Slovak Language
Slovak Alphabet
a, á, ä, b, c, č, d, ď, dz, dž, e, é, f, g, h, ch, i, í, j, k, l, ĺ, ľ, m, n, ň, o, ó, ô, p, r, ŕ, s, š, t, ť, u, ú, v, y, ý, z, ž
The letter ô represents the diphthong [uo].
The diagraphs dz, dž, ch are considered as single characters.
Diacritical marks "ˇ" is the softening mark.
Diacritical marks "´" is the prolongation mark.
ä may be pronounced as e as in the english word set.
Vowels
Slovak has five short vowels
a, e, i, o, u,
and five long ones corresponding to these
á, é, í, ó, ú,
Letters y - ý are only orthographic variants of í - i .
Letter
Approximate Pronunciation in English
Slovak Examples
a
a as in but
na, ak, sa ma
á
a as in father
mám, dám
e
e as in set
zase, veda
é
e as in bed
samé, malé
i
y as body
iba, milá
í
ee as in street
musí, patrí
o
o as in odd
dom, tamto
ó
o as in saw
móda, sóda
u
u as in put
ruka, urob
ú
oo as in choose
lúka, ústa
ä
e as in leg
mäso, päta
Consonants
The consonant sounds b, d, f, g, l, m, n, s, v, z, are pronounced approximately as in English. The consonant h is pronounced as in the word hand.
Letter
Approximate Pronunciation in English
Slovak Examples
č
as in child
čas, čo
dz
as [ts] no English equivalent
medzi, medza
d
žas in jam
džbán, džungľa
ch
Scottish ch
ich, nech
ň
as in news
oheň, kameň
š
as in she
váš, duša
ž
as in television
že, život
Literature :
Mistrík, J. Basic Slovak, SPN 1980
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Last updated December 1998