LingoflyTransliteration of Serbian
A correspondence table between the Serbian script and Latin letters: 30 letters, with names and sounds. The Latin column is Gajica, the second, equal alphabet of Serbian.
Serbian character → Latin
| Character | Name | In Latin | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| А (a) а (a) | a | a | A pure open a, steady as in "father"; an unstressed a never fades to "uh" |
| Б б | be | b | An ordinary b |
| В в | ve | v | An ordinary v |
| Г г | ge | g | An ordinary g as in "go", always hard — it never softens before e and i |
| Д д | de | d | An ordinary d |
| Ђ ђ | đe | đ | Like the j of "jam", but with the tongue tip down behind the lower teeth, so it comes out thinner. It is ć with the voice on. In the Latin script: đ |
| Е е | e | e | Always e as in "bed" |
| Ж ж | že | ž | As the s of "measure" or the z of "azure" |
| З з | ze | z | An ordinary z |
| И (i) и (i) | i | i | A pure ee |
| Ј ј | je | j | An ordinary y. In the Latin script: j |
| К к | ka | k | An ordinary k |
| Л л | el | l | A plain l as in "lamp" |
| Љ љ | lje | lj | A soft ly in one sound — the li of "million" |
| М м | em | m | An ordinary m |
| Н н | en | n | A plain n as in "no" |
| Њ њ | nje | nj | A soft ny in one sound — the ny of "canyon" |
| О (o) о (o) | o | o | A pure o even without stress: it never decays into "uh" |
| П п | pe | p | An ordinary p |
| Р р | er | r | A rolled r: the tongue tip flutters behind the upper teeth. Between consonants it acts as a vowel: in prst, finger, the r alone carries the syllable |
| С (s) с (s) | es | s | The s of "sun", with no buzz of z |
| Т т | te | t | An ordinary t |
| Ћ ћ | će | ć | Like the ch of "church", but with the tongue tip down behind the lower teeth, so it comes out thinner. In the Latin script: ć |
| У (u) у (u) | u | u | A pure oo as in "food", without a glide |
| Ф ф | ef | f | An ordinary f; native Serbian words with it are few |
| Х х | ha | h | Air rubbing lightly at the back of the mouth, never a hard rasp |
| Ц ц | ce | c | The ts of "cats" in one sound |
| Ч ч | če | č | The ch of "church". In the Latin script: č |
| Џ џ | dže | dž | The j of "jam". In the Latin script: dž |
| Ш ш | ša | š | An ordinary sh as in "ship". In the Latin script: š |
Where this Latin alphabet comes from
For Serbian the Latin alphabet is not a transliteration but a second alphabet of the same language. Each Cyrillic letter has one Latin counterpart, and the table reads both ways.
Three Cyrillic letters take two Latin characters: љ is lj, њ is nj, џ is dž. Both alphabets appear on shop signs and in newspapers.
What to watch out for
Six letters of Serbian's own. They are ј, љ, њ, ћ, ђ, џ. Three of them, ћ, ђ and џ, form soft-and-hard pairs where English hears a single sound: soft ћ against hard ч, soft ђ against hard џ. Telling them apart by ear is the hardest listening task in the language.
The other twenty-four. Six of them read the way they look: а (a), е, к, м, о (o), т. Six only look Latin: В is v, Н is n, Р is r, С (s) is s, У (u) is oo, Х is the ch of Scottish "loch", but lighter. The other twelve are new shapes for familiar sounds.
Frequently asked
How to write Serbian text in Latin letters?
Using the table above, letter by letter. Where the spelling depends on the position in the word, the section “Where this Latin alphabet comes from” says so.
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.