The Cyrillic alphabet in focus

I'm definitely not the patriot you expect me to be, since so far I've only published posts about Bulgaria here. The very fact that I used to be spoken to on the street in foreign languages ​​says a lot about my belonging to this people and this country. Still, I get annoyed when people come out unprepared for it. Almost nobody knows anything specific about Bulgaria, most have never heard of it. I'm mostly talking about people from other continents. But this is true even for people from Western Europe.
How many times I have heard: 'You have a Russian accent.' Or: 'Oh, yes - you write in Cyrillic - the Russian alphabet.'
No, I don't have a 'Russian accent', nor Cyrillic is the Russian alphabet.

Letter Б, the Latin B.

Therefore, today I will show you part of this alphabet, which I had the opportunity to photograph last year, displayed on the pier in my favorite coastal city of Burgas.

Letter Г, the Latin G.

I will show you the pier itself, one of the great attractions of the city, in a separate post. So try to disregard today (I know it's hard) the sea views. Concentrate on the letters. 😃

Ж, or Zh. One of the most gorgeously beautiful letters, femininely elegant, in my opinion.

I can't describe the letters and sounds to you in a professional way. I myself, although I consider myself quite literate in my native language, do not have the necessary knowledge to do so in a professional manner. So it will be quite simple. 🙂

З or Z.

Of course, I have my own perception of the creation of this alphabet, which was more driven by political reasons than anything else. As well as basing the alphabet on the Greek alphabet is something I don't really like (as if the creators lacked imagination).

Й or Y.

But I can't help but acknowledge some of its advantages. (Mostly in relation to some Germanic languages, in terms of expressing vowels and consonants.)

У or U.

Ф or F. Another beautifully elegant letter in my personal opinion.

Ц or Ts.

Here it goes. Ok, not exactly this letter is the best example. But let's take the next one:

Ч or ch.

In English, to write this sound - ch, you need two letters - ch. In German, the same thing requires a whole four - tsch. In the Bulgarian language, only one letter is needed for this. Do you see how much a single alphabet simplifies speech and writing?

Ш or Sh.

What about this one here - another beautiful letter, the letter Ш. In English, you need 2 letters for it- sh In German - 3: sch. In Bulgarian - just one.

Щ or sht.

You may think that this is already too much - a separate letter for this sound, which noticeably contains two consonants and two letters. And yet, too many words in the Bulgarian language begin with this letter, (as well as in the German language, where it is replaced by two letters - st.) I think that having this separate letter is a convenience, after all.

Ъ, a mysterious sound for which no separate letter exists in most other languages. 😄

ь - It's the next letter I can't explain because it can't be voiced.

Ю or Yu

Я or Ya

So, 30 letters against 26 in the English alphabet and 30 letters in the German. These are almost the same numbers. And yet, I had an acquaintance who had written a treatise on how the Bulgarian language should be simplified even more by removing a few letters from the alphabet as well.
Yet I do not think that such a thing is necessary. So many people are already illiterate anyway and this illiteracy is spreading with every passing year.

What would you say? How do you perceive these letters that I showed you? Did you like them?

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Copyright: @soulsdetour

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	Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.