letter for ‘z’. It looks like a 3, so read the context: digits rarely appear inside words.
Why is безплатен spelled with З if you hear an ‘s’?
Bulgarian keeps prefixes like без- and из- unchanged in spelling. Russian, by contrast, writes бес- before voiceless consonants.
What is the letter З called?
Its name is зъ, pronounced ‘zuh’.
Sources
- Bulgarian alphabet (Wikipedia)
- Bulgarian phonology (Wikipedia)
- Transliteration Act, SG No. 19/2009 (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works)
- Bulgarian Cyrillic letterforms (type.today)
- Bulgarian letter frequency (Sttmedia corpus count)