Serbo-Croatian/Lesson 1

Serbo-Croatian uses both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. Cyrillic is only used for Serbian and Montenegrin. Serbian and Montenegrin use both alphabets. The alphabets have a one-to-one correspondence. Serbo-Croatian's alphabet is one of the most phonetic in use. This means you can pronounce a word based on how it is spelled and write it based on how it is pronounced.

Cyrillic	Latin	IPA	approximate English equivalent
Аа	Aa	a	hot
Бб	Bb	b	back
Цц	Cc	ts	cats
Чч	Čč	tʃ	chew* without puff of air like in English
Ћћ	Ćć	tɕ	ch sound followed by y
Дд	Dd	d̪	dart* pronounced with tongue touching upper teeth
Џџ	Dž dž	dʒ	jam
Ђђ	Đđ	dʑ	j sound followed by y sound
Ее	Ee	e~ɛ	make* but shorter
Фф	Ff	f	far
Гг	Gg	g	go* never soft like in "gem"
Хх	Hh	x	most similar to "h". like Spanish "j", continuous k sound
Ии	Ii	i	me
Јј	Jj	j	yard
Кк	Kk	k	skit* without puff of air like in English
Лл	Ll	ɫ	let
Љљ	Lj lj	ʎ	like l sound followed by y sound or said at the same time
Мм	Mm	m	met
Нн	Nn	n	net
Њњ	Nj nj	ɲ	like n sound followed by y sound or said at the same time
Оо	Oo	o~ɔ	rope* but shorter
Пп	Pp	p	span* without puff of air like in English
Рр	Rr	r	trilled like motor sound
Сс	Ss	s	saw
Шш	Šš	ʃ	ship
Тт	Tt	t̪	stop* without puff of air like in English, pronounced with tongue touching upper teeth
Уу	Uu	u	move* but shorter
Вв	Vv	ʋ	between w and v sound
Зз	Zz	z	zebra
Жж	Žž	ʒ	vision
ије	ije	jeː	yay* this is not considered a letter like all the others