How to read and say Serbian

Serbian uses both Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, the only Slavic language to do so. Everyday use is the Roman alphabet, but the Cyrillic alphabet is the official script and used in more formal situations including government publications. Pronunciation is usually very simple, as almost every word is written exactly as it is pronounced. Both the Roman alphabet and the Cyrillic version, the azbuka, will be shown here.

Serbian Cyrillic Alphabet:

Аа Бб Вв Гг Дд Ђђ Ее Жж Зз Ии Јј Кк Лл Љљ Мм Нн Њњ Оо Пп Рр Сс Тт Ћћ Уу Фф Хх Цц Чч Џџ Шш

Serbian Latin Alphabet:

Aa Bc Cc Čč Ćć Dd Dždž Đđ Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Ljlj Mm Nn Njnj Oo Pp Rr Ss Šš Tt Uu Vv Zz Žž

Stress

Generally, in complex words, the emphasis is on the first syllable (e.g.: kako [KAH-koh]). In some cases, such as in words with a prefix (e.g.: autobus [ow-TOH-boos]) the stress is on the middle syllable. The last syllable is never stressed.

Vowels

There are five vowels in Serbo-Croatian language. They can be long or short.

a

the 'a' in "article"

e

the 'e' in "end"

i

the 'ee' in "week"

o

the 'o' in "obey"

u

the 'oo' in "moon"

Consonants

Many of the consonants are pronounced as in English, except for a few variations.

b

the 'b' in "abuse"

c

always as 'ts' in "bits"

č

the 'ch' in "chair"

ć

the 'ch' in "church"

d

the 'd' in "dog"

đ

the 'd(u)' in "endure"; rarely used at the beginning of a word; this letter is sometimes written as dj; [the Cyrillic equivalent of this letter is "ђ"]

dž

the 'dge' in "edge", but harder [the Cyrillic equivalent of this letter is "џ"]; seldom used

f

the 'f' in "face"

g

the 'g' in "gone" [always hard 'g']

h

the 'h' in "ham" [quite weak, unlike other Slavonic languages and often dropped, eg "hoću" (I will or I wish) becomes 'oću in speech]

j

the 'y' in "yes"

k

the 'k' in "kick"

l

the 'l' in "like"

lj

the 'li' in "million" [the Cyrillic equivalent of this letter is "љ"]

m

the 'm' in "monkey"

n

the 'n' in "noise"

nj

the 'ny' in "canyon" [Spanish ñ nasal sound, the Cyrillic equivalent of this letter is "њ"]

p

the 'p' in "post"

r

the 'r' in "barco" [trilled 'r' like in Spanish language]

s

the 's' in "sun"

š

the 'sh' in "shower"

t

the 't' in "talk"

v

the 'v' in "vase"

z

the 'z' in "zone"

ž

the 'su' in "pleasure"

q w x and y are not part of the Serbian alphabet, and they can occur only in foreign words. Hence, "text" in Serbian is written as "tekst", "expert" as "ekspert", "wagon" as "vagon", "quota" as "kvota" and "myth" as "mit".

Common diphthongs

ija

the 'ia' in "Lydia"

ije

the 'ie' in "miedo"

aj

the 'ie' in "pie" (ia sound)

oj

the 'oy' in "boy"

oa

the 'oa' in "boa"

ao

similar to the 'ou' in "out"

eo

the 'eo' in "video" ('e' as in 'there')

io

the 'io' in "radio"

Note that the diphthong ia is usually written as ija; eg, policija (police) is pronounced exactly as Italian polizia; name Lydia is written as Lidija; Serbia is, as you have well guessed, spelled Srbija.