Bulgarian alphabet Bulgarian alphabet The Bulgarian alphabet is used to write the Bulgarian language. In AD 886, the Bulgarian Empire introduced the Glagolitic alphabet, devised by Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 850s. The Glagolitic alphabet was gradually superseded in later centuries by the Cyrillic script, developed around the Preslav Literary School, Bulgaria at the beginning of the 10th century. Several Cyrillic alphabets with 28 to 44 letters were used in the early and middle 19th century during the efforts on the codification of Modern Bulgarian until an alphabet with 32 letters, proposed by Marin Drinov, gained prominence in the 1870s: it
Glagolitic script If they were added by Cyril, it is likely that they were taken from an alphabet used for Christian scripture. It is frequently proposed that the letters "sha" , "tsi" , and "cherv" were taken from the letters "shin" ש and "tsadi" צ of the Hebrew alphabet, and that Ⰶ "zhivete" derives from Coptic "janja" Ϫ. However, Cubberley (1996) suggests that if a single prototype were presumed, the most likely source would be Armenian. Other proposals include the Samaritan alphabet, which Cyril learned during his journey to the Khazars in Cherson. Glagolitic letters were also used as numbers, similarly to