Bulgarian uses Cyrillic
Bulgarian is written in Cyrillic, and the modern Bulgarian alphabet has 30 letters. The writing system includes familiar-looking shapes such as А, К, М, О, and Т, alongside letters that need a new sound association. Learn the sound with the letter rather than guessing from its Latin appearance.
The table below follows the same alphabetical order used by the Merakuest Cyrillic keyboard and chapter-one exercises. Transliteration is a practical memory cue, not a claim that an English sound is an exact match for Bulgarian.
30 letters
Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet reference
| # | Uppercase | Lowercase | Cue | Approximate sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | А | а | a | a as in "father" | автобус (bus) |
| 2 | Б | б | b | b as in "book" | баба (grandmother) |
| 3 | В | в | v | v as in "voice" | вода (water) |
| 4 | Г | г | g | g as in "go" | град (city) |
| 5 | Д | д | d | d as in "dog" | дом (home) |
| 6 | Е | е | e | e as in "pet" | езеро (lake) |
| 7 | Ж | ж | zh | zh as in "pleasure" | жаба (frog) |
| 8 | З | з | z | z as in "zoo" | здравей (hello) |
| 9 | И | и | i | i as in "machine" | игра (game) |
| 10 | Й | й | y | y as in "yes" | йогурт (yogurt) |
| 11 | К | к | k | k as in "kite" | котка (cat) |
| 12 | Л | л | l | l as in "lamp" | лале (tulip) |
| 13 | М | м | m | m as in "mother" | мама (mother) |
| 14 | Н | н | n | n as in "nose" | нос (nose) |
| 15 | О | о | o | o as in "more" | осем (eight) |
| 16 | П | п | p | p as in "pen" | пица (pizza) |
| 17 | Р | р | r | rolled r, as in Spanish perro | риба (fish) |
| 18 | С | с | s | s as in "sun" | слънце (sun) |
| 19 | Т | т | t | t as in "top" | топка (ball) |
| 20 | У | у | u | u as in "rule" | улица (street) |
| 21 | Ф | ф | f | f as in "fish" | филм (film) |
| 22 | Х | х | h | h as in "hat", with a rougher sound | хляб (bread) |
| 23 | Ц | ц | ts | ts as in "cats" | цар (tsar) |
| 24 | Ч | ч | ch | ch as in "church" | чай (tea) |
| 25 | Ш | ш | sh | sh as in "shop" | шапка (hat) |
| 26 | Щ | щ | sht | sht as in "ashtray" | щит (shield) |
| 27 | Ъ | ъ | uh | a Bulgarian back vowel, roughly like the vowel in turn | ъгъл (corner) |
| 28 | Ь | ь | soft sign | no independent sound; softens the preceding consonant | синьо (blue) |
| 29 | Ю | ю | yu | yu as in "you" | юни (June) |
| 30 | Я | я | ya | ya as in "yard" | ябълка (apple) |
Example words are drawn from the app's curated Cyrillic sound entries. The cue for Ь is a function, not a spoken letter.
Letters that often surprise English speakers
A beginner strategy for the alphabet
- Learn the letters in small groups and say each sound aloud.
- Use a short example word for every unfamiliar letter.
- Practice both directions: letter to sound and sound to letter.
- Read short Bulgarian words before adding longer phrases.
- Return to letters that look familiar but behave differently.
Merakuest introduces the alphabet before the broader journey, then revisits it in recall activities, listening prompts, typed answers, and vocabulary games. Continue with our Bulgarian pronunciation guide or return to the broader learn Bulgarian guide .
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