Serbia has two official letters: Cyrillic and Latin (Latinic). Cyrillic is the main one hystorically, culturally and officially, but we are starting with Latinic, because it is more useful for learning Serbian in the beginning. In this lesson, we will learn Latinic letter used in Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian, which are actually same languages.

Serbian reading and writing (both in Cyrillic and Latinic) is almost completely phonetic: 30 LETTES = 30 SOUNDS = EACH LETTER / SOUND IS ALWAYS PRONOUNCED / WRITTEN IN THE SAME WAY.

BASIC FACTS:

  • EVERY LETTER IS ALWAYS PRONOUNCED
  • THERE ARE 25 CONSONANTS
  • THERE ARE 5 VOWELS
  • THE STRESS IS ALWAYS ON A VOWEL
  • THE STRESS CAN FALL ON ANY SYLLABLE EXCEPT THE LAST ONE (THERE ARE FEW EXCEPTIONS WITH FOREIGN WORDS)
  1. WRITING
  • LETTERS IN ENGLISH, BUT NOT IN SERBIAN:

Q, W, X, Y

  • LETTERS BOTH IN ENGLISH AND SERBIAN:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, V, Z

  • LETTERS IN SERBIAN, BUT NOT IN ENGLISH:

Č, Ć, Dž, Đ, Lj, Nj, Š, Ž

  1. PRONUNCIATION
  • VOWELS:
    A, E, I, O, U

Using English words, let’s see how they are pronounced:

A
BAR, ARE, FARM, MONKEY, BUTTER

E

PENCIL, PET, BETTER, AIR, PLAY

I

GIG, FRIDGE, SIT, MYTH, DEER

O

POT, LOTTERY, PORCH, WHAT, BOARD

U

PULL, ZUCCHINI, BULLET, COOL, SHOES

  • CONSONANTS

WRITTEN BOTH IN ENGLISH AND SERBIAN MAY BE LISTED IN TWO GROUPS:

  • ALWAYS PRONOUNCED THE SAME WAY AS IN ENGLISH WORDS:
    B, D, F, H, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, V, Z
  • SOMETIMES OR NEVER PRONOUNCED AS IN IN ENGLISH WORDS:
    C, G, J

Using English words, let’s see how those are pronounced:

C

PIZZA, FITZROY

G

GOD, GOOD, BLOG

J

MAY, YUGOSLAVIA, YOUTH

WRITTEN IN SERBIAN, BUT NOT IN ENGLISH:

Č, Ć, Dž, Đ, Lj, Nj, Š, Ž

Again, let’s see how those are pronounced usin English words:

Č

RICH, TEACHER, CHOP

Ć

CIAO and other Italian words with C / CI (doesn’t exist in purely English words, sometimes described as a soft Č (CH))

Dž

JOHN, JOY, GINGER

Đ or Dj

GIUSEPPE (VERDI), DIDGERDOO (again not present in purely English words, but for example widely used in Italian and obviously some Australian words coming from Aboriginal languages)

Lj

PUGLIA, MERAVIGLIOSO (this consonant also doesn’t exist in English, in Italian written as GL, could be described as quickly said LY or soft L)

Nj

NEW, (ROBERTO) BENIGNI (rarely present in English words, in Italian written as GN, could be described as quickly said NY or soft N)

Š

SHOP, WASH, SMASHING

Ž

FRENCH EXAMPLES: JACQUES, GEORGE (BIZET) (not present in purely English words, but very common in French)

Australiana Serbahttps://www.australianaserba.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/alphabet-1219546_1920-1024x683.jpghttps://www.australianaserba.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/alphabet-1219546_1920-150x150.jpgAustraliana SerbaLearn Serbian with ASLatinic,Latinic letter,Latinica,Lesson,Letter,Serbian,Serbian lesson    Serbia has two official letters: Cyrillic and Latin (Latinic). Cyrillic is the main one hystorically, culturally and officially, but we are starting with Latinic, because it is more useful for learning Serbian in the beginning. In this lesson, we will learn Latinic letter used in Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian,...Internet Magazine