Hello! Welcome!
Let’s begin with
The Bulgarian Alphabet
Азбука
| Cyrillic
letter |
Transliterated
|
Pronunciation /
(approximate sound-correspondence as in English)
|
| A а |
a |
father |
| Б б |
b |
bag, boy abide |
| В в |
v |
very, video, evidence |
| Г г |
g |
good, Google |
| Д д |
d |
day, doll, add |
| Е е |
e |
egg, best, bet |
| Ж ж |
ž – academic;
zh – popular; |
pleasure, treasure |
| З з |
z |
Zen, zebra, to use |
| И и |
i |
milk, mix, mall |
| Й й (i-kratko, meaning
i-short) |
j; i ( found only with a vowel in front or after “й“) |
yard, Yosemite, mayonnaise
|
| К к |
k |
king |
| Л л |
l |
love, alive |
| М м |
m |
mum, Maria |
| Н н |
n |
none, noise, instance |
| О о |
o |
olive, or |
| П п |
p |
pen, spin |
| Р р |
r |
rest – trilled -r-, close to “r” in Spanish, German, and other European languages |
| С с |
s; (ss) |
seat, sister |
| Т т |
t |
tea, stiff
-t- is pronounced without the puff of breath that normally accompanies it in English |
| У у |
u; (ou) |
put, boot |
| Ф ф |
f |
fun, feature, tough |
| Х х |
h (kh) |
how (velar -ch-) |
| Ц ц |
c; ts |
tsar |
| Ч ч |
č; ch |
children, church |
| Ш ш |
š; sh |
she |
| Щ щ |
št; sht |
ashtray |
| Ъ ъ |
ǎ
between “a” and “u” – [a] (English unstressed [a] |
sofa |
| ь |
’
it appears always with a vowel “o” – ьo; signifies that the preceding consonant is soft |
|
| Ю ю |
ju; iu; (yu) – signifies sequence of soft consonant + -у- |
you |
| Я я |
ja; ia (ya) – signifies sequence of soft consonant + -а- |
yard |
For further references please see
Alexander, Ronelle (with the assistance of Olga Mladenova). 2000. Intensive Bulgarian: A textbook and reference grammar, Volume 1. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press.