Bulgarian for Beginners
The Bulgarian Alphabet
Hi there! My name is Lily and I am a professional Bulgarian language teacher. I have been teaching Bulgarian for a while and have come to the realisation that there are not many good resources for learning Bulgarian. That is why I am starting to post articles/lessons that will guide you and help you to learn Bulgarian.
In this article, we will cover the Bulgarian alphabet. I will go through all of the 30 letters and explain them one by one by giving you useful tips on how to remember them easily.
Let’s start then!
A
The first letter of the Bulgarian alphabet is ‘А’. It is pronounced with the mouth wide open.
Б
Remember this one with the big belly as it might be a bit tricky. This is the English ‘B’ sound as in the words ‘black’, ‘belly’, ‘bean’, etc.
В
Keep in mind that in Bulgarian this letter is pronounced as the English ‘V’. Such as in words like ‘velvet’, ‘brave’, ‘victory’.
Г
What does this one remind you of? It looks like an upside-down ‘L’. It is similar to the English ‘G’ when it is in words like ‘great’, ‘big’, ‘hug’. An important tip: In Bulgarian, we tend to pronounce the sounds much harder and stronger than in English.
Д
The fifth letter of the Bulgarian alphabet is like the English ‘D’ – ‘dad’, ‘different’, ‘divine’.
Е
Remember that it is not pronounced like /i/ as in the words me /mi/, eat /i:t/ or bee /bi:/. A nice open vowel sound – ‘elephant’, ‘sexy’.
Ж
This one doesn’t seem to have a proper equivalent in English. The closest example I can think of is the sound /ʒ/ as in the word ‘pleasure’ /ˈplɛʒə/.
З
The number three (3) as some of my students would call this letter is pronounced as the English ‘Z’ or ‘S’ in some words (‘zoo’, ‘zebra’, ‘watches’).
И
Is it an ‘N’? Although this one looks like a reversed ‘N’, in Bulgarian it is pronounced as /i/ in words like ‘happy’ /ˈhæpɪ/.
Й
In Bulgarian, we call this the short ‘И’ letter. Although its pronunciation is similar to the one of ‘И’, it is not a vowel, but a consonant.
К
An easy one – as the English ‘K’ or ‘C’ in some words (‘kite’, ‘cat’, ‘car’).
Л
We can say that it is similar to the English L, but at the same time not really. And what is more, there are two different ways to pronounce this letter depending on the word. Good examples are ‘lily’, ‘love’.
М
This is another easy letter. The same as ‘M’ in English – ‘mom’, ‘my’, ‘drum’.
Н
This is not an ‘H’. This is the Bulgarian equivalent of the letter ‘N’ – ‘nose’, ‘no’, ‘nanny’.
О
Wide and open as in the word ‘open’.
П
Be careful with this one as it is the English ‘P’ (‘popcorn’, ‘peach’, ‘parrot’).
Р
And this one? This is ‘R’ but a bit harder – ‘rock’, ‘river’, ‘right’.
С
The Bulgarian ‘S’ as in words such as ‘snow’, ‘see’, ‘smile’.
Т
Almost like the English ‘T’ as in ‘take’, ‘pot’, ‘vote’.
У
It looks a bit funny. This is another vowel sound similar to the /ʊ/ as in the word ‘book’ /bʊk/. I would say that the Bulgarian sound is a but more closed.
Ф
The English ‘F’ – ‘fly’, ‘five’, ‘four’.
Х
This is the English ‘H’ in words such as ‘hat’, ‘happy’, ‘hungry’.
Ц
This might be one of the most challenging letters for the English speakers as there is not really an equivalent in English. The closest word I could think of is the Italian ‘pizza’.
Ч
Think of the sound ‘ch’ /tʃ/ in the word ‘chair’ /tʃɛə/ and you will get an idea of how to read this letter.
Ш
The combination of the letters ‘sh’ or the sound /ʃ/ as in the word ‘brush’ /brʌʃ/ will help you get the right pronunciation of this letter.
Щ
In Bulgarian, this letter combines the sounds of ‘Ш’ and ‘Т’. A good example is the word ‘smashed’ /smæʃt/.
Ш+Т=Щ
Ъ
I guess you will need to work a bit on this one. It is a bit similar to the sound /ʌ/ in the word ‘but’ /bʌt/.
ь
You will not see this letter very often as it is not used a lot. It is never on its own but always in combination with the letter ‘O’.
Ю
The first word that comes to my mind is the English pronoun ‘you’ as its pronunciation is very similar to the pronunciation of this letter.
Я
The last letter of the Bulgarian alphabet. It is a combination of the sounds ‘И’ and ‘А’.
И+А=Я
Congratulations! You have just had a good Bulgarian lesson and have become familiar with the Bulgarian alphabet.
Now you can practise a bit on your own. If you need some help, feel free to book an online lesson with me. I would love to teach you some Bulgarian.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Have an amazing day! See you next time. And until then smile, have fun, and learn Bulgarian!