The World of Languages · Indo-European
Serbian · српски / srpski
The only European language that uses two alphabets at once, Cyrillic and Latin. It is mutually intelligible with Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin.
- 8.2 million native speakers
- Cyrillic script
- FSI Category III · 44 weeks
- Official in 4 countries
Where Serbian is spoken
Tap or hover over a country. Colours show the language's status, based on Unicode CLDR territory data (population estimates mix sources and years).
Top countries by speakers
- Serbia · СрбијаOfficial language · 6.6M (99%)
- Montenegro · Црна ГораOfficial language · 600k (100%)
- Bosnia & Herzegovina · Босна и ХерцеговинаOfficial language · 380k (10%)
- Kosovo · КосовоOfficial language · 99k (5%)
Key numbers
- Native (L1) speakers
- 8.2 million
- Source
- Ethnologue (28th ed.), via Wikipedia · 2022–2023
Serbian at a glance
Serbian is the standard variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the national official language and literary standard of Serbia, one of the official languages in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, and a recognized minority language in numerous countries.
Serbian is based on the most widespread supradialect of Serbo-Croatian, Shtokavian (more specifically on the dialects of Šumadija-Vojvodina and Eastern Herzegovina), which is also the basis of other Serbo-Croatian standard varieties: Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin.
Serbian is a rare example of synchronic digraphia, using both Cyrillic and Latin scripts.
From the Wikipedia article Serbian language (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Name in Serbian
- српски / srpski
- Family
- Indo-EuropeanClassical Indo-EuropeanBalto-SlavicSlavicSouth SlavicWestern South SlavicSerbian-Croatian-BosnianShtokavskiNew ShtokavianEastern Herzegovinian Shtokavian
- Writing system
- Serbian Cyrillic and Gaj's Latin (30 letters each, one-to-one)
- Direction
- Left to right
- Official in
- Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo
- Codes
- ISO 639-3
srp· Glottologserb1264· Q9299 - Writing sample
Сва људска бића рађају се слободна и једнака у достојанству и правима. Она су обдарена разумом и свешћу и треба једни према другима да поступају у духу братства.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…”
Linguistic profile
How hard is Serbian for English speakers?
The US Foreign Service Institute puts Serbian in Category III: about 44 weeks (1100 class hours) of full-time study to reach professional working proficiency.
Source: FSI language learning timelines. See all languages ranked: hardest · easiest.
Feature values from the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS Online, CC BY 4.0), which describes Serbian-Croatian as one entry.
The Serbian script
Serbian Cyrillic and Gaj's Latin (30 letters each, one-to-one). Tap a character to hear it (your device reads the letter name or sound).
Latin alphabet (latinica)
Standard letters from Unicode CLDR exemplar characters.
Useful Serbian phrases with pronunciation
Numbers 1–10
- јѐдан jѐdan
- два̑ dvȃ
- три̑ trȋ
- чѐтири čѐtiri
- пе̑т pȇt
- ше̑ст šȇst
- седам sedam
- о̏сам ȍsam
- девет devet
- де̏сет dȅset
Days of the week
- Mon понедељак
- Tue уторак
- Wed среда
- Thu четвртак
- Fri петак
- Sat субота
- Sun недеља
Everyday words
- water вода voda
- cat ма̏чка mȁčka
- dog пас pas
- coffee ка̀фа kàfa
- beer пи̑во pȋvo
- bread хле̏б hlȅb
- book књи̏га knjȉga
Phrases and words checked against Wiktionary; days and months from Unicode CLDR. Audio uses your browser's built-in Serbian voice when available.
Dialects and varieties
Ekavian
Most of Serbia
“mleko” (milk), “reka” (river).
Ijekavian
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, western Serbia
“mlijeko”, “rijeka”: the same words with “ije”.
Torlakian
South-eastern Serbia
Transitional to Bulgarian and Macedonian, with fewer noun cases.
Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin
Neighbouring countries
Standards of the same pluricentric language: Serbian “hleb” vs Croatian “kruh” for bread.
Hear the dialects
Fun words, untranslatables
инат
inat
Spite or defiance: doing something precisely because you were told not to.
мерак
merak
Deep, lazy pleasure in something, from Turkish.
слава
slava
A family's annual feast day honouring its patron saint (on UNESCO's intangible heritage list).
Curious facts
- Vuk Stefanović Karadžić reformed Serbian Cyrillic in the 19th century on the rule “write as you speak”: one letter for each sound.
- Serbian Cyrillic and Latin map one-to-one: љ = lj, њ = nj, џ = dž. Newspapers, signs and phones use both.
- Serbian has seven cases and a pitch accent with four accent types.
- Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin are mutually intelligible standard varieties.
Famous Serbian-speaking voices
Singers & musicians
Writers & poets
Film & TV
Other famous figures
Descriptions from Wikidata; photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown.
Serbian culture now
Underground (1995 film)
1995 film directed by Emir Kusturica
Turbo-folk
Music genre from Serbia
Exit (festival)
Summer music festival in Novi Sad, Serbia
Who's Singin' Over There?
1980 Yugoslavian film
Kolo (dance)
South Slavic circle dance
The Bridge on the Drina
Historical novel by the writer Ivo Andrić
Learn Serbian on YouTube
Free lessons from teachers and channels with Serbian courses. Videos load only when you press play.
The story of the language
Quick quiz: how well do you know Serbian?
Where to learn Serbian
Learn Serbian
LangMagic's guide to learning Serbian.
LangMagicSerbian Content Portal
Serbian videos, with smooth progress from teachers' channels to native content.
LangMagicThe Endless Book
Read text you can understand, in the style of your favourite author and genre. About 30 languages.
LangMagicLangMagic Speak
Speaking lessons built around your topics, from materials you choose.
LangMagicLangMagic Meet
A virtual meeting platform built for language lessons, with follow-up exercises.
FreeWikivoyage Serbian phrasebook
Free travel phrasebook with pronunciation guide
FreeWikibooks: Serbian
Free, open textbook
FreeOmniglot: Serbian
Script, pronunciation and useful phrases
FreeWiktionary: Serbian dictionary
Free multilingual dictionary
Sources
- Speaker numbers: Ethnologue (28th ed.), via Wikipedia, 2022–2023.
- Countries, populations, alphabets, days and months: Unicode CLDR 46.
- Classification: Glottolog 5.3. Grammar features: WALS Online.
- Introduction: Wikipedia, Serbian language (CC BY-SA 4.0). People and culture: Wikipedia and Wikidata. Images: Wikimedia Commons.
- Writing sample: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, from the Unicode UDHR collection. Phrases and words: Wiktionary. Difficulty: US Foreign Service Institute.
- Map: Natural Earth via world-atlas (public domain).