The Macedonian language has thirty - one sounds. Since there is one symbol for each sound, that is, there are as many letters as sounds (31), the Macedonian language is completely phonetic. Spelling in Macedonian does not present any difficulties because there is one symbol for each sound. Thus, Macedonian is surely one of the easiest language to learn to read as well as to write.

Macedonian written in the Cyrillic alphabet is the official language in the Republic of Macedonia. Albanian, Turkish, Serbian, Romani are also spoken.

	(A a)	is pronounced like a in father.
	(B b)	is pronounced like b in brother.
	(V v)	is pronounced like v in victory.
	(G g)	is pronounced like g in great.
	(D d)	is pronounced like d in door
	(Gj gj)	is pronounced like j in joy
	(E e)	is pronounced like e in men.
	(Zh zh)	is pronounced like su in pleasure.
	(Z z)	is pronounced like z in zebra.
	(Dz dz)	does not have equivalent sound in English, nor in most languages.
	(I i)	is pronounced like i in me.
	(J j)	is pronounced like y in young.
	(K k)	is pronounced like k in kindness.
	(L l)	is pronounced like l in loop.
	(Lj lj)	is pronounced like lj in million. It is the same sound denoted in italian with gl, such as in sba glio.
	(M m)	is pronounced like m in mother.
	(N n)	is pronounced like n in night.
	(NJ nj)	is pronounced like nj in lasagna.
	(O o)	is pronounced like o in floor.
	(P p)	is pronounced like p in pot.
	(R r)	is pronounced like r in rest.
	(S s)	is pronounced like s in sun.
	(T t)	is pronounced like t in tea.
	(Kj kj)	is pronounced like cu in cute.
	(U u)	is pronounced like u in rule.
	(F f)	is pronounced like f in find.
	(H h)	is pronounced like h in his.
	(C c)	is pronounced like tz in Tzar.
	(Ch ch)	is pronounced like ch in cheek.
	(Dzh dzh)	is pronounced like j in jungle.
	(Sh sh)	is pronounced like sh in sheet.

Macedonian Cultural and Historical Resource Center Last Modified: January 23, 1997

Created and Maintained by: Macedonia FAQ Development Team Copyright © 1999, All Rights Reserved.