Pronounce Serbian vowels clearly and consistently, and discover how the letter r can function as a syllabic sound in words without a written vowel.

Serbian Vowels Pronounced

Let me announce that the time of low quality video lessons is over. I am sure you will enjoy watching one of the introductory videos on how to pronounce Serbian vowels with a brand new tool :)

Serbian Vowels

Although there are only five + one vowels in Serbian: A, E, I, O & U + R, one must take into account that there is also a distinction between long and short vowels. This difference is not seen in orthography, but the stressed ones are more often the longer ones. 

Today I simply want to introduce you to the simplicity of the pronunciation of the basic five vowels, and then in the following videos we'll work on the pronunciation of the "sixth vowel" in Serbian, the syllable forming R, as well as the long and short vowel pronunciation and stress within a word. 


Five vowels, and they never change

Serbian has five vowel letters—a, e, i, o and u—and each normally keeps a stable quality. Unlike English, unstressed vowels should not collapse into a vague sound. Vowel length and pitch accent matter in speech even though they are not shown in ordinary spelling. In words such as prst, trg and krv, r carries the syllable and must remain audible.

This is one of the genuinely easy parts of Serbian. There are five vowels, each has exactly one sound, and that sound does not change with stress, position or spelling. English speakers have to unlearn the habit of reducing unstressed vowels — the a in Ana is the same full a both times, not a weakened one at the end.

Vowel practice sentences, in both alphabets

Latin scriptCyrillic scriptEnglish
Ana ima mapu.Ана има мапу.Ana has a map.
Ema sedi pored mene.Ема седи поред мене.Ema is sitting beside me.
Iva čita zanimljivu knjigu.Ива чита занимљиву књигу.Iva is reading an interesting book.
Ognjen govori polako.Огњен говори полако.Ognjen speaks slowly.
Una uči srpski ujutru.Уна учи српски ујутру.Una studies Serbian in the morning.

Because Serbian spelling is completely phonetic, reading these sentences in Cyrillic is genuinely no harder than reading them in Latin once you know the letters. Every letter is pronounced, always the same way. Try covering the Latin column entirely — with vocabulary this simple you will manage more than you expect.

Isolating each vowel

Say the five vowels in sequence, exaggerating each one, then read the sentences watching for vowels you shortened or coloured. Record yourself reading one sentence and listen specifically to the unstressed vowels. That is where an English or German accent shows first, and where a small correction makes a big difference.

Vowel exercise

Translate these sentences into Serbian in both scripts, then read them aloud giving every vowel its full value.

  1. Ana has a map.
  2. Ema is sitting beside me.
  3. Iva is reading an interesting book.
  4. Ognjen speaks slowly.
  5. Una studies Serbian in the morning.

Answers

  1. Ana ima mapu.
    Ана има мапу.
  2. Ema sedi pored mene.
    Ема седи поред мене.
  3. Iva čita zanimljivu knjigu.
    Ива чита занимљиву књигу.
  4. Ognjen govori polako.
    Огњен говори полако.
  5. Una uči srpski ujutru.
    Уна учи српски ујутру.