Mural, done. Woot! The Alphabet
PLEASE NOTE: This section is no longer being maintained. For a much more detailed review of Hrvatski Jezik (Croatian Language), please see Daniel Nikolic’s fantastic website: Basic Croatian
Lucky for us English speakers, the alphabet is incredibly similar. In addition to being similar, the added letters are easy to pronounce.
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A a | The “a” in Jam |
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B b | The “B” in Big |
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C c | The ‘ts’ in its |
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Č č | The “Ch” in Chump |
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Ć ć | Mix of “T” in To and “Ch” in Chump |
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D d | The “D” in Dog |
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Dž dž | The “Ja” in Jam |
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Đ đ | Mix of “J” in Jam and “D” in Duke |
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E e | The “e” of The |
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F f | The “F” of Face |
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G g | The “G” of Give |
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L l | The “L” of Laid |
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LJ lj | The “lli” of Milli |
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H h | The “h” in hat |
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I i | The “ea” in Tea |
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J j | The “Y” of Yesterday |
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K k | The “C” of Cat |
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M m | The “M” of Mother |
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N n | The “N” of Nothing |
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NJ nj | The “ni” of Onion |
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O o | The “O” of Other |
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P p | The “P” in Pepper |
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R r | The “Ra” of Random, with a rolling sound |
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S s | The “S” of Say |
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Š š | The “Sh” in Shank |
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T t | The “T” of Two |
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U u | The “oo” of moo |
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V v | The “V” of Vat |
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Z z | The “Z” of Zebra |
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Ž ž | The “s” of Measure |
Well done! I think you got all the voices correctly. Even some native Croatians have difficulties telling the difference between č and ć (esp. dž and đ ).
You can hear dž when you say “jeep”, đ when you say schedule, ć in champ, and č in nature.
Btw., you missed h (as in hat).
Anyway, when you learn how to pronounce Croatian, you’ll know how to read at least Serbian, Bosnian, Slovenian :)
Great examples! And thanks for the positive feedback! Ooops, I missed a letter, thanks for catching that one!
Brief, specific. I like this. Trying to further refine my croatian.
Hvala Ljepa Tomislav.
Fixed!
Hi,
I am about to propose to my girlfriend and I need help to pronounce a statement asking for a blessing from her father. I think I am trying to ask this by saying the following and I need to know how to pronounce it. Do you know of a website or place in Sydney where I can learn how to say the following?
“Izvjesno , Volim te tvoj kçerka vrlo velik dio. Ona je preko lijep , razuman i pun ljubavi Ïena ãovjek mogao ikada traÏiti. We’ve bio zajedno za godina zatim , i Ja ne mogu zamisliti tro‰iti moj Ïivot sa bilo tko drukãije ali njoj. Îelio bi to pitati njoj to Ïeniti mene i I’m ovdje danas to pitati te za tvoj blagoslov” and in English i want to say…
“As you know, I love your daughter very much. She is the most beautiful, intelligent and loving woman a man could ever ask for. We’ve been together for years now, and I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else but her. I would like to ask her to marry me and I’m here today to ask you for your blessing” Can you help me out here?
Thanks Craig.
Hi Craig,
I’m not sure I can provide you with a place where you can learn to say specifically what you would like to say. However, of important note would be the shear quantity of Croatians in Australia. I would recommend grabbing one of her friends or even her mother and practicing.
Another option would be the Phrase base forums where they offer a matching service between people looking to learn and share language (I’ve found it especially helpful).
Good luck, and congratulations ;)
Cheers,
BEB
What do you mean:
Z z the “x” in zebra?