Bulgarian Letter К: A Familiar K With a Softer Puff
The Bulgarian letter К is the eleventh letter of the alphabet and a consonant pronounced [k], like the ‘k’ in ‘skin’. Its name is къ (kuh). It looks like English K and causes few problems, but it is said with less breath than English ‘k’. It is transliterated as k.
The Bulgarian letter К is a ‘k’ sound, and it is one of the few Cyrillic letters that is a true friend to English readers. The capital looks like Latin K and means the same sound. What changes is the detail: how much air comes with it, and how many English spellings it replaces.
How to pronounce the Bulgarian letter К
Say ‘k’ without the puff of air that English puts on ‘k’ at the start of a word. Compare English ‘kin’, which is breathy, with ‘skin’, which is not. Bulgarian К is always like the ‘k’ in ‘skin’. The same goes for П and Т. Your Bulgarian will sound noticeably more natural if you hold back that puff.
| Word | Transliteration | Meaning | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|
| къща | kashta | house | |
| котка | kotka | cat | |
| кафе | kafe | coffee | |
| как | kak | how | |
| кюфте | kyufte | grilled meatball |
К in loanwords: one letter for c, k, ck, ch and q
Bulgarian spells by sound, so every English ‘k’ sound becomes К, whatever the source spelling. Coffee is кафе (kafe), computer is компютър (kompyutar), class is клас (klas), and the ‘ch’ of chorus or character becomes К as well. The letter combination кс covers English ‘x’: такси (taksi, taxi), ксерокс (kseroks, photocopier).
This works in reverse for names. Under the Transliteration Act, К is always k. A Bulgarian surname like Костов is Kostov, and Карлово is Karlovo, with no ‘c’ anywhere. If you want to see how English names come out, try the converter on name in Bulgarian.
Soft К before Ю and Я
К can combine with Ю and Я to give a softened ‘ky’ sound, as in кюфте (kyufte), a popular grilled meatball, or кюлче (kyulche, ingot). The phonology overview describes these soft velars as pronounced toward the back of the hard palate. Before Е and И, by contrast, К stays hard in standard Bulgarian: кино (kino, cinema) has the same ‘k’ as кафе.
Voicing: when К sounds like Г
Before a voiced consonant К can pick up voice and sound like ‘g’. This is the same regressive assimilation that turns С into З in сграда. In the loanword анекдот (anekdot, joke), many speakers say ‘anegdot’. In everyday words the effect is rarer, because voiced consonants seldom follow К directly.
The Bulgarian lowercase к
In Russian print lowercase к is a small capital. Bulgarian typefaces often give it a tall ascender, so it looks like Latin ‘k’. The designers at type.today say the Bulgarian к copies its Latin counterpart. Here at least, the Bulgarian form makes reading easier: как looks just like you expect. See Bulgarian Cyrillic for the letters where the local forms are less friendly.
Name and frequency
The letter is called къ, ‘kuh’; Russian calls it ‘ka’. К is a common letter, ranked 12th of 30 at about 3.2% of letters in a corpus count by Sttmedia. The question words как (kak, how), къде (kade, where) and кой (koy, who) all start with it.
Common mistakes with the Bulgarian letter К
- Adding a strong English puff of air. Bulgarian К is unaspirated.
- Writing ‘c’ or ‘ck’ in transliterated names. The official form is always k.
- Spelling English ‘x’ with a single letter. Bulgarian uses кс.
- Confusing К with Х, the ‘h’ sound that looks like X.
Before К comes Й; after it comes Л.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce the Bulgarian letter К?
Like English ‘k’, but without the puff of air, as in ‘skin’.
Is Bulgarian К the same as English K?
Yes, in shape and basic sound. It also replaces English ‘c’, ‘ck’ and ‘ch’ in loanwords like кафе (coffee).
How do you write ‘x’ in Bulgarian?
With two letters, кс, as in такси (taxi).
What is the name of the letter К?
It is called къ, pronounced ‘kuh’. Russian calls it ‘ka’.
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)