The standard Bosnian alphabet has 30 letters. Bosnian can be written in Latin (abeceda) and Cyrillic (azbuka), whose standard letter sets support systematic transliteration. Three Latin entries — dž, lj and nj — are digraphs: two characters counted as one alphabet letter. Start with Latin for broad everyday usefulness, then learn the Cyrillic counterparts if you need them.
Published 28 September 2026
If you have looked at Croatian or Serbian Latin, the Bosnian alphabet will feel familiar because it uses the same core 30-letter set. Bosnian also has a corresponding Cyrillic azbuka. The spelling is highly phonemic, so the letters give you a dependable way to decode unfamiliar standard words. They do not, by themselves, teach stress, vowel length or every change that happens in connected speech. This page lays out the full set, points out the three letters written with two characters and gives you a short transliteration exercise.
People sometimes expect the Bosnian alphabet to have letters of its own, the way the Montenegrin standard includes ś and ź. It does not. Bosnian uses the same 30-letter Latin set as Croatian and Serbian Latin. If you have already learned one of those alphabets, you have a strong base; the languages still differ in particular standard forms, vocabulary and usage.
Two quick terms before the table, so nothing looks mysterious. A digraph is an alphabet letter written with two characters — here, dž, lj and nj. Phonemic spelling means that written symbols map to the language's contrasting sounds in a regular way. It is a useful decoding principle, not a promise that spelling shows stress, vowel length or every detail of natural speech.
The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina lists the country's scripts as Latin and Cyrillic, and Bosnian reference works present both. The standard 30-letter sets correspond closely enough for systematic transliteration, although foreign names and unadapted spellings can need special handling. Latin is a practical first script for many learners; Cyrillic expands the range of public, literary and regional material you can read. If you are weighing that decision, our Latin or Cyrillic? guide walks through which to start with, and the Cyrillic alphabet post covers the azbuka in detail.
Here are all 30 letters in Latin (abeceda) order, each with its Cyrillic partner, an approximate sound cue and a real Bosnian word. The three digraphs — dž, lj, nj — count as single letters even though they are written with two characters. (The Cyrillic azbuka has its own traditional order, but each of its standard letters has a Latin counterpart.)
| Latin | Cyrillic | Sounds like | Real word |
|---|---|---|---|
| A a | А а | a in father | auto — car |
| B b | Б б | b in boy | brat — brother |
| C c | Ц ц | ts in cats | cvijet — flower |
| Č č | Ч ч | ch in church, tongue farther back | čaj — tea |
| Ć ć | Ћ ћ | a softer, more fronted ch | kuća — house |
| D d | Д д | d in day | dan — day |
| Dž dž | Џ џ | j in jungle, tongue farther back | džezva — coffee pot |
| Đ đ | Ђ ђ | a softer, more fronted j | đak — pupil |
| E e | Е е | e in bed | evo — here it is |
| F f | Ф ф | f in fun | fildžan — small coffee cup |
| G g | Г г | g in go | grad — city |
| H h | Х х | ch in Scottish loch, often lighter | hvala — thank you |
| I i | И и | ee in see | ime — name |
| J j | Ј ј | y in yes | jutro — morning |
| K k | К к | k in kite | kahva — coffee |
| L l | Л л | l in love | lijep — beautiful |
| Lj lj | Љ љ | lli in million | ljeto — summer |
| M m | М м | m in man | majka — mother |
| N n | Н н | n in no | noć — night |
| Nj nj | Њ њ | ny in canyon | njiva — field |
| O o | О о | o in more | oko — eye |
| P p | П п | p in pen | pas — dog |
| R r | Р р | a rolled r | ruka — hand, arm |
| S s | С с | s in sun | sunce — sun |
| Š š | Ш ш | sh in shoe | šuma — forest |
| T t | Т т | t in top | tri — three |
| U u | У у | oo in food | ulica — street |
| V v | В в | v in very | voda — water |
| Z z | З з | z in zoo | zima — winter |
| Ž ž | Ж ж | s in pleasure | žena — woman, wife |
The alphabet has five vowel letters: a, e, i, o, u. Their basic values are stable, but spelling does not show every feature of pronunciation, including stress and vowel length; r can also carry a syllable in words such as prst (finger). The native alphabet has no q, w, x or y, though you will see them in unadapted foreign names, brands and web addresses.
These three can surprise English speakers, so they are worth a moment. Each is written with two characters but counts as one letter of the alphabet, and each normally spells a single sound: dž as in džezva, lj as in ljeto, nj as in njiva. In Cyrillic each has a single-character counterpart — џ, љ, њ — which makes the "one letter" idea visible.
One kind of exception occurs when the two characters meet across a meaningful word-part boundary and therefore represent separate sounds. In nadživjeti ("to outlive"), the prefix ends in d and the root begins in ž, so the sequence is d + ž, not the digraph dž. The Cyrillic spelling makes the separation visible: надживјети, with д and ж, not џ. Treat the digraphs as single alphabet letters in ordinary words, but notice the structure of compounds and prefixed forms.
The letters are shared, but some standard Bosnian word forms preserve h where common corresponding Serbian or Croatian forms do not: Bosnian kahva beside kava, lahko beside lako, and mehak beside mek or mekan. This is a lexical pattern, not a universal rule and not an extra alphabet letter, so learn the forms word by word. Our Bosnian h guide gives more examples and context.
The fastest way to make the alphabet stick is to read real words rather than recite letters. Each of the following is written in Cyrillic; cover the answers, read it aloud, then write it in the Latin script and give the meaning.
Answers: (1) hvala — thank you; (2) kahva — coffee; (3) ljeto — summer; (4) noć — night; (5) džezva — coffee pot. Check each pair against the table, then read the five words aloud again without looking at the Latin answers.
The 30-letter system gives you a dependable route into Bosnian spelling. Start with the Latin abeceda, add the Cyrillic azbuka as your reading needs grow, and remember that dž, lj and nj each count as one alphabet letter.
How many letters are in the Bosnian alphabet?
Thirty. The standard Bosnian Latin alphabet uses the same thirty-letter set as Croatian and Serbian Latin, including the digraphs dž, lj and nj. Bosnian also uses a corresponding Cyrillic set, so standard native words can be transliterated systematically between the two scripts.
Does Bosnian use the Latin or Cyrillic alphabet?
Both. The Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina lists Latin and Cyrillic as the country's scripts, and Bosnian reference works present both. Latin is a practical first script for many learners; Cyrillic expands what you can read in Bosnia and across the region.
Does Bosnian have special letters like Montenegrin?
No. The Montenegrin standard includes ś and ź, while the Bosnian alphabet uses the shared thirty-letter set. Some standard Bosnian word forms do preserve h where common corresponding Serbian or Croatian forms do not, including kahva and lahko, but that is a spelling difference rather than an extra letter.
Are dž, lj and nj one letter or two?
Each normally counts as a single alphabet letter and represents one sound, even though it is written with two characters. At a morpheme boundary the characters can instead represent separate sounds: in nadživjeti, the prefix ends in d and the root begins in ž.
The alphabet is an early step in learning Bosnian. From here, our beginner's roadmap for Bosnian lays out what to learn next, and Bosnian greetings gives you words to use today. If you want to add the second script, the Cyrillic alphabet guide takes you through the azbuka letter by letter.
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