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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyrillic alphabets | 2/6 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_alphabets | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T08:11:27.700181+00:00 | kb-cron |
The Bulgarian names for the consonants are [bɤ], [kɤ], [ɫɤ] (bǔ, kǔ, lǔ) etc. instead of [bɛ], [ka], [ɛl] (be, ka, el) etc. Е represents /ɛ/ and is called "е" [ɛ]. Unlike in other Slavic languages, the sound [jɛ] does not exist in native words, being replaced with Е in most cases. The sounds /dʒ/ (/d͡ʒ/) and /dz/ (/d͡z/) are represented by the digraphs дж and дз respectively, as in Belarusian and Ukrainian. Short I (Й, й) represents /j/, as in Russian. Щ represents /ʃt/ (/ʃ͡t/) and is called "щъ" [ʃtɤ] ([ʃ͡tɤ]). Ъ represents the vowel /ɤ/, and is called "ер голям" (IPA: [ˈɛr ɡoˈʎam]) ('big er'). Despite the official name being "big er", the letter is only referred to as that in the context of the alphabet, and is usually called /ɤ/ in common speech. The vowel Ъ /ɤ/ is sometimes approximated to the /ə/ (schwa) sound found in many languages for easier comprehension of its Bulgarian pronunciation for foreigners, but it is actually a back vowel, not a central vowel. Ь is used on rare occasions (only after a consonant [and] before the vowel "о"), such as in the words 'каньон' (canyon), 'шофьор' (driver/chauffeur), etc. It represents the sound [j], unless after Г, К and Л, in which case it palatalizes them to [ɟ], [c] and [ʎ]. It is called "ер малък" [ˈɛr ˈmalɐk] ('small er'). Before 1945, the letter Ѣ (yat) was used. In eastern dialects, the letter would be pronounced as [ɛ] or [ja] depending on the context, while in western dialects, it would be pronounced almost exclusively as [ɛ]. This led to cases in which words such as млѣко (Modern Bulgarian: мляко) would be pronounced as "mlyako" in the east, but as "mleko" in the west. In 1945, the letter was abolished and replaced by Я or Е, depending on its use in the eastern dialects. The letter is also referred to as "е двойно" (double e). Before 1945, the letter Ѫ (big yus) was used. In early Bulgarian, the letter represented the nasal vowel [ɔ̃]. By the late 18th century however, the sound had shifted to /ɤ/, the same sound as Ъ, and was mostly used in its etymological locations. There are no differences between the two, apart from the fact that Ѫ can be used at the end of words. In 1945, the letter was abolished along with Ѣ (yat) and was replaced by А or Ъ. It is sometimes referred to as "голяма носовка" (big nasal sign) and "ъ широко" (wide ъ). For a brief period, the letter Ѭ (iotated big yus) was used, during the use of the Drinov Orthography, and represented the sound [jɐ] or /jɤ/ in words verb conjugations, for example in търпѭ (IPA: /tɐrˈpjɤ/). The letter Ѫ was also used for the same purpose alongside its normal usage. In 1899, both letters replaced in verb conjugations by Я and А in all cases as part of the new Ivanchov Orthography. The Cyrillic alphabet was originally developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 9th – 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School. It has been used in Bulgaria (with modifications and exclusion of certain archaic letters via spelling reforms) continuously since then, superseding the previously used Glagolitic alphabet, which was also invented and used there before the Cyrillic script overtook its use as a written script for the Bulgarian language. The Cyrillic alphabet was used in the then much bigger territory of Bulgaria (including most of today's Serbia), North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Northern Greece (Macedonia region), Romania and Moldova, officially from 893. It was also transferred from Bulgaria and adopted by the East Slavic languages in Kievan Rus' and evolved into the Russian alphabet and the alphabets of many other Slavic (and later non-Slavic) languages. Later, some Slavs modified it and added/excluded letters from it to better suit the needs of their own language varieties.
==== Serbian ====
South Slavic Cyrillic alphabets (with the exception of Bulgarian) are generally derived from Serbian Cyrillic. It, and by extension its descendants, differs from the East Slavic ones in that the alphabet has generally been simplified: Letters such as Й, Я, Ю, and Щ representing /j/, /ja/, /ju/, and /ɕ(ː)/ in Russian, respectively, have been removed. Instead, these are represented by the letter ⟨Ј⟩ and digraphs ⟨ја⟩, ⟨ју⟩, and ⟨шч/шт⟩, respectively. Additionally, the letter Е, representing /je/ in Russian, is instead pronounced /e/ or /ɛ/, with /je/ being represented by ⟨је⟩. Alphabets based on the Serbian that add new letters often do so by adding an acute accent ⟨´⟩ over an existing letter.
The Serbian alphabet shows the following features:
E represents /ɛ/. Between Д and E is the letter Dje (Ђ, ђ), representing /dʑ/, which looks like Tshe, except that the loop of the h curls farther and dips downwards. Between И and К is the letter Je (Ј, ј), representing /j/, which looks like the Latin letter J. Between Л and М is the letter Lje (Љ, љ), representing /ʎ/, which looks like a ligature of Л and the Soft Sign. Between Н and О is the letter Nje (Њ, њ), representing /ɲ/, which looks like a ligature of Н and the Soft Sign. Between Т and У is the letter Tshe (Ћ, ћ), representing /tɕ/ and looks like a lowercase Latin letter h with a bar. On the uppercase letter, the bar appears at the top; on the lowercase letter, the bar crosses the top at half of the vertical line. Between Ч and Ш is the letter Dzhe (Џ, џ), representing /dʒ/, which looks like Tse but with the descender moved from the right side of the bottom bar to the middle of the bottom bar. Ш is the last letter. Certain letters are handwritten differently, as seen in the adjacent image.
==== Montenegrin ====
The Montenegrin alphabet differs from Serbian in the following ways: