Bulgarian Cursive: How to Read and Write Bulgarian Handwriting
| Printed | Handwritten, it can look like | Easy to misread as |
|---|---|---|
| т | a Latin “m” (often with a bar on top) | “m” or ш |
| п | a Latin “n” | “n” |
| и | a Latin “u” | “u” |
| д | a Latin “g” or “∂” | “g” |
| ш | a “w”-like shape (often with a bar below) | т or “w” |
Bulgarian cursive is the joined-up handwriting used for Bulgarian Cyrillic. The sounds stay the same, but several lowercase letters change shape: т looks like a Latin “m,” п like “n,” и like “u” and д often like “g.” Writers often put a bar over т and under ш to tell them apart.
Bulgarian cursive is the joined-up handwriting that Bulgarians use for notes, letters, forms and school work. It is based on the same 30 Cyrillic letters as print, but several lowercase letters change shape so much that they look like different Latin letters. Handwritten т looks like “m,” п like “n,” и like “u,” and д often like “g.” Once you know these few switches, most handwriting becomes readable.
Bulgarian children learn handwriting in their first year of school, alongside printed letters. For adult learners, it is worth learning at least to read cursive, because you will meet it on handwritten menus, shop notices, postcards and family letters.
Bulgarian cursive letters that change shape
The table above lists the five letters that cause the most trouble. Here is why each one changes:
- т becomes “m.” Cyrillic handwriting writes т with three downstrokes. To tell it from ш, many writers add a short bar above т.
- ш becomes a “w” shape. It also has three strokes, and some writers draw a bar under it. The bar-above and bar-below convention is described in the Cyrillic cursive overview.
- п becomes “n.” The flat top of the printed letter turns into an arch.
- и becomes “u.” The diagonal disappears, leaving two joined strokes. й is the same shape with a small curved mark above it, like “ŭ.”
- д becomes “g” or “∂.” Writers either drop a loop below the line or curl the top back like the math symbol for a partial derivative.
The good news is that sounds never change. A handwritten т that looks like “m” still says “t.” You just need to retrain your eye. Each letter has its own page with its sound and examples: see Т, Д, И and Ш.
Other letters to watch in Bulgarian cursive
A second group of letters changes less, but still trips up readers:
- б is usually written with a rounded body and a curved top stroke, close to a “6” or the Greek “δ.”
- л and м begin with a small hook from the baseline. That hook is what separates them from Latin “n” and “m.”
- з can look like the digit “3” with a tail below the line.
- ц and щ keep a small tail on the right that drops below the line. Without it, щ is just ш.
- ж is drawn as three parts, like two mirrored “c” shapes joined by a vertical line.
Handwriting varies from person to person, and not everyone writes these the same way. Treat these as common patterns, not fixed rules.
Where Bulgarian cursive comes from
Cyrillic handwriting has a long history of its own. From roughly the 14th to the 17th century, scribes used a fast chancery hand called skoropis (literally “quick writing”). In the 18th century a tidier joined script grew out of it as the handwritten partner of the new “civil” printed type, and modern Cyrillic cursive, Bulgarian cursive included, descends from that script. That partly explains why handwritten letters sometimes look closer to Greek or Latin shapes than to the blocky printed forms: they were shaped by speed, not by the printing press.
Cursive, italic and Bulgarian letterforms
Printed italic Cyrillic follows handwriting. In italic type, т already looks like “m” and и like “u.” Bulgarian typography goes one step further: many Bulgarian fonts use similar, handwriting-like shapes even in upright text. The Bulgarian alphabet article notes that lowercase а, в, г, д, и, й, л, п, т, ц, ш and щ differ noticeably between upright and cursive forms.
So if you learn Bulgarian cursive, Bulgarian print will also feel more familiar. The Bulgarian Cyrillic page shows the upright Bulgarian letterforms next to the Russian ones.
How to practice Bulgarian cursive
- Learn to read it first. Copy out the five tricky letters, then read short handwritten words aloud: мама (mama, mom), тук (tuk, here), път (pat, road), дете (dete, child).
- Write the letter, say the sound. Saying “t” while writing the “m”-shape builds the right link.
- Use the bars. Put a bar over т and under ш until your eye stops mixing them up.
- Join letters in pairs. Practice common pairs such as ст, на, ти and за before writing whole words.
- Write something real. A shopping list or a postcard text is more useful than a page of single letters.
Lined paper with a midline helps keep letters even. If you are still learning which letter makes which sound, start with the plan to learn the Bulgarian alphabet, then come back to handwriting.
Reading Bulgarian cursive in everyday life
Bulgarian cursive matters most in three places. Handwritten notices on shop doors and café boards are often in cursive. Old family documents and postcards from relatives are almost always handwritten. And classroom work for heritage learners will be marked and returned in a teacher’s handwriting. In each case, look for the long words first. Context usually tells you whether a shape is т or ш.
For typing rather than writing, see the Bulgarian keyboard guide.
Common mistakes in Bulgarian cursive
- Reading handwritten т as “m.” The word тук (here) can look like “myk” to an English reader.
- Reading п as “n” and и as “u.” пиле (pile, chicken) starts with what looks like “nu.”
- Mixing up т and ш. Check for the bar, or count the strokes in context.
- Forgetting the tail on щ and ц. Without it, the reader sees ш or и.
- Writing д like a printed capital “D.” That shape does not exist in Cyrillic handwriting.
Frequently asked questions
Why does т look like m in Bulgarian cursive?
Cyrillic handwriting forms т with three downstrokes, which looks like a Latin m. It still sounds like ‘t’.
Is Bulgarian cursive the same as Russian cursive?
The handwritten forms are very close. Individual habits vary more than national differences, though Bulgarian print uses more handwriting-like lowercase shapes than Russian print does.
Do I need to learn Bulgarian cursive?
Learning to read it is useful for handwritten notes, signs and family letters. Writing it is optional for most adult learners, who can print or type instead.
How do you tell т and ш apart in handwriting?
Many writers put a bar above т and a bar below ш. Without the bars, context is the main clue.