LANGUAGE
AND ALPHABET
Serbian is a south Slav language and is the official language
in Serbia. But, as well as in every other metropolis and
tourist centre, many of the world’s languages can
be heard on the Belgrade streets. If you don’t speak
Serbian, you shouldn’t be concerned, most of people
in Belgrade will be able to answer your question in English.
Cyrillic is officially in use in Serbia, but alphabet is
also used since in Serbia both Cyrillic and Latin alphabet
are studied and used in schools. But, most of titles important
for the Belgrade visitor – street names, traffic instructions,
names of institutions, etc. – are written in Cyrillic.
After the reformation of Serbian language and transcription
conduced by Vuk Karadjic, Serbian Cyrillic ha 30 letters
and every letter has its equivalent sound, which makes reading
very simple. On the other hand, grammar is quite complicated
(due to seven declinations and numerous vocal grammar rules)
Here is a list of most frequently used words and phrases,
with the pronunciation:
