Bulgarian L?

[Steve Marder]

Wayles,

> Here's a question for Bulgarian scholars:
> The Bulgarian hard consonant L, in words like vidjal, mlad, Lom, ludo,
> always sounded similar to English L to me.
> But recently, when students from Bulgaria come to me to have me certify
> their knowledge of the language, they seem to be pronouncing L like
> English W. Is this something I should imitate, or is it something that
> only the younger generation does? I have heard the opinion of one
> Bulgarian, but wonder if this is a matter on which speakers disagree.

I myself am not a Bulgarian scholar, but a young (20-something) native
Bulgarian linguist friend of mine has this to say:

When "L" appears initially (lom, ludo), it is pronounced similar to English
"L"; however, when the "L" occurs non-initially or at the end of a word
(mlad, vidjal), it is indeed pronounced similar to English "W." You should
imitate these types of pronunciation. My friend goes on to say that the
differentiation in pronunciation probably goes back 60 years or so. As such,
it is not unique to the younger generation.

Steve Marder 

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