Appendix:Bulgarian l-vocalization

L-vocalization is a phenomenon in some languages, where a [l] (L-sound) or [ɫ] (so-called “dark L”) are pronounced as a vowel or semivowel. In the context of Bulgarian, this means as [w], i.e. the same as the letter ⟨w⟩ is pronounced in English.

Occurrence in Bulgarian

In Bulgarian, l-vocalization exists in two forms:

1. in the modern day, many young people in urban areas have come to pronounce [ɫ] as [w], but leaving [l] unchanged;
2. traditionally, in certain dialects, like in Pernik, some people change all instances of ⟨л⟩, and others only [ɫ], into [w].

Standardness

Officially, the standard Bulgarian language does not have any l-vocalization, and the only semivowel that normally exists is [j]. However, the change in urban areas has existed for decades and is growing, and the effect in traditional dialects has existed for even longer.

In Wiktionary's coverage

IPA transcriptions

As of 2025/08/08, l-vocalization is not represented in the IPA pronunciation we generate for Bulgarian entries. Users should be aware that if they wish to infer the l-vocalized version of a particular IPA pronunciation, one may replace all instances of [ɫ] with [w].

Audio pronunciations

In the audio pronunciations uploaded by User:Kiril kovachev, l-vocalization is usually present. In order to indicate that it's present in the audio, despite the fact that the IPA transcription does not reflect this, the label "l-vocalization" will be added to those audio recordings.