Language/Serbian/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Alphabet and Pronunciation in Serbian

Hello Polyglots😀

In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Serbian alphabet, how to pronounce these letters whether it is through the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or through a video with the pronunciation of the letters by a native speaker.

You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this language.

Serbian can be written in either the Cyrillic or Latin alphabets, but Cyrillic is in official use in Serbia. In Serbia both scripts, the "azbuka" (Cyrillic script) and the Latin alphabet "abeceda" are in use and most of the people know both alphabets. People can freely decide which letters to use.

Vuk Karadzić, the 19th century reformer of the Serbian language came up with the concept of “write as you speak and read as it is written”. (Serbian: "Piši kao što govoriš i čitaj kako je napisano"). The Serbian alphabet is very consistent and precise: one letter per sound.

After mastering the Serbian alphabet and pronunciation, you can further explore the language by checking out our lessons on Serbian past tense verbs, Serbian greetings and introductions, and Serbian geography vocabulary. Happy learning!

Serbian Alphabet and IPA Pronunciation

The Serbian alphabet is unique and has 30 letters in total, consisting of five vowels and 25 consonants. The language can be written in both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, with each version having its own distinct pronunciation. The Cyrillic version of the alphabet is commonly used in Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the Latin version is used more frequently in Croatia. Here is a table that outlines the Serbian alphabet in both Cyrillic and Latin scripts, along with the corresponding pronunciation and some examples of how each letter would sound if used in a word.

Cyrillic	Latin	IPA	Example (Cyrillic)	Example (Latin)	Pronunciation
А а	A a	/a/	авион	avion	like a in car
Б б	B b	/b/	брат	brat	like b in bed
В в	V v	/ʋ/	војник	vojnik	like v in victory
Г г	G g	/ɡ/	град	grad	like g in good
Д д	D d	/d/	дрво	drvo	like d in day
ђ ђ	Đ đ	/dʑ/	ђак	đak	like j in juice
Е е	E e	/e/	ексер	ekser	like e in men
Ж ж	Ž ž	/ʒ/	жаба	žaba	like su in leisure
З з	Z z	/z/	змија	zmija	like z in zoo
И и	I i	/i/	ирвас	irvas	like e in east
Ј ј	J j	/j/	јаје	jaje	like y in you
К к	K k	/k/	краба	kraba	like k in king
Л л	L l	/l/	лето	leto	like l in love
Љ љ	Lj lj	/ʎ/	љубав	ljubav	like li in million
М м	M m	/m/	мајка	majka	like m in man
Н н	N n	/n/	нос	nos	like n in nice
Њ њ	Nj nj	/ɲ/	њива	njiva	like ni in onion
О о	O o	/o/	оловка	olovka	like o in door
П п	P p	/p/	прстен	prsten	like p in pen
Р р	R r	/r/	рак	rak	like r in room
С с	S s	/s/	стена	stena	like s in son
Т т	T t	/t/	тата	tata	like t in time
Ћ ћ	Ć ć	/tɕ/	ћуп	ćup	like ch in church,but softer
У у	U u	/u/	уво	uvo	like u in put
Ф ф	F f	/f/	француз	francuz	like f in french
Х х	H h	/x/	хлеб	hleb	like h in hot
Ц ц	C c	/ts/	црв	crv	like ts in cats
Ч ч	Č č	/tʃ/	човек	čovek	like ch in chocolate
Џ џ	Dž dž	/dʒ/	џин	džin	like j in joy
Ш ш	Š š	/ʃ/	шешир	šešir	like sh in she

Order of Latin

A, a

B, b

C, c

Č, č

Ć, ć

D, d

Dž, dž

Đ, đ

E, e

F, f

G, g

H, h

I, i

J, j

K, k

L, l

Lj, lj

M, m

N, n

Nj, nj

O, o

P, p

R, r

S, s

Š, š

T, t

U, u

V, v

Z, z

Ž, ž

Serbian Online Virtual Keyboard