The Croatian Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Diacritics & more

Q: How many letters are in the Croatian alphabet?

The Croatian alphabet has 30 letters in total [1] . This includes 5 vowels and 25 consonants, with several letters featuring distinctive diacritical marks.

Q: What are the unique features of Croatian letters?

Croatian letters have several unique characteristics : • Diacritical marks like caron (ˇ) and acute accent (´) • Special letters: Č, Ć, Dž, Đ, Lj, Nj, Š, Ž • Digraphs that represent single sounds • Each letter corresponds to one sound (phonemic orthography)

Q: What is the difference between Č and Ć in Croatian?

Great question! These two letters are different sounds : • Č - pronounced like "ch" in "church" (harder sound) • Ć - pronounced softer, more like "ty" (palatalized) • Both use diacritical marks but represent completely different sounds • Native speakers can easily distinguish between them!

Q: Where is Croatian spoken today?

Croatian is spoken in several places: • Croatia - where it's the official language • Bosnia and Herzegovina - as one of three official languages • Croatian communities worldwide in countries like Germany, Austria, USA, Canada, Australia About 4.8 million people speak Croatian as their native language [3] !

Q: Are Croatian digraphs considered single letters?

Yes! Croatian digraphs are treated as single letters : • Dž, Lj, Nj are each counted as one letter • They appear in alphabetical order in dictionaries • Each represents one sound in pronunciation • This is part of Croatian's phonemic writing system

Q: Is Croatian alphabet easy to learn?

Croatian has several learner-friendly features : • Phonemic orthography - each letter = one sound • Consistent pronunciation rules • Latin script base familiar to many learners • Once you learn the diacritics, pronunciation becomes predictable !

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 Vowels (Uppercase)

[AH]

[EH]

[IH]

[OH]

[UH]

Croatian Vowels (Lowercase)

[ah]

[eh]

[ih]

[oh]

[uh]

Croatian Consonants (Uppercase)

[BEH]

[TSEH]

[CHEH]

[CHIEH]

[DEH]

Dž

[DZHEH]

[DJEH]

[FEH]

[GEH]

[HAH]

[YEH]

[KAH]

[LEH]

[LJEH]

[MEH]

[NEH]

[NJEH]

[PEH]

[KUH]

[REH]

[SEH]

[SHEH]

[TEH]

[VEH]

[IKS]

[IH]

[ZEH]

[ZHEH]

Croatian Consonants (Lowercase)

[beh]

[tseh]

[cheh]

[chieh]

[deh]

dž

[dzheh]

[djeh]

[feh]

[geh]

[hah]

[yeh]

[kah]

[leh]

[ljeh]

[meh]

[neh]

[njeh]

[peh]

[kuh]

[reh]

[seh]

[sheh]

[teh]

[veh]

[iks]

[ih]

[zeh]

[zheh]

[AH]

[ah]

[BEH]

[beh]

[TSEH]

[tseh]

[CHEH]

[cheh]

[CHIEH]

[chieh]

[DEH]

[deh]

Dž

[DZHEH]

dž

[dzheh]

[DJEH]

[djeh]

[EH]

[eh]

[FEH]

[feh]

[GEH]

[geh]

[HAH]

[hah]

[IH]

[ih]

[YEH]

[yeh]

[KAH]

[kah]

[LEH]

[leh]

[LJEH]

[ljeh]

[MEH]

[meh]

[NEH]

[neh]

[NJEH]

[njeh]

[OH]

[oh]

[PEH]

[peh]

[REH]

[reh]

[SEH]

[seh]

[SHEH]

[sheh]

[TEH]

[teh]

[UH]

[uh]

[VEH]

[veh]

[ZEH]

[zeh]

[ZHEH]

[zheh]

Letters with Caron (Kvačica)

Letter with Acute Accent (Akut)

Letter with Stroke (Prekriženo)

Croatian Digraphs

dž

Dž

DŽ

Palatalized lateral approximant /ʎ/ - as in "ljubav" (love)

Palatalized lateral approximant /ʎ/ (title case)

Palatalized lateral approximant /ʎ/ (uppercase)

Palatalized nasal /ɲ/ - as in "konja" (horse, genitive)

Palatalized nasal /ɲ/ (title case)

Palatalized nasal /ɲ/ (uppercase)

dž

Voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/ - as in "džep" (pocket)

Dž

Voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/ (title case)

DŽ

Voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/ (uppercase)

Common Consonant Clusters

čk

šk

šp

št

Croatian-Specific Letters (Lowercase)

[cheh]

[chieh]

[djeh]

[sheh]

[zheh]

[ljeh]

[njeh]

dž

[dzheh]

Croatian-Specific Letters (Uppercase)

[CHEH]

[CHIEH]

[DJEH]

[SHEH]

[ZHEH]

[LJEH]

[NJEH]

Dž

[DZHEH]

All Croatian Diacritical Letters

C with caron - /tʃ/ sound

C with caron (uppercase)

C with acute - /tɕ/ sound (softer than č)

C with acute (uppercase)

D with stroke - /dʑ/ sound

D with stroke (uppercase)

S with caron - /ʃ/ sound

S with caron (uppercase)

Z with caron - /ʒ/ sound

Z with caron (uppercase)

Palatalized Consonants

Sibilant Consonants

dž

Dž

Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ - as in "sin" (son)

Voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ (uppercase)

Voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/ - as in "šuma" (forest)

Voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/ (uppercase)

Voiced alveolar fricative /z/ - as in "zima" (winter)

Voiced alveolar fricative /z/ (uppercase)

Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/ - as in "žaba" (frog)

Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/ (uppercase)

Voiceless alveolar affricate /ts/ - as in "cesta" (road)

Voiceless alveolar affricate /ts/ (uppercase)

Voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/ - as in "čovek" (man)

Voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/ (uppercase)

Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate /tɕ/ - softer than č

Voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate /tɕ/ (uppercase)

dž

Voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/ - as in "džem" (jam)

Dž

Voiced postalveolar affricate /dʒ/ (title case)

Croatian Alphabet (Lowercase)

[ah]

[beh]

[tseh]

[cheh]

[chieh]

[deh]

dž

[dzheh]

[djeh]

[eh]

[feh]

[geh]

[hah]

[ih]

[yeh]

[kah]

[leh]

[ljeh]

[meh]

[neh]

[njeh]

[oh]

[peh]

[reh]

[seh]

[sheh]

[teh]

[uh]

[veh]

[zeh]

[zheh]

Croatian Alphabet (Uppercase)

[AH]

[BEH]

[TSEH]

[CHEH]

[CHIEH]

[DEH]

Dž

[DZHEH]

[DJEH]

[EH]

[FEH]

[GEH]

[HAH]

[IH]

[YEH]

[KAH]

[LEH]

[LJEH]

[MEH]

[NEH]

[NJEH]

[OH]

[PEH]

[REH]

[SEH]

[SHEH]

[TEH]

[UH]

[VEH]

[ZEH]

[ZHEH]

Complete Croatian Alphabet Pronunciation Guide

[ah]

[AH]

[eh]

[EH]

[ih]

[IH]

[oh]

[OH]

[uh]

[UH]

[beh]

[BEH]

[tseh]

[TSEH]

[deh]

[DEH]

[feh]

[FEH]

[geh]

[GEH]

[hah]

[HAH]

[yeh]

[YEH]

[kah]

[KAH]

[leh]

[LEH]

[meh]

[MEH]

[neh]

[NEH]

[peh]

[PEH]

[reh]

[REH]

[seh]

[SEH]

[teh]

[TEH]

[veh]

[VEH]

[zeh]

[ZEH]

[cheh]

[CHEH]

[sheh]

[SHEH]

[zheh]

[ZHEH]

[chieh]

[CHIEH]

[djeh]

[DJEH]

[ljeh]

[LJEH]

[njeh]

[NJEH]

dž

[dzheh]

Dž

[DZHEH]

DŽ

[DZHEH]

[nula]

[jedan]

[dva]

[tri]

[četiri]

[pet]

[šest]

[sedam]

[osam]

[devet]

Digits:

[zero]

[one]

[two]

[three]

[four]

[five]

[six]

[seven]

[eight]

[nine]

[zarez]

[zero]

Number digit zero

[one]

Number digit one

[two]

Number digit two

[three]

Number digit three

[four]

Number digit four

[five]

Number digit five

[six]

Number digit six

[seven]

Number digit seven

[eight]

Number digit eight

[nine]

Number digit nine

[zarez]

Decimal comma

[nula]

[jedan]

[dva]

[tri]

[četiri]

[pet]

[šest]

[sedam]

[osam]

[devet]

[točka]

[zarez]

;

[točka-zarez]

[dvotočka]

[upitnik]

[uzvičnik]

[apostrof]

[navodnici]

[lijevi navodnici]

[desni navodnici]

[crtica]

–

[duuga crtica]

—

[pauza]

[podcrtica]

(

[otvorena zagrada]

)

[zatvorena zagrada]

[

[ugla zagrada lijevo]

]

[ugla zagrada desno]

{

[vitka zagrada lijevo]

}

[vitka zagrada desno]

[kosa crta]

[obrnuta kosa crta]

[okomita crta]

[at znak]

[taraba]

€

[euro]

[posto]

[krovnić]

[i-znak]

[zvjezdica]

[plus]

[jednako]

[manje od]

[veće od]

[naglasen akcent]

[tilda]

Expand All Collapse All

How many letters are in the Croatian alphabet?

What are the unique features of Croatian letters?

What is the difference between Č and Ć in Croatian?

Where is Croatian spoken today?

Are Croatian digraphs considered single letters?

Is Croatian alphabet easy to learn?

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