A Few Words About Croatian Pronunciation
Croatian pronunciation is relatively easy! Croatian words are pronounced exactly how they are spelt. This may not be such great advice to those who are having trouble reading Croatian but it is just a reminder that all letters and syllables in words are pronounced and there are no silent letters. (Unlike in English!)
As a general rule of thumb, Croatian vowels are short. You can see in the table below and approximation of how to pronounce these letters.
Croatian Alphabet
There are 30 letters in the Croatian alphabet. They are
a, b, c, č, ć, d, dž, đ, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, lj, m, n, nj, o, p, r, s, š, t, u, v, z, ž
There is no q, w, x or y in the Croatian alphabet.
Croatian Pronunciation of Letters
Any letters not included in the table below are pronounced the same as in English.
| Letter in Croatian alphabet | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| c | like ts in lets |
| č (considered a ‘hard’ c) | like ch in church |
| ć (considered a ‘soft’ c) | like ch in cheese |
| dž | similar to J in June |
| đ | like j in jam |
| g | like g in game |
| h | like h in ham |
| j | like y in yacht |
| lj | like l in lure |
| nj | like the Spanish ñ |
| r | trilled |
| š | like sh in sheep |
| ž | like s in measure |
| a | like a in sofa |
| e | like e in met |
| i | like ee in feet |
| o | like o in dog |
| u | like oo in boot |
Pronunciation of places names in Croatia
How about practising and trying out the Croatian pronunciation of some famous places in the country? Give it a go!
| Place | Pronunciation | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Zagreb | za-greb | a short a and with a trilled r |
| Dubrovnik | doo-brov-nik | emphasis is on first syllable, not the second! |
| Split | same as in English! | |
| Pula | poo-la | |
| Rovinj | roh-veen | with a trilled r |
| Porec | poh-rech | with a trilled r |
| Rijeka | ree-yeah-ka | |
| Makarska | mah-car-ska | |
| Zadar | za-dar | a short a and with a trilled r |
| Sibenik | shi-ben-ik | |
| Hvar | Slightly dfficult to explain…try ‘var’ with an h sound at the beginning | NOT Ha-var! |
| Brac | brach | with a trilled r |
| Vis | as written! | |
| Korcula | cor-chu-la | |
| Mljet | mlet | |
| Plitvice | pleet-veets-eh | |
| Krka | kr-kah | with a trilled r |
| Brijuni | bree-you-nee | |
| Cavtat | tsav-tat | |
| Trogir | troh-gear | with trilled r-s |