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Pronouns

Adjectives

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Question words

Serbian sounds

The table below lists an inventory of Serbian sounds. I provide both the Latin and Cyrillic counterparts for each character.

• Note that r can be both a consonant and a vowel. For example, in the first syllable of the word, Srbin ‘Serb’, ‘r’ acts as a vowel. You can hear a very short and weak ‘a’ (like a schwa in the English word ‘sister’) followed by trilled [r].
  
• Stressed vowels tend to be pronounced more clearly and distinctly than their unstressed counterparts. Stressed vowels are designated with ‘:’
  
• In general, in two-syllable words, the main stress or accent is on the first syllable. In longer words, the stress may fall on any syllable except the last.
  
• Consonants t, d, s, z, l are dental, which means that the tip of the tongue touches the back of the upper teeth.
  
• Consonants p, t are unaspirated at the beginning of a syllable. So, in this position, p and t sound like the soft English b and d respectively.
  
• The following consonants sounds have no English equivalents: ћ, љ, њ. They are palatal sounds. The sound ć/ћ is a blend of the English ‘ty’, (as in the British pronunciation of ‘dew’) and ‘ch’ (as in ‘church’). The sound lj/љ is a mixture of ‘l’ and ‘y’, as in the British pronunciation of ‘million’. Finally the sound nj/њ is a mixture of ‘n’ and ‘y’, as in the English pronunciation of ‘minion’.
  
• To hear either a Serbian or English pronunciation, just click over the words