The Bulgarian alphabet

30 letters, each with its name and roughly the sound it makes. The sounds are English approximations — enough to sound a word out, not enough to pass for a local.

🇧🇬 Cyrillic · An alphabet: vowels and consonants are letters of equal standing.

Thirty letters — the smallest Cyrillic alphabet here. Bulgarian keeps ъ as a full vowel rather than a silent sign, which is why it turns up in ordinary words like българия.

• А а a a in father
• Б б bŭ b
• В в vŭ v
• Г г gŭ g
• Д д dŭ d
• Е е e e in bet
• Ж ж zhŭ s in measure
• З з zŭ z
• И и i ee in see
• Й й i kratko y in boy
• К к kŭ k
• Л л lŭ l
• М м mŭ m
• Н н nŭ n
• О о o o in more
• П п pŭ p
• Р р rŭ rolled r
• С с sŭ s
• Т т tŭ t
• У у u oo in boot
• Ф ф fŭ f
• Х х hŭ h
• Ц ц tsŭ ts in cats
• Ч ч chŭ ch in chair
• Ш ш shŭ sh
• Щ щ shtŭ sht
• Ъ ъ er goljam u in but
• Ь ь er malŭk silent, softens
• Ю ю yu u in use
• Я я ya ya in yard

Now read something in it

The letters are the smaller half. The 10,000 commonest Bulgarian words are where they start meaning something.

Cyrillic is also used for Russian, Ukrainian and Macedonian. The letters mostly carry over; a handful do not.

Reading it is one thing.

Being understood when you say it is another. That takes a person.

Start for free