Seeing the Sights

Unit 3 takes Boris, Peter, and Peter’s wife Ivanka sightseeing through Sofia. They visit the Alexander Nevski Church, discuss exchanging money at the bank, and take a short walk past landmarks. Along the way you learn vocabulary for tourist activities, banking, and giving directions. The grammar notes cover Bulgarian vowels and diphthongs, introduce the full Cyrillic alphabet with detailed phonetic values, and explain noun plurals and plural definite articles.

Basic Sentences

Seeing the Sights

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
they have looked at	разгледали са
the museum	музея
the cathedral	катедралата
Boris, Peter and his wife have been to see the museum and the cathedral.	Борис, Петър и жена му са разгледали музея и катедралата.
now	сега
they are looking at	разглеждат
the Alexander Nevski Church	храма Александър Невски
They are now looking at the Alexander Nevski Church.	Сега те разглеждат храма Александър Невски.

Иванка

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
look at	вижте
the golden domes	златните куполи
Look at the golden domes!	Вижте златните куполи!

Борис

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
the most famous	най-прочутата
church	черква
in all Bulgaria	в цяла България
This is the most famous church in all Bulgaria.	Това е най-прочутата черква в цяла България.

Петър

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
that you tell me	да ми кажеш
can you tell me?	може ли да ми кажеш
the national bank	Народната банка
Can you tell me where the national bank is?	Може ли да ми кажеш къде е Народната банка?

Борис

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
money is necessary to you	трябват ти пари
Do you need money?	Трябват ли ти пари?

Петър

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
that I change	да сменя
American	американски
twenty dollars	двайсет долара
Yes, I want to change twenty (American) dollars.	Да, аз искам да сменя двайсет американски долара.

Иванка

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
why?	защо
you change them	смениш ги
Why don’t you change the money tomorrow?	Защо не смениш парите утре? /Защо не ги смениш утре?

Петър

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
don’t you know	нали знаеш
that	че
Sunday	неделя
the banks	банките
closed	затворени
Don’t you know that tomorrow is Sunday and the banks are closed?	Нали знаеш, че утре е неделя и че банките са затворени?

Иванка

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
true	вярно
Oh, yes, that is right.	Да, вярно.

On the Way to the Bank

Иванов

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
the old church	старата черква
Saint Sofia	Света София
See, there is the old church, Saint Sofia.	Вижте, ето това е старата черква Света София.
that we look at it	да я разгледаме
or	или
directly	направо
Do you want (us) to look at it, or to go straight to the bank?	Искате ли да я разгледаме или да потеглим направо за банката?

Иванка

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
better	по-добре
that we hurry on	да побързаме
I think we’d better hurry on. (‘It’s better that we hurry on.’)	Смятам, че е по-добре да побързаме.

Петър

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
tired	изморена
you are	си
Are you tired, Joan?	Иванке, изморена ли си?
that you go	да отидеш
Do you want to go straight to the hotel?	Искаш ли да отидеш направо в хотела?

Иванка

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
I’m afraid	аз се боя
lest they close	да не би да затворят
No, but I’m afraid the bank’ll close (‘they’ll close the bank’).	Да, но аз се боя да не би да затворят банката.

Борис

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
time	време
No, no, we have time.	Не, не, имаме време.
see, Peter	виж Петре!
one of the highest buildings	едно от най-високите здания
Look, Peter, on the right is one of the highest buildings in Sofia.	Виж Петре, на дясно е едно от най-високите здания в София.
this white building	това бяло здание
the Bulgarian national bank	Българската народна банка
(Look there,) that white building is the Bulgarian national bank.	Ето, това бяло здание е Българската народна банка.
that we ask	да попитаме
the department	отделът
for foreigners	за чужденци
The best thing to do would be for us to ask where the department for foreigners is.	Най-добре е да попитаме къде е отделът за чужденци.

After Peter Gets His Money

Иванов

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
for a short walk	на кратка разходка
Do you want to go for a short walk?	Искате ли да отидем на кратка разходка?

Иванка

English	Bulgarian (Cyrillic)
Why, yes, that would be nice. (Yes, with pleasure.)	Да, с удоволствие.

Grammar Notes

Note 3.1 — Vowels, Diphthongs

Note 3.1.1 — /yo/ /yu/

The sequences /yo/ and /yu/ between consonants are pronounced by some speakers as /ö/ and /ü/ respectively. No examples have occurred in the Basic Sentences but the sounds are included for completeness. Examples: асансьор /asansör/ or /asansyór/ ‘elevator’, актьор /aktör/ or /aktyór/ ‘actor’, тютюн /tütün/ or /tyutyún/ ‘tobacco’. /ö/ is like /e/ said with rounded lips (compare German ö, French eu). /ü/ is like /i/ said with rounded lips (compare German ü, French u).

Note 3.1.2 — Vowel Review

Bulgarian has six stressed (accented) vowels; English has nine. The Bulgarian stressed vowels are: /í/, /é/, /á/, /ú/, /ó/, and /ə́/. Bulgarian stressed /í/ and /ú/ are said with the tongue higher than the corresponding English vowels. Bulgarian stressed /é/ is about the same as English e in bet. Bulgarian stressed /á/ is close to the o of hot but a little farther forward. Bulgarian stressed /ó/ is between English o in story and ought. Stressed /ə́/ is not the same as anything in English.

The unstressed vowels of Bulgarian may approximate the stressed ones in quality in formal pronunciation. Normal informal speech has three unstressed vowels: /ɪ ɤ ə/.

Note 3.1.3 — Diphthongs

Bulgarian vowels must not be confused with English diphthongs. English has diphthongs with y and w as well as long vowel combinations where the length may be analyzed as h. All of these have glides — that is, the vowels are somewhat drawled and change their quality during the drawl. Bulgarian has diphthongs also but without the English drawl. Some of them are: /iy/ as in anglíyski ‘English’ (higher than iy of see), /ey/ as in nedéy ‘don’t!’ (shorter than ey of say), /ay/ as in máyka ‘mother’ (shorter than ay of my), /oy/ as in vóynik ‘soldier’ (shorter than oy of boy).

Note 3.2 — The Alphabet

The alphabet was given in Unit 1 as a reference for those already acquainted with Cyrillic. This discussion is for the student who has relied on the transcription up to this point. The student must learn the alphabet now and use it from now on. The transcription will be dropped, except for occasional use in the notes, after this unit.

A detailed listing of each letter follows with its phonetic values and examples:

Letter	Phonetic Value	Example	Transliteration	Meaning
А а	/a/ when stressed; usually /ə/ when unstressed	град	grát	’city’
Б б	/p/ at end of word or before voiceless consonant; /b/ elsewhere	боб	bóp	’bean’
В в	/f/ at end of word or before voiceless consonant; /v/ elsewhere	лъв	lóf	’lion’
Г г	/k/ at end of word or before voiceless consonant; /g/ elsewhere	друг	drúk	’other’
Д д	/t/ at end of word or before voiceless consonant; /d/ elsewhere	град	grát	’city’
Е е	/e/ or /ɪ/ unstressed in informal speech; /e/ in formal speech	сега	segá	’now’
Ж ж	/š/ at end of word or before voiceless consonant; /ž/ elsewhere	нож	nóš	’knife’
З з	/s/ at end of word or before voiceless consonant; /z/ elsewhere	аз	ás	’I’
И и	/i/ or /ɪ/ unstressed in informal speech; /i/ elsewhere	искам	ískam	’I want’
Й й	/y/ (most frequently used after a vowel)	най-	náy-	‘most, -est’
К к	/k/ (would represent /g/ before voiced paired consonant)	влак	vlák	’train’
Л л	/l/	влак	vlák	’train’
М м	/m/	има	íma	’he has; there is’
Н н	/n/	не	né	’no’
О о	/o/ or /ɤ/ unstressed in informal speech; /o/ elsewhere	този	tózi	’this’ (m.)
П п	/b/ before voiced paired consonant; /p/ elsewhere	пет	pét	’five’
Р р	/r/	време	vréme	’time’
С с	/z/ before voiced paired consonant; /s/ elsewhere	след	slét	’after’
Т т	/d/ before voiced paired consonant; /t/ elsewhere	те	té	’they’
У у	/u/ or /ɤ/ unstressed in informal speech; /u/ elsewhere	тук	túk	’here’
Ф ф	/v/ before voiced paired consonant; /f/ elsewhere	философ	filosóf	’philosopher’
Х х	/h/	дъх	dəh	’breath’
Ц ц	/c/ (would represent /dz/ before voiced paired consonant)	цял	cyál	’whole’
Ч ч	/dž/ before voiced paired consonant; /č/ elsewhere	чичо	číčo	’uncle’
Ш ш	/š/ (would represent /ž/ before voiced paired consonant)	чаша	čáša	’glass’
Щ щ	/št/ or /š/ final; /št/ elsewhere	нощ	nóst (nóš)	‘night’
Ъ ъ	/ə/	път	pə́t	’road’
Ь ь	with following vowel indicates /y/ or a special vowel (see Note 3.1.1)	асансьор	asansyór (asansör)	‘elevator’
Ю ю	/yu/ (see also Note 3.1.1)	юг	yúk	’south’
Я я	/ya/ or /yə/ when unstressed	ям	yám	’I’m eating’

Two letters found in older books (printed before 1946) are no longer used but should be noted: ѣ represents /ya/ or /e/ usually, and ъ (at the end of certain words) had no phonetic value in older spelling.

Note 3.3 — Noun Plurals; Article Plurals /-te/, /-ta/

Examples from the Basic Sentences illustrate plural nouns:

Transliteration	English
Tryábvat li vi parí?	Do you need money?
Víšte zlátnite kúpoli!	Look at the golden domes!
Bánkite sə zatvóreni.	The banks are closed.
Kədé e oddélə za čuždencí?	Where’s the department for foreigners?

Bulgarian, like English, has a number of ways of forming the plural of nouns. The word /parí/ ‘money’ is plural (note the /-t/ for ‘they’ on /tryábvat/ ‘they (monies) are necessary’). The singular of /parí/ is only used in slang: /pará/ ‘dough (meaning money)’. The singulars of the other nouns are: /kúpol/ ‘dome’, /bánka/ ‘bank’, and /čuždenéc/ ‘foreigner’. Both masculine and feminine nouns may have plural /-i/. Most masculine nouns of more than one syllable and most feminine nouns have /-i/ as plural ending.

Note the singular /čuždenéc/ and plural /čuždencí/. The singular has an /e/ which is not in the plural. This is called a moveable /e/. Many words have such ‘removeable’ vowels. They disappear when an ending (other than the article) which is a vowel or begins with a vowel (here the plural /-i/) is added.

/-te/ as in /bánkite/ is the plural for ‘the’. It is used with both masculine and feminine nouns. The plural ‘the foreigners’, for example, is /čuždencíte/. A word with the same ending is /amerikánec/ pl. /amerikánci/ ‘American’ (masculine; the feminine has another ending /amerikánka/). Moveable vowels occur with a number of endings.

Drills

The drill exercises for Unit 3 are not included in the scanned page range provided (pages 73–87). Based on the course structure, drills typically follow the grammar notes and would appear on subsequent pages. They are expected to practice the vocabulary and structures introduced in the Basic Sentences, including sightseeing vocabulary, banking expressions, plural noun forms, and the Cyrillic alphabet.