Bulgarian Letter И: The Backwards N That Says ‘Ee’
The Bulgarian letter И is the ninth letter of the alphabet and a vowel pronounced [i], like the ‘ee’ in ‘see’. Its name is simply и. The capital looks like a backwards N, and in Bulgarian fonts the lowercase looks like a Latin u. It is transliterated as i.
The Bulgarian letter И is the vowel ‘ee’, as in ‘see’ or ‘machine’. It is a double trap for English readers. The capital resembles a mirror-image N, and the Bulgarian lowercase looks like a ‘u’. Neither has anything to do with its sound.
How to pronounce the Bulgarian letter И
Spread your lips slightly and say a short, pure ‘ee’. Do not glide into ‘ee-y’. Unlike А, Е and О, И keeps its quality well in unstressed syllables. Recent acoustic studies summarized in the phonology literature found that unstressed И stays in place and remains distinct from Е.
| Word | Transliteration | Meaning | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|
| и | i | and | |
| име | ime | name | |
| игра | igra | game | |
| риба | riba | fish | |
| Пирин | Pirin | Pirin (mountain range) |
Shapes: backwards N, lowercase u
Capital И is two verticals joined by a diagonal running from bottom left to top right, the reverse of N. In Russian print the lowercase is a small capital. Bulgarian typefaces instead use a form that, in the words of the designers at type.today, reproduces the shape of the Latin ‘u’. So пиши (pishi, write) can look like ‘nuwu’ to an English reader. Learn the Bulgarian set on the Bulgarian Cyrillic page.
The same u-shape appears in handwriting across the Cyrillic world. If you meet a ‘u’ in a Bulgarian word, read ‘ee’. The real ‘u’ sound is the letter У.
И, ѝ and Й
Bulgarian has two marked forms related to И. The first is ѝ, an И with a grave accent. It is not a separate letter. It distinguishes ѝ (i, her) from и (i, and), and writers use it in the phrase казах ѝ (kazah i, I told her). The second is Й, И with a breve, which is a consonant ‘y’ and a full letter of its own.
И in transliteration: the –ия rule
И is normally i. The Transliteration Act adds one exception: the ending –ия at the end of a word is written ia, not ‘iya’. That gives София as Sofia and България as Bulgaria. Inside a word, ия is iya. The transliteration guide has more examples.
Bulgarian И vs Russian and Ukrainian
Russian И sounds the same, but Russian softens the consonant before it. Bulgarian does not: in standard Bulgarian, тиква (tikva, pumpkin) has a plain ‘t’. Ukrainian is the bigger surprise. There И stands for a sound closer to the ‘i’ in ‘bit’, and the ‘ee’ sound is written І. Our Ukrainian vs Bulgarian alphabet page explains.
И in grammar endings
И does a lot of grammatical work. Most nouns form their plural with –и: приятел (priyatel, friend) becomes приятели (priyateli, friends), and книга (kniga, book) becomes книги (knigi). The plural definite article is –те, so ‘the books’ is книгите (knigite). Many verbs also end in –и in the second and third person: ти говориш (ti govorish, you speak), той говори (toy govori, he speaks).
Frequency
И is the second most common Bulgarian letter. A corpus count by Sttmedia puts it at roughly 10% of letters, just behind А. The conjunction и, plural endings like –и and the plural article –ите all add up.
Common mistakes with the Bulgarian letter И
- Reading capital И as N. The Bulgarian N sound is Н, which looks like H.
- Reading Bulgarian lowercase и as ‘u’.
- Confusing и and й. The little breve turns the vowel into a consonant.
- Writing ‘Sofiya’ or ‘Bulgariya’. Official usage is Sofia and Bulgaria.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce the Bulgarian letter И?
Like the ‘ee’ in ‘see’. It stays clear even in unstressed syllables.
Why does the Bulgarian и look like a u?
Bulgarian typefaces use a handwriting-based lowercase that resembles Latin ‘u’. It still sounds ‘ee’.
What is the difference between и and ѝ?
и means ‘and’; ѝ with a grave accent means ‘her’. The accent is only a spelling mark, not a separate letter.
Why is София written Sofia, not Sofiya?
The Transliteration Act writes the ending -ия at the end of a word as ‘ia’.
Is the Bulgarian letter И a backwards N?
It looks like one, but it is a vowel pronounced ‘ee’. Bulgarian ‘n’ is written Н.
Sources
- Bulgarian alphabet (Wikipedia)
- Bulgarian phonology (Wikipedia)
- Transliteration Act, SG No. 19/2009 (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works)
- Bulgarian Cyrillic letterforms (type.today)
- Bulgarian letter frequency (Sttmedia corpus count)