The third letter in the Bulgarian alphabet looks like the English B, but it sounds like the English V. It looks like this:
В в
The word for the day is probably not something that you'll really use as a beginning speaker, but I think it's appropriate for the day. The word is:
cnyag
It means snow. Can you guess what gender the noun is? If you can't remember how to determine genders, check out the post on January 18, "A dose of grammar...and some new words." The answer is below the sound byte below.
сняг is a masculine noun.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Letter Б б and Pronouns
It's the weekend, so it seems like a good time to write about some tougher stuff.
But first, the letter of the day. Just like English, the second letter in the Bulgarian alphabet is a "b" sound. Unlike English, it looks like this:
Б б
Now to the big stuff:
I want to start introducing some basic verbs. Before I can do that though, you have to know the basic pronouns. You'll see why later when I introduce verbs. For right now, just focus on pronouns.
The following are all the pronouns in the subjective case, meaning they can all take the place of the subject of a sentence:
az = I
ti = you (informal or singular you)
toi = he
tya = she
to = it
nie = we
vie = you (formal or group you, such as "you all")
te = they
Before I show you how these sound, I want to quickly go over the Bulgarian idea of the informal and formal you. Let's use this sentence as an example: "Do you want coffee?" If I was at home asking my wife or anybody with whom I was personally familiar, I would use the pronoun "ti." However, if I was asking a superior, a customer at a restaurant, or someone with whom I was unfamiliar, I would want to use the pronoun "vie."
The Bulgarian language is not the only language that does this. I know the German language does this. It's something that didn't transfer over or got lost along the way in the English language.
Now, here's how those subjective pronouns sound. I'll be honest, I don't think I have the pronunciation for "he" correct, but it's the best we can do for the moment.
Dobur den.
But first, the letter of the day. Just like English, the second letter in the Bulgarian alphabet is a "b" sound. Unlike English, it looks like this:
Б б
Now to the big stuff:
I want to start introducing some basic verbs. Before I can do that though, you have to know the basic pronouns. You'll see why later when I introduce verbs. For right now, just focus on pronouns.
The following are all the pronouns in the subjective case, meaning they can all take the place of the subject of a sentence:
az = I
ti = you (informal or singular you)
toi = he
tya = she
to = it
nie = we
vie = you (formal or group you, such as "you all")
te = they
Before I show you how these sound, I want to quickly go over the Bulgarian idea of the informal and formal you. Let's use this sentence as an example: "Do you want coffee?" If I was at home asking my wife or anybody with whom I was personally familiar, I would use the pronoun "ti." However, if I was asking a superior, a customer at a restaurant, or someone with whom I was unfamiliar, I would want to use the pronoun "vie."
The Bulgarian language is not the only language that does this. I know the German language does this. It's something that didn't transfer over or got lost along the way in the English language.
Now, here's how those subjective pronouns sound. I'll be honest, I don't think I have the pronunciation for "he" correct, but it's the best we can do for the moment.
Dobur den.
Bulgaria Fighting Back
Bulgaria isn't letting the fact that Russia and Ukraine essentially stopped their natural gas supplies just slip away. Here's some news from Radio Bulgaria:
Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov has officially handed a letter to the Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Board of Directors Alexander Medvedev, spelling out Bulgaria’s main demands for compensations in the wake of the cut-off of gas supplies. The letter outlines three possible ways for Bulgaria to receive compensations for the losses that it suffered during the gas crisis – direct payments, supply of gas at cut-down prices and access to Russia’s gas transiting system for the delivery of gas that Bulgaria buys by third countries.
Economy and Energy Minister Petar Dimitrov has officially handed a letter to the Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Board of Directors Alexander Medvedev, spelling out Bulgaria’s main demands for compensations in the wake of the cut-off of gas supplies. The letter outlines three possible ways for Bulgaria to receive compensations for the losses that it suffered during the gas crisis – direct payments, supply of gas at cut-down prices and access to Russia’s gas transiting system for the delivery of gas that Bulgaria buys by third countries.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Airplane and Letter A
I realized that I've been showing the Bulgarian letters without explaining what they sound like. So, in addition to adding a new word, I'm going to start going through one letter of the Bulgarian alphabet every day.
The first letter in the Bulgarian alphabet is exactly the same as the English alphabet:
a
The sound is like the English "ah," as in the word Amish.
The word for today is airplane, which looks like this:
samolet
They both sound like this:
The first letter in the Bulgarian alphabet is exactly the same as the English alphabet:
a
The sound is like the English "ah," as in the word Amish.
The word for today is airplane, which looks like this:
samolet
They both sound like this:
Leka nosht.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Today
I've done yesterday and tomorrow. Now let's learn today.
It looks like this:
nes
Sounds like this:
It looks like this:
nes
Sounds like this:
Leka nosht.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Tomorrow
Dobur vecher.
I'll keep it simple again today. The word today is tomorrow. It looks like this:
ootre
Sounds like this:
Leka nosht.
I'll keep it simple again today. The word today is tomorrow. It looks like this:
ootre
Sounds like this:
Leka nosht.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Yesterday
The last post was tough. I'll keep today simple.
Today's word is yesterday. It looks like this:
vchere
Sounds like this:
Today's word is yesterday. It looks like this:
vchere
Sounds like this:
Sunday, January 18, 2009
A dose of grammar...and some new words
Since I took a few days off last week, I'm going to put a lot of information out today.
I've talked a little bit about the gender of nouns and adjectives in a few of the posts. Up to this point, I've said that the only way to know the gender of a noun is to memorize it. That's still true. However, the Bulgarian language is nice enough to give hints as to what the gender of the noun is if you don't have the gender memorized. Today, I'm going to talk about those hints.
Let's start with the easier genders, feminine and neutral. Note that these hints only work for the singular form of these nouns.
In general, a singular feminine noun ends with an -a or a -ya sound. These are all feminine nouns:
oolitsa = street
voda = water
rakiya = Bulgarian brandy
Notice that they all end in a. Hear them here:
Let's move on to a singular neutral nouns. Typically, these nouns end in an -e or -o. These are all neutral nouns:
vino = wine
tsvete = flower
dete = child
As you can see, it is relatively simple to decide on the gender of a feminine or neuter singular noun.
Masculine nouns can be a little trickier, but there are still ways to determine a masculine noun. One simple way is process of elimination. If the noun is singular and doesn't end in -a, -ya, -o, or -e, it's most likely masculine. Also, masculine nouns tend to end in consonsants. Here are some masculine nouns:
brat = brother
chovek = person
stol = chair
These rules don't always work, though. Just to prove it, here's a word:
bashta = father
According to the rules layed out here, bashta would be a feminine noun because it ends in -a. However, it is a masculine noun; it would be weird to have a noun meaning father be feminine.
I don't add this last word in to make these rules confusing, but just to illustrate a point: ultimately, genders have to be memorized. However, you can use these hints to guess at the gender of the noun and get it right often enough.
And, if this doesn't all make sense, don't worry about it. For people who need to learn a few important words when traveling to the country, knowing the grammar this deeply isn't integral. I'm introducing the rules, though, so that I can continue returning to them as the blog goes on.
Now you've got 10 new words and some grammar rules. Have fun!
I've talked a little bit about the gender of nouns and adjectives in a few of the posts. Up to this point, I've said that the only way to know the gender of a noun is to memorize it. That's still true. However, the Bulgarian language is nice enough to give hints as to what the gender of the noun is if you don't have the gender memorized. Today, I'm going to talk about those hints.
Let's start with the easier genders, feminine and neutral. Note that these hints only work for the singular form of these nouns.
In general, a singular feminine noun ends with an -a or a -ya sound. These are all feminine nouns:
oolitsa = street
voda = water
rakiya = Bulgarian brandy
Notice that they all end in a. Hear them here:
Let's move on to a singular neutral nouns. Typically, these nouns end in an -e or -o. These are all neutral nouns:
vino = wine
tsvete = flower
dete = child
As you can see, it is relatively simple to decide on the gender of a feminine or neuter singular noun.
Masculine nouns can be a little trickier, but there are still ways to determine a masculine noun. One simple way is process of elimination. If the noun is singular and doesn't end in -a, -ya, -o, or -e, it's most likely masculine. Also, masculine nouns tend to end in consonsants. Here are some masculine nouns:
brat = brother
chovek = person
stol = chair
These rules don't always work, though. Just to prove it, here's a word:
bashta = father
According to the rules layed out here, bashta would be a feminine noun because it ends in -a. However, it is a masculine noun; it would be weird to have a noun meaning father be feminine.
I don't add this last word in to make these rules confusing, but just to illustrate a point: ultimately, genders have to be memorized. However, you can use these hints to guess at the gender of the noun and get it right often enough.
And, if this doesn't all make sense, don't worry about it. For people who need to learn a few important words when traveling to the country, knowing the grammar this deeply isn't integral. I'm introducing the rules, though, so that I can continue returning to them as the blog goes on.
Now you've got 10 new words and some grammar rules. Have fun!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Goodbye
Sorry for the few days off here. I started my new job and it threw off my schedule a little bit. But, I think what I'll do is pick all the words for the week tomorrow so that I can easily post new words mre frequently.
In any case, we spent last week learning greetings. Now, it's time to learn how to say goodbye:
dovijdane
It looks a lot harder than it sounds.
In any case, we spent last week learning greetings. Now, it's time to learn how to say goodbye:
dovijdane
It looks a lot harder than it sounds.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Good night
Here is the final time-based greeting, although this phrase is often used to say good night when leaving a host's house or going to bed rather than as an initial greeting. Today, we'll learn how to say "Good night."
Let's do it backwards this time. The second word in the phrase is:
nosht
The word means night. It is a feminine noun.
So, here's the test. What gender should the adjective in the phrase take: masculine, feminine, or netural?
If you said feminine, you are correct. As we learned last week, an adjective always adapts its gender to the gender of the noun that it is modifying.
Let's look now at the first word in the phrase:
leka
Leka literally means light. It doesn't mean light as in the opposite of dark; it means light as in the opposite of heavy. If you wanted to use this adjective to describe a masculine noun, you would use "lek." If you wanted to modify a neutral noun, you would use "leko."
Now we know how to say "Good night" in Bulgarian: leka nosht.
Let's do it backwards this time. The second word in the phrase is:
nosht
The word means night. It is a feminine noun.
So, here's the test. What gender should the adjective in the phrase take: masculine, feminine, or netural?
If you said feminine, you are correct. As we learned last week, an adjective always adapts its gender to the gender of the noun that it is modifying.
Let's look now at the first word in the phrase:
leka
Leka literally means light. It doesn't mean light as in the opposite of dark; it means light as in the opposite of heavy. If you wanted to use this adjective to describe a masculine noun, you would use "lek." If you wanted to modify a neutral noun, you would use "leko."
Now we know how to say "Good night" in Bulgarian: leka nosht.
Leka nosht everyone.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The gas is back
After six days, Russia has again allowed gas to flow through Ukraine's pipeline. It will take roughly another day for the gas to make it from Russia through Ukraine to all the countries that have been affected.
Full story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28632222
Full story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28632222
Monday, January 12, 2009
Good evening
So far, we've had good morning and good day/afternoon. We've got two more time-based greetings to go.
Tonight, let's look at "Good evening." You already know the first word from the last post:
dobur
Of course, this means "good." Can you remember why we use dobur here instead of dobro?
It's because the noun that the adjective dobur modifies is masculine. That word means evening and looks like this:
vecher
Put these two words together and we've got "Good evening:" dobur vecher.
My Bulgarian is not home right now to record the words like last time, but I'll do my best:
Tonight, let's look at "Good evening." You already know the first word from the last post:
dobur
Of course, this means "good." Can you remember why we use dobur here instead of dobro?
It's because the noun that the adjective dobur modifies is masculine. That word means evening and looks like this:
vecher
Put these two words together and we've got "Good evening:" dobur vecher.
My Bulgarian is not home right now to record the words like last time, but I'll do my best:
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Good day/afternoon
Let's continue the theme of greeting people with another phrase that means "Good day" or "Good afternoon."
The first word in the phrase is:
dobur
It means good, nice. You might recognize that the word means the same and looks similar to the word from yesterday. That's because dobur is the same word as dobro.
This is a good time to introduce an important component of the Bulgarian language. Every noun in the Bulgarian language is assigned a gender: masculine, feminine, or neutral. The gender of the noun never changes.
Adjectives that describe a noun do change, though, depending on the gender of the noun they are describing. If we look at yesterday, the noun in the phrase was utro, which is a neutral noun. Therefore, the adjective describing it also needed to take the neutral case, dobro.
Well, today the noun in the phrase is den, which is a masculine noun. Therefore, the adjective describing it needs to take the masculine case, which is dobur.
Got it?
I'm sure that we'll be repeating this a lot, so don't worry if it doesn't all make sense now. It will.
I already introduced the second word in the phrase:
den
Den means day. So, now you know how to say good day in Bulgarian: dobur den.
Hear it below (from a real Bulgarian, not a practicing one):
The first word in the phrase is:
dobur
It means good, nice. You might recognize that the word means the same and looks similar to the word from yesterday. That's because dobur is the same word as dobro.
This is a good time to introduce an important component of the Bulgarian language. Every noun in the Bulgarian language is assigned a gender: masculine, feminine, or neutral. The gender of the noun never changes.
Adjectives that describe a noun do change, though, depending on the gender of the noun they are describing. If we look at yesterday, the noun in the phrase was utro, which is a neutral noun. Therefore, the adjective describing it also needed to take the neutral case, dobro.
Well, today the noun in the phrase is den, which is a masculine noun. Therefore, the adjective describing it needs to take the masculine case, which is dobur.
Got it?
I'm sure that we'll be repeating this a lot, so don't worry if it doesn't all make sense now. It will.
I already introduced the second word in the phrase:
den
Den means day. So, now you know how to say good day in Bulgarian: dobur den.
Hear it below (from a real Bulgarian, not a practicing one):
And now, news from Nigeria
It's a blog about Bulgaria, but, of course, we have close ties to Nigeria.
A popular mode of transportation in Nigeria is motorcycle taxi. There are thousands of them driving around the big cities of Nigeria. The drivers drive carelessly, and sometimes there can be four to five people loaded up on just one motorcycle. It's understandable because they don't have a lot of money for better transportation, but it's also very dangerous.
As a way to decrease injuries and deaths, the Nigerian government made a new law this year that required all motorcycle taxi drivers to wear a helmet. Helmets cost money, which the drivers don't have. So, instead of helmets, they got creative and used these:
It's a calabash, which is basically like a dried out pumpkin by the time they use it as a helmet.
Unfortunately, their ingenuity isn't protecting them from being fined. Police do not accept calabash as helmets.
It will be interesting to see how well the government is able to enforce this law. The drivers don't have the money to buy helmets or pay fines if they are caught. I wonder if the law is a disguised way for the government to try to cut down on the total number of motorcycle taxis.
Full story from the BBC here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7813418.stm
A popular mode of transportation in Nigeria is motorcycle taxi. There are thousands of them driving around the big cities of Nigeria. The drivers drive carelessly, and sometimes there can be four to five people loaded up on just one motorcycle. It's understandable because they don't have a lot of money for better transportation, but it's also very dangerous.
As a way to decrease injuries and deaths, the Nigerian government made a new law this year that required all motorcycle taxi drivers to wear a helmet. Helmets cost money, which the drivers don't have. So, instead of helmets, they got creative and used these:
It's a calabash, which is basically like a dried out pumpkin by the time they use it as a helmet.
Unfortunately, their ingenuity isn't protecting them from being fined. Police do not accept calabash as helmets.
It will be interesting to see how well the government is able to enforce this law. The drivers don't have the money to buy helmets or pay fines if they are caught. I wonder if the law is a disguised way for the government to try to cut down on the total number of motorcycle taxis.
Full story from the BBC here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7813418.stm
Friday, January 9, 2009
Good morning
Since I missed one yesterday, I thought I'd mention two words today.
The first word:
dobro
Dobro means kind, good, nice.
The second word:
utro
Utro means morning.
So, we can put these two words together to make the phrase "Good morning."
The whole phrase sounds like this:
The first word:
dobro
Dobro means kind, good, nice.
The second word:
utro
Utro means morning.
So, we can put these two words together to make the phrase "Good morning."
The whole phrase sounds like this:
PS: I thought it might be helpful to visually show the syllable that is emphasized in each word. In the two examples above, the bolded syllables are emphasized.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
No gas for Bulgaria
Europe gets the majority of its natural gas from Russia. This, of course, can be problematic if Russia ever decides to force its hand and use the natural gas supply as a bargaining tool.
Which it just did.
Russia made the decision to cut its gas supply after it could not settle a dispute with Ukraine. Here's some of the AP story:
"Russia stopped all gas shipments to Ukraine on Jan. 1 after the two countries failed to agree on prices and transit fees for 2009. Gazprom [Russia's gas monopoly] also insists that Naftogaz [Ukraine's gas company] still owes $600 million for 2008.
"In 2008, Russia charged Ukraine about half what it charged its European customers for gas. The subsidy is a legacy of the Soviet era, when both countries were part of the Soviet Union.
"Gazprom has long sought to charge Ukraine European-level prices. Ukraine says that if it pays more for natural gas, Russia should pay more for shipping that gas through Ukraine."
If this was just a situation between Ukraine and Russia, that would be one thing. However, the decision to stop the gas supply affects a lot of other European countries, particularly Bulgaria. As of last night, Varna and another Black Sea town had no natural gas supplies. That means no heat for thousands of Bulgarians.
For the full story from the AP, click here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28515983
Which it just did.
Russia made the decision to cut its gas supply after it could not settle a dispute with Ukraine. Here's some of the AP story:
"Russia stopped all gas shipments to Ukraine on Jan. 1 after the two countries failed to agree on prices and transit fees for 2009. Gazprom [Russia's gas monopoly] also insists that Naftogaz [Ukraine's gas company] still owes $600 million for 2008.
"In 2008, Russia charged Ukraine about half what it charged its European customers for gas. The subsidy is a legacy of the Soviet era, when both countries were part of the Soviet Union.
"Gazprom has long sought to charge Ukraine European-level prices. Ukraine says that if it pays more for natural gas, Russia should pay more for shipping that gas through Ukraine."
If this was just a situation between Ukraine and Russia, that would be one thing. However, the decision to stop the gas supply affects a lot of other European countries, particularly Bulgaria. As of last night, Varna and another Black Sea town had no natural gas supplies. That means no heat for thousands of Bulgarians.
For the full story from the AP, click here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28515983
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Hello
In any language, people use different words depending on how familiar they are with the person to whom they are speaking. The Bulgarian language is no different.
When greeting someone with whom you are familiar, it is common to use this word to say hello:
zdrasti
To hear the word, click below.
When greeting someone with whom you are familiar, it is common to use this word to say hello:
zdrasti
To hear the word, click below.
My name is...
This is how to introduce your name in Bulgarian. It seems like a good place to start.
Kazvam ce Steven.
It sounds like this:
Kazvam ce Steven.
It sounds like this:
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