Syllabic R
срце = ср-це, прст = one syllable, 'рж = rye. Roll the р a little longer and add no vowel.
How It Works
Syllabic р between consonants: срце (heart), прст (finger), крв (blood), прв (first), црн (black), црква (church). Count it as a syllable: срце and црква both have two syllables.
At the start of a word: write an apostrophe before р: 'рж (rye), 'ржан (made of rye), 'рѓа (rust), 'рбет (spine). Inside a word, between two consonants, you do not write an apostrophe: just срце.
Compare other languages: Bulgarian writes сърце and Russian сердце, but Macedonian needs no extra vowel: срце.
When р stands next to a vowel, it is an ordinary consonant, as in рака (hand) and море (sea).
Examples (6)
- Срцето ми чука брзо.
My heart is beating fast.
Word by Word: The-heart to-me beats fast.
Ср in срцето is a syllable of its own.
- Ова е мојот прв ден тука.
This is my first day here.
Прв is one syllable, with р as its vowel.
- Имам црна мачка.
I have a black cat.
Црна has two syllables: цр-на.
- Црквата е стара.
The church is old.
Црква starts with a syllabic р.
- Ова е 'ржан леб.
This is rye bread.
The word 'ржан starts with syllabic р, so it has an apostrophe.
- На велосипедот има 'рѓа.
There is rust on the bicycle.
The word 'рѓа (rust) also starts with the apostrophe.
Common Mistakes
Adding a vowel next to р, as in Bulgarian.
Сърцето ми чука брзо.Срцето ми чука брзо.Macedonian has no ъ. The р itself carries the syllable: срце.
Leaving out the apostrophe at the start of a word.
Ова е ржан леб.Ова е 'ржан леб.When a word starts with syllabic р, the apostrophe comes first.
Putting the apostrophe inside a word.
Имам ц'рна мачка.Имам црна мачка.Between two consonants inside a word, syllabic р is written without an apostrophe.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Syllabic р follows the idea of counting syllables.
Related Patterns
Practice Syllabic R in Bubblegum
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