The Macedonian Alphabet and Letter Pronunciation
Macedonian, the official language of North Macedonia, is written in a 31-letter Cyrillic alphabet. In this guide, you can see how each letter is pronounced and how personal and place names are transliterated into Latin script in official translations.
Macedonian is written in a 31-letter Cyrillic alphabet. Its spelling rules are largely phonetic: each letter represents a single sound, and words are pronounced as written. In official translations, personal and place names follow the Latin spelling shown on the passport or national ID card.
What Is the Macedonian Alphabet and How Many Letters Does It Have?
The Macedonian alphabet is the 31-letter Cyrillic script used to write Macedonian, the official language of North Macedonia. Standardized in 1945, this alphabet is largely phonetic: words are pronounced as they are written, and each sound is represented by a single letter. The alphabet also includes seven distinctive letters.
How Are Macedonian Letters Written in Latin Script and Pronounced?
The table below shows all 31 Macedonian Cyrillic letters, their standard Latin equivalents with common passport spellings in brackets, and their approximate English pronunciation.
How Are Macedonian Names Written in Official Documents?
In official documents, the names of persons and places are transliterated from the Macedonian alphabet into the Latin alphabet according to the exact spelling shown on the holder's passport or ID card. Our sworn Macedonian translators at Balkan Tercüme carefully check name consistency across all certificates.
How Are Macedonian Letters Read?
Read as Written
Macedonian spelling is largely phonetic: each written letter represents a single spoken sound, and words are pronounced as they are written.
Seven Distinctive Letters
You can find the pronunciation of the seven distinctive letters of the Macedonian alphabet—Ѓ, Ѕ, Ј, Љ, Њ, Ќ and Џ—in the table above.
Cursive vs. Print
Several lowercase letters in Macedonian handwriting look different from printed letters, so reading older handwritten certificates requires careful examination.
Names Follow Passports
When we transliterate personal and place names into Latin script during translation, we match the exact official spelling shown on the holder's passport or ID card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Message on WhatsApp Which alphabet is used in official documents from North Macedonia?
Official documents in North Macedonia are issued in the Macedonian language using the 31-letter Cyrillic alphabet. Passports and national ID cards also display personal details in Latin script.
How are Macedonian names spelled in Latin script?
Under North Macedonia's Passport Law (Art. 28) and ID Card Law (Art. 5), personal data in passports and ID cards are written in Macedonian Cyrillic and in basic Latin letters under ICAO Doc 9303 (Gj, Zh, Dz, Lj, Nj, Kj, Ch, Dj, Sh, C). Diacritic spelling is used outside identity documents. Our official translations follow your passport spelling so a name mismatch does not hold up your application.
Can handwritten old Macedonian documents be translated?
Yes. Handwritten Cyrillic in older civil registry books differs visually from printed letters, so sworn Macedonian translators at Balkan Tercüme verify every character and check name consistency against current IDs.
Do multilingual civil status extracts from North Macedonia need translation?
No. Multilingual (CIEC) civil status extracts issued in North Macedonia already contain a Latin-script Turkish formula and need no translation for official use in Türkiye.
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Civil Status How Are Macedonian Citizenship and Civil Registry Documents Translated?
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