Serbian Phonetic System: The Secret Workings You Won't Find In Your Textbooks: Part 2

The table below is an overview of the phonemes that are going to be discussed and dissected in this article. The sounds are given in Latin, Cyrillic and IPA, in that order. An asterisk (*) is used to mark a sound that does not belong to standard Serbian, but is used in dialects.

This is an overview of the phonemes that are going to be discussed and dissected in this article. The sounds are given in Latin, Cyrillic and IPA, in that order. An asterisk (*) is used to mark a sound that does not belong to standard Serbian, but is used in dialects.

Let us start from the easiest chunk, as usual. Once we have it on our side, it will help us conquer more complex parts. That is why I highly recommend reading and understanding Part 1 before Part 2 of this article, only because the information explained previously is going to be taken for granted here. For example, when I say J here, I am assuming that you are aware of what am I referring to as previously explained.  

Dental Fricatives S and Z

That being said, let us continue a discussion about the sounds most of you are familiar with: S and Z. They are sun and zebra English sounds or soleil and maison French sounds. Many German, Spanish and Italian native speakers find it difficult to distinguish between these two, so let me try and explain them here in detail:

When we pronounce the first, S sound, we clench our teeth together, with our tongue approaching the J sound position, but lower, and we make the air pass through our front teeth. That's it, only air. That is what we refer to when we say that it is a voiceless sound.

On the other hand, when we pronounce the Z sound, we do exactly the same thing while making our vocal cords hum at the same time. That is what we refer to when we say that it is a voiced sound.

Try pronouncing s and z: sam, zima.

Palatal Fricatives Š and Ž

The same distinction goes for the Š and Ž sounds. The former is the voiceless sound you hear in the English word shoe, French champagne, Italian scioco and the Rioplatense or Argentinian Spanish Yo me llamo, while the latter is its voiced counterpart ‒ it is the sound that we hear in the English word television or French jamais.

Try pronouncing š and ž: šuma, žirafa.

If you have trouble pronouncing any of these four sounds, you can be thankful to the University of Iowa for providing us with this fantastic tool. Listen to the fricative sounds /s/, /z/, /ʒ/ and /ʃ/. You can also use the step-by-step instructions provided for each sound to help you understand and pronounce them.

Now give it a go on the following tongue twisters:

Miš uz pušku, miš niz pušku, nasred puške vodu pije.

Kneže, viteže, kad te vidješe, razveseliše li ti se?

You can listen to the recording here.

The Hard Palatal Affricates Č and Dž

If a sound is considered an affricate, that means that it is produced by combining two or more phonemes in a single sound. When pronouncing the sound Č, what we basically do is prepare our mouth to say T while actually pronouncing Š (see above), and we do it using the air only ‒ that is, to say, that the sound Č is voiceless. And yes, you're right to guess that the Dž sound is its voiced counterpart and is, therefore, pronounced by combining the voiced sounds D and Ž – as its Latin character reveals.

Let us once more use the treasure that the University of Iowa provided us with and take a look at the two affricates: /tʃ/ and /dʒ/. And once again, you can listen to them and observe them being pronounced, as well as follow the step-by-step instructions. After you've practiced them a bit, try and pronounce these minimal pairs:

• čudo – džudo
• čak – džak
• čabar – džaba
• čarka – džarka

And now, are you ready for an amusing set of tongue twisters? Here they come:

Čiča čvorak čuva četu čavki; čik, čvorče, čvrkni čavki čvrgu!

I cvrči, cvrči cvrčak na čvoru crne smrče.

Četiri mačke čuče na čabru. Skoči mačak na čabar i počini čitavo čudo.

Listen to the audio and practice.

Nota Bene: It's worth mentioning that the Serbian sounds Š, Ž, Č and Dž are a bit harder and tougher than their English counterparts ‒ that is, to say, that when pronouncing them, your tongue is curled straight upwards and the tip of your tongue touches the part where your palate backs up your teeth. However, in Bosnia and Croatia these sounds are pronounced softer, similarly to the English ones. Furthermore, the majority of people in Croatia and a lot of people in Bosnia do not distinguish the sounds Č and Dž from their soft companions Ć and Đ (coming next), even though they do distinguish them in writing. Therefore, even if you find it difficult to make a difference between Č and Ć or Dž and Đ, rest assured because everyone will understand you.

The Soft Palatal Affricates Ć and Đ

These two sounds are also affricates; they are made of more than one phoneme. They are also used in the Polish and Chinese languages.

The Ć sound is the one that the majority of the Serbian surnames finish with: Petrović, Marković, Jovanović. To pronounce it, we prepare our mouth for the palatalizing J sound, while actually pronouncing T and Š. Again, the Ć phoneme is voiceless, while the Đ phoneme deploys our vocal cords, as well, so that we actually pronounce it by combining the palatalizing J with the voiced D and Ž sounds.

The Dental Affricates C and *Dz

C is the pizza and tsunami sound. We articulate it by combining the sounds T and S. Its voiced counterpart *Dz (pronounced by combining the D and Z sounds) does not belong to standard Serbian, but it is used in southern dialects and in colloquial speech. In fact, it is only by using that sound that can we pronounce the colloquial word with comic insinuation: budze or budzaljke instead of neutral usne (lips) or usta (mouth). That is the very sound that most Italians will pronounce when they see the letter Z: zio

Let us try:

• Ć: ćao, ćevap, ćevapčić, Ćirić
• Đ: đak, đavo, đus, Đoković
• C: pica, cunami, cipela
• *Dz: budze, budzaljke

Link to the audio recording.

Let me finish with another set of popular tongue twisters. Now, this will be easy for you after you've mastered the previous ones. Ready? Unleash your tongue!

Četiri čavčića na čunčiću čučeći cijuču.

Čokanjčićem ću te, čokanjčićem ćeš me.

Raskiseliše li ti se opanci?

Ture bure gura, bula bure valja, bolje ture bure gura neg' što bula bure valja.

Link to the audio recording.

Image Sources

Hero image by Tambako the Jaguar (CC BY-ND 2.0)