Transliteration of Serbian
A correspondence table between the Serbian script and Latin letters: 30 letters, with names and sounds. The rendering is practical — it exists so you can read aloud and be understood, not to meet a scholarly standard.
Serbian character → Latin
| Character | Name | In Latin | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| А а | a | a as in "father" | A pure open a, steady as in "father"; an unstressed a never fades to "uh" |
| Б б | be | b as in "book" | An ordinary b |
| В в | ve | v as in "van" | An ordinary v |
| Г г | ge | g as in "go", always hard | An ordinary g as in "go", always hard — it never softens before e and i |
| Д д | de | d as in "door" | An ordinary d |
| Ђ ђ | đe | soft dy, as in "duke" said quickly | A soft dy, closer to "du" in "duke" said softly; the voiced partner of ć. In the Latin script: đ |
| Е е | e | e as in "bed" | Always e as in "bed", never the ye-glide of "yes" |
| Ж ж | že | zh as in "measure" | As the s of "measure" or the z of "azure" |
| З з | ze | z as in "zoo" | An ordinary z |
| И и | i | ee as in "see" | A pure ee; the consonant before it stays firm and is not mushed |
| Ј ј | je | y as in "yes" | An ordinary y as in "yes". In the Latin script: j |
| К к | ka | k as in "kite" | An ordinary k |
| Л л | el | l as in "lamp" | A plain l as in "lamp"; the soft l is a separate letter (lj) |
| Љ љ | lje | ly as in "million" | A soft ly in one sound — the li of "million" |
| М м | em | m as in "map" | An ordinary m |
| Н н | en | n as in "no" | A plain n as in "no"; the soft n is a separate letter (nj) |
| Њ њ | nje | ny as in "canyon" | A soft ny in one sound — the ny of "canyon" |
| О о | o | o as in "more", pure | A pure o even without stress: it never decays into "uh" |
| П п | pe | p as in "pen" | An ordinary p |
| Р р | er | a tapped r | One tap of the tongue, like the tt of American "butter"; between consonants it becomes a syllable of its own: prst reads "pərst" |
| С с | es | s as in "sun" | Always the s of "sun", never z |
| Т т | te | t as in "top" | An ordinary t |
| Ћ ћ | će | soft ch, between "church" and "ty" | Between the ch of "church" and the ty of "hit you" — softer than plain ch. In the Latin script: ć |
| У у | u | oo as in "food" | A pure oo as in "food", without a glide |
| Ф ф | ef | f as in "fun" | An ordinary f; native Serbian words with it are few |
| Х х | ha | h as in "hat", breathier | A breathy h, lighter than the h of "hat" — closer to just breathing on glass |
| Ц ц | ce | ts as in "cats" | The ts of "cats" in one sound |
| Ч ч | če | ch as in "church", hard | A hard ch as in "church". In the Latin script: č |
| Џ џ | dže | hard dj, as in "jam" | A hard dj as in "jam". In the Latin script: dž |
| Ш ш | ša | sh as in "ship" | An ordinary sh as in "ship". In the Latin script: š |
How practical transliteration differs from the scholarly kind
Any script has several Latin renderings, and they solve different problems. The scholarly one (ISO, GOST) is reversible: the original spelling can be restored character for character — which is why it is full of marks that are not on any keyboard and that nobody ever reads aloud correctly.
The practical one solves the reverse problem: a person reads it aloud and is understood. That is what the table above uses, and that is what our courses use.
What to watch out for
The six letters with no English twin. Everything the Latin alphabet lacks. Four of them are half-pairs: Serbian hears a soft and a hard sound where English makes do with one. The soft ć sits against the hard č, and the soft đ against the hard dž. Telling them apart by ear is the hardest listening task in the language.
Read them the way they look. Twenty-four letters an English eye reads almost without lessons — they look like Latin and sound like it. Two habits to pick up: e is always e as in "bed", and an unstressed o never fades to "uh".
Frequently asked
How to write Serbian text in Latin letters?
Using the table above, character by character. The practical rendering records sound, not spelling, so the original text cannot always be restored from it backwards.
Why do transliterations differ across sources?
Because they solve different problems: the scholarly one is reversible and precise, the practical one is readable, the passport one is fixed by the country's rules. They are not required to agree.