Pronounciation Guide

Songs > Balkan Singing Pronounciation Guide

Here's a brief guide to the pronounciations of the Balkan gypsy songs.
The easiest way to learn them, however, is to hear someone actually singing them.
There are lots of great recordings of Balkan music out there. We recommend Kitka


a = wAnt
c = caTS
c with a check-mark over it (a "hocheck") = CHop
e = pEt
g = Go
h = BaCH
x = BaCH
i = EAch
j = Yard
l before e or i = light "l" as in Lip, or Little
l before a, o, or u = hard "l" as in goLd or you'LL
o = Orange
s = Sad
s with a hocheck = SHip
u = pOOl
u with a hocheck = fUn
z = Zoo
z with a hocheck= viSIon

Special Pronunciations:
r's are rolled briefly
n's, d's, and t's are pronounced forward, (think Russian accent); the tongue 
should nestle comfortably in the roof of your mouth up against your front 
teeth.

All vowels should be "pure"; no diphthongs.  (for example, "o" should be 
just the "o" sound, not "uhoow", "i" should be the "ee" sound, not "eeuh")