Pronunciation guide
How to read and say Albanian
Letters, sounds and stress from Wikivoyage's Albanian phrasebook. Then hear the phrases and practice them, free.
▶ Practice Albanian phrasesAlbanian is written as it is pronounced. The Albanian alphabet consists of 36 letters of the Latin script. The alphabet was standardised in 1909. Albanian is a branch of Indo-European and is considered to be the only language derived from the extinct Illyrian language.
Stress
For the vast majority of words, the main stress falls on the last word of a phrase, on the last stem of a compound word, and on the last syllable of a word.
Vowels
- Аа
- 'a' as in "far" (IPA: a)
- Ee
- 'e' as in "elephant” (IPA: e)
- Ii
- 'ee' as in "feet" (IPA: i)
- Oo
- 'o' as in "off” (IPA: ɔ)
- Uu
- 'oo' as in "cool" (IPA: u)
- Ëë
- like about (IPA: ə) (it is silent at times at the end of a word)
- Yy
- 'y' as the French 'u' or the German 'ü'. To pronounce the sound, place your mouth in the position you would when you say 'oo' as in "moon", but say 'ee' as in "feet" instead. The closest sound in British English as is 'ue' in "blue" or 'ew' as in "flew". (IPA: y)
Consonants
- Bb
- like boy (IPA: b)
- Cc
- like cats (IPA: t͡s)
- Çç
- like teach (IPA: t͡ʃ)
- Dd
- like do (IPA: d)
- Dhdh
- like though (IPA: ð)
- Ff
- like fin (IPA: f)
- Gg
- like go (sometimes giving off a throaty sound; IPA: ɡ)
- Gjgj
- somewhat like geek (IPA: ɟ), in some dialects like jump (IPA: d͡ʒ)
- Hh
- like hello (IPA: h)
- Jj
- like hallelujah (IPA: j)
- Kk
- like skit (IPA: k)
- Ll
- light L (higher-pitched, non-dental), like British light (IPA: l)
- Llll
- like feel (IPA: ɫ)
- Mm
- like milk (IPA: m)
- Nn
- like nose (IPA: n)
- Njnj
- somewhat like canyon (IPA: ɲ)
- Pp
- like spin (IPA: p)
|
How do I pronounce q?
Place your tongue in the position as if you were about to say the word "yes." Without moving your tongue back, make a "k" sound. |
somewhat like key (IPA: c), in some dialects like teach (IPA: t͡ʃ)
- Rr
- flapped R, like American butter (IPA: ɾ)
- Rrrr
- rolled/trilled R (IPA: r)
- Ss
- like seem (IPA: s)
- Shsh
- like ship (IPA: ʃ)
- Tt
- like still (IPA: t)
- Thth
- like think (IPA: θ)
- Vv
- like very (IPA: v)
- Xx
- like kids (IPA: d͡z)
- Xhxh
- like jump (IPA: d͡ʒ)
- Zz
- like zoo (IPA: z)
- Zhzh
- like measure (IPA: ʒ)
Common diphthongs
- io
- 'io' as in "million"
- ua
- 'ua' as in 'iguana'
Other Sounds
- oj
- 'oy' as in "boy"
- aj
- 'i' as in "night"
- ej
- 'ay' as in "play"
- the
- [tyeh] like the Spanish word 'tie' in "tiesto"
- nje
- [nyeh] like the Spanish word 'ñe' in "muñeco"
- nju
- [nyoo] like the English word "new"
- njo
- [nyoh] like the Spanish word "moño"
- aja
- [ayah]/[aia] like the Italian word 'aia' in "baia"
- vje
- [vyeh] like the Spanish word 'vie' in "viejo"
- lje
- [lyeh] like the Italian word "moglie"
- dja
- [dyah] like the Spanish word "día"
- rja
- [ryah] like the 'ria' in "Maria"