Croatian Language - Pronunciation

Pronunciation / Izgovor

CroLang Editors gratefully acknowledge the help of Mr. Gary L. Giblin, who kindly provided the linguistic information for this page, the alphabet transcription, and improved the style and grammar. 1/97

The Croatian language comprises three main dialect groups. Of these, the tokavian group contains the greatest number of speakers. The tokavian group itself comprises three separate dialects, traditionally distinguished by their treatment of the Common Slavic vowel "". The Ijekavian dialect, so called because Common Slavic "" emerged as "(i)je", is the basis for standard literary Croatian. The forms described in these pages will generally be understood by speakers of other dialects, including those who speak the closely-related "Bosnian" and Serbian languages.

1. Orthography

Croatian orthography is largely phonemic, which means that each phoneme--or distinctive sound--is represented by a single letter and each letter, in turn, generally represents a single sound. This contrasts dramatically with the English version of the Roman alphabet, in which a single letter may represent several different sounds (cf. the value of "u"in the words "cup", "rude" "dull" [American English] and "cute"), while a single sound may be spelled in several different ways (cf. the words "flu", "glue", "to", "too", "two", "shoe", "through", all with the identical vowel /u/.). The Croatian phonemes described below, as well as in the table representing the Croatian alphabet, are unambiguously transcribed in the symbols of the International Phonetic Association.

2. Accent (Stress)

Standard Croatian does not employ the so-called "tonic accent" of other South Slavic dialects. Rather, Croatian employs simple word stress, which is somewhat "lighter" than the relatively "heavy" stress of English, German or Russian. In two-syllable words, stress generally falls on the first syllable; in words of three or more syllables, stress may fall on any syllable except the last.

3. Sounds

The sounds of Croatian are compared to similar sounds in British and American English, as well as other widely spoken European languages.

Vowels:

There are six vowels in Croatian, not counting diphthongs formed with the semi-vowel "j". Stressed vowels tend to be pronounced more clearly and distinctly than their unstressed counterparts.

A, a: [a] Stressed /a/ sounds like the "a" of Spanish or Italian "mano".
English-speakers should aim for a sound that is between the "a" of "fat" and the "a" of "father", but somewhat closer to the latter. Unstressed /a/ generally approaches the sound of "u" in English "cup" or, especially when final, the "a" of "sofa".
E, e: [e] Stressed /e/ generally comes close to the "e" of English "bed"; in the vicinity of /j/, however, Croatian /e/ sounds more like the "a" of English "make". The unstressed variety sounds like a cross between the "e" of "bed" and the "u" of "bud".
I, i: [i] Stressed /i/ is pronounced like the "i" of Spanish or Italian "si". It is similar to the "i" of English "police", but shorter than the diphthong of English "green" or "seed". Unstressed /i/ is more like the "i" of English "sit", or, better, German "mit".
O, o: [o] Stressed /o/ is quite close to the "o" of Spanish "bola" or English "port". Unstressed /o/ tends to sound a little more like the "u" of American English "putt".
U, u: [u] Stressed /u/ is similar to the "u" of Spanish or Italian "tu" or the "oo" of English "boot". When unstressed, /u/ sounds more like the "u" of English "put".
R, r: [r] Stressed or unstressed syllabic /r/ consists of a short schwa [], like the "a" in English "sofa", followed by a trilled [r], as in Spanish "rojo" or "perro" (see also the "consonantal /r/" below.) The initial syllable of "Hrvat", for example, sounds roughly like English "her" pronounced with a trilled /r/.

Consonants:

There are 25 consonant phonemes:

B, b: [b] as the "b" in "bag",
C, c: [ts] as the "ts" in "cats". This phoneme can occur word-initially in Croatian, a position it does not occupy in standard English. In vernacular English, however, the sound does occur initially in "'tsup?", an abbreviation of the phrase "What's up?"
: [] as the "ch" in "check
: [t] no English equivalent. Place the tip of the tongue behind the lower front teeth and try to produce a "mixed sound" between the "ch" of "check" and the "t" (actually "ty") of British English "tune"
D, d: [d] as the "d" in "dog", except that the tip of the tongue touches the backs of the upper teeth, rather than the gum, as in English
: [] as the "j" in English "jar"
: [d] no English equivalent. Place the tip of the tongue behind the lower front teeth and try to produce a "mixed sound" between the "j" of "jar" and the "d" (actually "dy") of British English "duke"
F, f: [f] as the "f" in English "fun"
G, g: [g] as the "g" in English "get"
H, h: [h] as the "j" of Spanish "mujer" or the "ch" of German "ach", but generally softer, less "harsh"-sounding than these. In unstressed syllables, /h/ may approach the [h] of English "hot". Some speakers use [h] in all positions.
J, j: [j] as the "y" of English "yes" or the "y" of English "boy", depending on whether it occurs at the beginning or the end of a syllable
K, k: [k] as the "c" of Spanish or Italian "caro" or the "unaspirated 'k'" of English "ski"
L, l: [l] as the "clear 'l'" of British English "like" or "let"(or that of Spanish or Italian "la"). In American English, these words may be pronounced with a "clear 'l'" or with a much "darker" variety similar to that which occurs at the ends of English words such as "dull" and "call". Croatian /l/ is always "clear". In addition, the tip of the tongue touches the backs of the upper teeth, rather than the gum, as in English.
: [lj] as the British English pronunciation of the "lli" in "million", i.e., with a "clear 'l'" followed by a short "y"-sound
M, m: [m] as the "m" in "meet"
N, n: [n] as the "n" in "note", but with the tip of the tongue touching the backs of the upper teeth, rather than the gum, as in English
: [nj] as the "ni" in "onion", i.e., an "n" followed by a short "y"-sound
P, p: [p] as the "p" in Spanish or Italian "palma" or the "unaspirated 'p'" of English "spy"
R, r: [r] as the "r" of Spanish or Italian "caro", i.e., a single flap of the tongue against the upper gum. This sound occurs in some Britons' pronunciation of the "r" of "very", which Americans hear as "veddy", as well as in most Americans' pronunciation of the "dd" in "ladder" and the "tt" of "latter", when these words are made to rhyme. Note: Croatian "r" may also function as a vowel (see above).
S, s: [s] as the "s" in English "six"
: [] as the "sh" in English "ship"
T, t: [t] as the "t" in Spanish or Italian "tu" or the "unaspirated 't'" of English "stop", except that the tip of the tongue touches the backs of the upper teeth, rather than the gum
V, v: [v] as the "w" in Dutch "wat". When preceeding /e/ and /i/ in stressed syllables, the Croatian /v/ sounds similar to the English "v" in "vat", but with a "looser", more lax, contact between the lower lip and the upper teeth. When unstressed or preceeding /a/, /o/ and /u/, Croatian /v/ is weaker still, sounding to English-speakers much like the "w" of "war"
Z, z: [z] as the "z" in English "zero"
: [] as the "s" in "measure" or the "zh" in "Zhivago"

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