Lesson 2. Serbian Latin Alphabet: Familiar Letters
In the last lesson we learned that Serbian has two alphabets. Today we’ll work on the Latin one.
Good news
The Serbian Latin alphabet has 30 letters. Most of them are familiar. They are read almost the same way as in Russian or English.
Letters that are easy to read
| Latin | Cyrillic | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | а | а | mama — mom |
| b | б | б | brat — brother |
| c | ц | ц | cena — price |
| d | д | д | dom — home |
| e | е | э | more — sea |
| f | ф | ф | foto — photo |
| g | г | г | grad — city |
| h | х | х | hleb — bread |
| i | и | и | riba — fish |
| k | к | к | knjiga — book |
| l | л | л | lav — lion |
| m | м | м | mleko — milk |
| n | н | н | noga — leg |
| o | о | о | oko — eye |
| p | п | п | pas — dog |
| r | р | р | ruka — hand |
| s | с | с | sestra — sister |
| t | т | т | tata — dad |
| u | у | у | ruka — hand |
| v | в | в | voda — water |
| z | з | з | zima — winter |
Compare with Russian
In Russian “вода” we almost say “вада” — the first “o” is unstressed. But in Serbian voda we pronounce it clearly: “вода”. Both “o”s sound like “o”.
Here there are fewer letters than in Russian “молоко”, and it is read exactly as written: “млеко”.
Letters that are missing
The Serbian Latin alphabet has no letters q, w, x, y. They appear only in borrowed names.
Exercises
Exercise 1
Read aloud: mama, tata, brat, sestra, voda, hleb.
Show answer
“мама”, “тата”, “брат”, “сестра”, “вода”, “хлеб”. Every letter is read as it is written.
Exercise 2
Read: pas, mleko, riba, oko. What do these words mean?
Show answer
pas — dog, mleko — milk, riba — fish, oko — eye.
Exercise 3
Write the Serbian word grad in Cyrillic.
Show answer
град. All the letters match the Russian ones.
Exercise 4
How many syllables are in the word more? How is it read?
Show answer
Two syllables: mo-re. It is read “мо́-рэ”. Note: Serbian e sounds like Russian “э”, not “е”.
In the next lesson — four special letters: č, ć, š, ž.
Lesson vocabulary
- dom (дом)
- — home
- more (море)
- — sea
- grad (град)
- — city
- hleb (хлеб)
- — bread
- riba (риба)
- — fish
- mleko (млеко)
- — milk
- oko (око)
- — eye
- ruka (рука)
- — hand
- noga (нога)
- — leg
- pas (пас)
- — dog