The first thing you should learn when you get acquainted with the Bulgarian language is the Bulgarian alphabet. It is a great achievement to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and start reading Bulgarian fluently. It takes a few hours to memorize the Bulgarian letters and learn to pronounce them, but it is doable and builds the foundation of learning Bulgarian.
The Bulgarian alphabet is first of the Slavic languages that attested in writing. It was created in the 9th century by the brothers Cyril and Methodius and later transformed into more simple and writeable letters. The letter count varied from 28 to 44 during the centuries. The last language transformation was made in the 10th century set an alphabet with 32 letters. Later the letters yat (Ѣ ѣ), and yus (Ѫ ѫ) were removed from the alphabet thus forming the modern Bulgarian language.
Bulgarian alphabet’s cyrillic letters
| Bulgarian alphabet | Transliteration | English Variant |
|---|---|---|
| А а | A a | a as in “alt” |
| Б б | B b | b as in “bulgarian” |
| В в | V v | v as in “vinegar” |
| Г г | G g | g as in “garden” |
| Д д | D d | d as in “dive” |
| Е е | E e | e as in “set” |
| Ж ж | Zh zh | s as in “ship” |
| З з | Z z | z as in “zoo” |
| И и | I i | ee as in “see” |
| Й й | Y y | y as in “yes” |
| К к | K k | c as in “cave” |
| Л л | L l | l as in “mall” |
| М м | M m | m as in “mate” |
| Н н | N n | n as in “need” |
| О о | O o | o as in “organ” |
| П п | P p | p as in “pen” |
| Р р | R r | r as in “rest” |
| С с | S s | s as in “south” |
| Т т | T t | t as in “tip” |
| У у | U u | оо as in “zoo” |
| Ф ф | F f | f as in “fine” |
| Х х | H h | ch as in Scottish “loch” |
| Ц ц | Ts ts | ts as in “fats” |
| Ч ч | Ch ch | ch as in “chance” |
| Ш ш | Sh sh | sh as in “show” |
| Щ щ | Sht sht | sht as in “shtick” |
| Ъ ъ | A a | u as in “burn” |
| Ь ь | Y y | yo as in yoyo |
| Ю ю | Yu yu | u as in “you” |
| Я я | Ya ya | ya as in “yankee” |
As you see, the alphabet contains 30 characters each of which represent a single sound . Unlike English, a Bulgarian letter can be pronounced only in one way. For example, in English the vowel “i” is pronounced differently in the words “dine” and “ring”. In Bulgarian such a case does not exist. There are however two letters which represent a compound sound. Those are the last letters: ю= y+u (yu) and я=y+а (ya).
After studying the alphabet you can start learning some Bulgarian phrases. All the phrases are written in Cyrillic as well so you can practice.
