Learning the Bulgarian alphabet
(a rewarding challenge)
The letters of the alphabet
Bulgarian uses the Cyrillic alphabet which has 30 letters: Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Дд, Ее, Жж, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Лл, Мм, Нн, Оо, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Фф, Хх, Цц, Чч, Шш, Щщ, Ъъ, ь, Юю, Яя.
The table below shows the names of the letters. As in English, the names are different from the sounds each letter stands for. The names of the letters include the sound ъ, which is not pronounced in connected speech. It is used only when reciting the alphabet or spelling out a word. The approximate English sound equivalents represent the pronunciation in connected speech.
The names and the sounds the letters stand for
| Bulgarian letter | Name of the letter | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Аа | а | a as in bath |
| Бб | бъ | b as in bee |
| Вв | въ | v as in velvet |
| Гг | гъ | g as in get |
| Дд | дъ | d as in den |
| Ее | е | e as in bet |
| Жж | жъ | the same as the last sound of mirage |
| Зз | зъ | z as in zip |
| Ии | и | i as in inn |
| Йй | и кратко | the same as the first sound in yes (cannot be pronounced on its own) |
| Кк | къ | k as in kite |
| Лл | лъ | l as in line |
| Мм | мъ | m as in mother |
| Нн | нъ | n as in nine |
| Оо | о | o as in top |
| Пп | пъ | p as in pet |
| Рр | ръ | r as in red (but trilled – vibrating, the tongue touches the palate) |
| Сс | съ | s as in soup |
| Тт | тъ | t as in ten |
| Уу | у | u as in book |
| Фф | фъ | f as in fashion |
| Хх | хъ | h but sounds more like the Scottish loch |
| Цц | цъ | similar to the first sound in tsunami |
| Чч | чъ | ch as in chair |
| Шш | шъ | sh as in ship |
| Щщ | штъ | sh followed by t as in shtick |
| Ъъ | ер голям (ъ) | u as in turn |
| ь | ер малък | marks softness (not pronounced on its own) |
| Юю | йу | the first sound in youth |
| Яя | йа | the first sound in yarn |
Typography considerations
The script looks quite different when different fonts are used.
Here is a selection of Bulgarian fonts that shows how different some of the letters can look (handwriting is even more challenging):
Keyboard layout
Most operating systems nowadays offer a few Bulgarian keyboard layouts out of the box:
The easiest keyboard layout, at least for foreigners used to the QWERTY layout, is BULGARIAN PHONETIC TRADITIONAL which maps most Cyrillic letters onto the equivalent Latin character (with a few exceptions), thus: Аа=Aa, Бб=Bb, Вв=Ww, Гг=Gg, Дд=Dd, Ее=Ee, Жж=VV, Зз=Zz, Ии=Ii, Йй=Jj, Кк=Kk, Лл=Ll, Мм=Mm, Нн=Nn, Oo=Оо, Пп=Pp, Рр=Rr, Сс=Ss, Тт=Tt, Уу=Uu, Фф=Ff, Хх=Hh, Цц=CC, Чч=`, Шш=[, Щщ=], Ъъ=Yy, ь=Xx, Юю=\, Яя=Qq. Besides the familiarity, another key advantage is that it can be used regardless of whether the physical keyboard has the Bulgarian letter labels on the buttons.
Some historical notes
The first Bulgarian alphabet was the Glagolitic alphabet:
This is the famous Bashchanska plocha, dating from c. 1100 AD, the oldest found use of the Glagolitic script:
The Glagolitic was introduced in Bulgaria in the 9th century, and is thought to have been created by the two Byzantine theologians Cyril and Methodius to facilitate the Christianization of the Slavic peoples.
The Cyrillic alphabet, which superseded the Glagolitic, was later developed by their disciples from the Preslav literary school:
