Croatian Alphabet at a Glance
- 30 letters: 5 vowels and 25 consonants
- Spoken by approximately 5.6 million native speakers
- Official language of Croatia and the EU; co-official in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Uses Latin script (Gaj's Latin alphabet) for writing [2]
- Features distinctive diacritical marks: Č, Ć, Dž, Đ, Lj, Nj, Š, Ž
- South Slavic language with phonemic orthography (one letter = one sound)
- Standardized during the 19th century Illyrian movement [1]
Croatian Vowel Letters
The Croatian alphabet includes 5 clear vowels (A, E, I, O, U) that form the foundation of Croatian pronunciation and are essential for proper word formation.
Croatian Vowels (Uppercase)
Croatian Vowels (Lowercase)
Croatian Consonant Letters
The Croatian alphabet contains 25 consonants, including distinctive letters with diacritical marks that are crucial for proper pronunciation.
For example:
In the word "čovjek" (person), the vowels O and E combine with the consonants Č, V, J, and K to form a complete Croatian word with proper diacritical marking.
Croatian Consonants (Uppercase)
Croatian Consonants (Lowercase)
Complete Croatian Alphabet
Letters with Caron (Háček)
The caron (ˇ) is a crucial diacritical mark in Croatian, placed above certain letters to indicate specific pronunciation.
Letters with Caron (Kvačica)
Letters with Acute Accent
The acute accent (´) distinguishes certain Croatian letters and affects pronunciation.
Letter with Acute Accent (Akut)
Letters with Stroke
The stroke through certain letters creates distinct Croatian characters.
Letter with Stroke (Prekriženo)
Croatian Digraphs
Digraphs are combinations of two letters that represent single sounds in Croatian.
Croatian Digraphs
Common Consonant Clusters
Croatian features complex consonant combinations that are characteristic of Slavic languages, creating distinctive pronunciation patterns.
Common Consonant Clusters
Croatian-Specific Letters (Lowercase)
Letters with diacritics and digraphs unique to Croatian.
Croatian-Specific Letters (Lowercase)
Croatian-Specific Letters (Uppercase)
Uppercase forms of Croatian letters with diacritics and digraphs.
Croatian-Specific Letters (Uppercase)
Croatian-Specific Diacritics
Diacritical marks and special characters used in Croatian orthography.
All Croatian Diacritical Letters
Palatalized Consonants
Consonants with palatalization, a distinctive feature of Croatian phonology.
Palatalized Consonants
Sibilant Consonants
Fricative and affricate consonants producing hissing sounds.
Sibilant Consonants
Croatian Alphabet (Lowercase)
All 30 lowercase letters of the Croatian alphabet based on Gaj's Latin alphabet.
Croatian Alphabet (Lowercase)
Croatian Alphabet (Uppercase)
All 30 uppercase letters of the Croatian alphabet based on Gaj's Latin alphabet.
Croatian Alphabet (Uppercase)
Pronunciation Guide
Guide to pronouncing Croatian letters and sounds.
Complete Croatian Alphabet Pronunciation Guide
Digits
Numeric digits used in Croatian.
Digits:
Croatian Numbers
Special Characters
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
References:
- [1] Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. "Croatian Orthography". Retrieved from Croatian Academy
- [2] Unicode Consortium. "Latin Extended-B Block". Retrieved from Unicode Latin Extended-B
- [3] Croatian Bureau of Statistics. "Croatia in Figures". Retrieved from Croatia Statistics
Sambhu Raj Singh ·