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What is the Bulgarian Cyrillic?
Cyrillic is the official writing system of Bulgarian. Modern Bulgarian uses 30 letters: six vowels and 24 consonant letters or signs.
А, К, М, О, and Т work much like their Latin counterparts. Other letters only look familiar. В is “v,” Н is “n,” Р is “r,” and С is “s.” Learn these false friends first so that you do not give them their English sounds.
Letter by letter
All 30 Bulgarian letters
The English spellings are approximate sound guides. Read each letter aloud and use the example word to remember its sound.
- 01Аа
sounds like a
as in “father”
- 02Бб
sounds like b
as in “boy”
- 03False friendВв
sounds like v
as in “van”
- 04Гг
sounds like g
as in “go”
- 05Дд
sounds like d
as in “dog”
- 06Ее
sounds like e
as in “bed”
- 07Жж
sounds like zh
as in “treasure”
- 08Зз
sounds like z
as in “zoo”
- 09Ии
sounds like ee
as in “see”
- 10Йй
sounds like y
as in “yes”
- 11Кк
sounds like k
as in “kite”
- 12Лл
sounds like l
as in “lamp”
- 13Мм
sounds like m
as in “moon”
- 14False friendНн
sounds like n
as in “no”
- 15Оо
sounds like o
as in “for”
- 16Пп
sounds like p
as in “pen”
- 17False friendРр
sounds like rolled r
- 18False friendСс
sounds like s
as in “sun”
- 19Тт
sounds like t
as in “top”
- 20False friendУу
sounds like oo
as in “moon”
- 21Фф
sounds like f
as in “fun”
- 22False friendХх
sounds like kh
as in Scottish “loch”
- 23Цц
sounds like ts
as in “cats”
- 24Чч
sounds like ch
as in “chair”
- 25Шш
sounds like sh
as in “shoe”
- 26Щщ
sounds like sht
as in “pushed”
- 27Ъъ
sounds like uh
as in “but”
- 28Ьь
silent
softens the letter before it
- 29Юю
sounds like yu
as in “you”
- 30Яя
sounds like ya
as in “yard”
Reading practice
How to start reading Cyrillic
Watch the lookalikes
В sounds like “v,” Н like “n,” Р like “r,” and С like “s.”
Learn Ъ early
Ъ is a distinct Bulgarian vowel, close to the “u” in “but.”
Read real words
Sound out street signs, menus, and place names one letter at a time.
Origins of Cyrillic
Where did Cyrillic come from?
Glagolitic was created for the first Slavic literary language. After the disciples, or students and followers, of Saints Cyril and Methodius were welcomed in medieval Bulgaria, literary centres grew at Preslav and Ohrid.
Cyrillic appeared in the First Bulgarian Empire around the end of the ninth and beginning of the tenth century. The main scholarly view is that writers at the Preslav Literary School developed it with support from Tsar Simeon I. The script was named after Saint Cyril.
Bulgarian and Russian differences
Bulgarian and Russian Cyrillic
Bulgarian uses 30 letters; Russian uses 33. Bulgarian does not use Ё, Ы, or Э. More importantly, Ъ is a full vowel in Bulgarian, while in Russian it functions as a hard sign. Bulgarian Щ is normally pronounced “sht,” not the Russian-style “shch.”
Typography can differ too, especially in italic text and lowercase handwriting. This is a difference in letter shapes, not a different alphabet. Learn standard printed Bulgarian first, then move to handwriting.
Return to the chart above, then try familiar place names and the phrases in our essential Bulgarian phrasebook.