Related Topics  General Information  History  Monasteries More about...  Language		Alphabet The Slavs script came into being and was spread in the 9th century. In 862, Cyril and Methodius, two brothers from Thessalonica, invented the Glagolithic alphabet which was used in Bulgaria from the 9th to the 11th century. But the prototype of today's Bulgarian alphabet is the Cyrillic alphabet, assumed to have been composed by the pupils of Cyril and Methodius who were warmly welcomed in Bulgaria in the late 9th century. Twenty-four of the letters were identical with the letters of the Greek alphabet, but a number of letters were added for the characteristic sounds of the old Bulgarian language. The oldest Slav manuscripts are written in Cyrillic. The books which were written or translated in a language that was understood by the people formed the basis for the development of a distinctive Bulgarian culture. Later the Slav alphabet spread among other Slav peoples. It is the prototype of the alphabets used today in Bulgaria, Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, etc. The present-day Bulgarian language, both written and spoken, differs greatly from Old Bulgarian. The link with it is mostly historical.

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