#a á ä b c č d ď dz dž e é f g h ch i í j k l ľ ĺ m n ň o ó ô p q r ŕ s š t ť u ú v w x y ý z ž

[fluffykittyscientist]

I wanted to say something like "the pain remembering 46 alphabet letters" but then I remembered the non-Latin scripts

#because it's not just basic abcdef #it's something like #a á ä b c č d ď dz dž e é f g h ch i í j k l ľ ĺ m n ň o ó ô p q r ŕ s š t ť u ú v w x y ý z ž #and i don't understand how people cannot remember the order of 46 characters #van's post #<- slovak language fan

[renegade-hierophant]

Slovak has the most letters of any language in Europe: 46

a á ä b c č d ď dz dž e é f g h ch i í j k l ľ ĺ m n ň o ó ô p q r ŕ s š t ť u ú v w x y ý z ž

At least we are first in something. 😄

#slovak #slovenčina #slovenský #slavic #languages #linguistics #alphabet #writing #script #latin

[gwendolynlerman]

Languages of the world

Slovak (slovenčina)

Basic facts

Number of native speakers: 5.2 million

Official language: Czech Republic, Slovakia; Vojvodina (Serbia)

Recognized minority language: Hungary, Poland

Language of diaspora: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States, Ukraine

Script: Latin, 46 letters

Grammatical cases: 6

Linguistic typology: fusional, SVO

Language family: Indo-European, Balto-Slavic, Slavic, West Slavic, Czech-Slovak

Number of dialects: 4 main groups

History

1493 - first recorded text in Slovak

1787 - first standardized dictionary

1953 - last significant orthography reform

Writing system and pronunciation

These are the letters that make up the 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 q r ŕ s š t ť u ú v w x y ý z ž.

Slovak has the largest number of letters among European languages using the Latin script. Its alphabet makes heavy use of diacritics and features several unique letters.

There is an interesting visual representation of mäkčeň; usually, it has a wedge shape positioned over the letter (ˇ), but for ď, ť, ľ and Ľ it looks almost like an apostrophe attached to the right side of the letter.

Grammar

Nouns have three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), two numbers (singular and plural), and six cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, and instrumental). Only some nouns retain the vocative case.

There are no articles. Personal pronouns have full and short forms.

Verbs are conjugated for tense, mood (conditional, imperative, and indicative), aspect, person, and number. There are several conjugation paradigms.

Dialects

There are four main groups: Eastern, Central, Western, and Lowland. Eastern dialects can be subdivided into Spiš, Šariš, Abov, and Zemplín. Central includes Liptov, Orava, Upper Nitra, Zvolen, Tekov, West Gemer, Central Gemer, East Gemer, and Upper Hron. Western comprises Upper Trencin, Vah, Central Nitra, Trnava, and Záhorie. Lowland dialects include those spoken in Serbian Vojvodina, in southeastern Hungary, western Romania, and the Croatian part of Syrmia.

Dialects differ mostly in phonology, vocabulary, and inflection. Central Slovak forms the basis of the present-day standard language.

#langblr #slovak #lingblr

[reshiiii]

Slovak alphabet 1/2

Okay, let us begin.

Slovak alphabet has 46 letters, but don't be scared! A lot of them are made by adding DĹŽEŇ (prolongation mark), MÄKČEŇ (palatalisation mark or 'softener' - that could be a good translation), DVE BODKY (umlaut, two dots; there is only one letter with them) or VOKÁŇ (circumflex; also only one letter).

ALPHABET

a, á (dĺžeň!), ä (dve bodky!), b, c, č (mäkčeň!), d, ď, dz, dž, e, é, f, g, h, ch, i, í, j, k, l, ĺ, ľ, m, n, ň, o, ó, ô (vokáň!), p, q, r, ŕ, s, š, t, ť, u, ú, v, w, x, y, ý, z, ž

DIPHTHONGS

Slovak has four diphthongs:

ia [ija] - pávia [paa-vija]

ie [ije] - pávie [paa-vije]

iu [iju] - páviu [paa-viju]

ô [uo] - stôl [stuol]

DĹŽEŇ

The prolongation mark means (unexpectely) that you prolong that sound. Meaning the long vowels are like this:

á [aa]

é [ee]

í/ý [ii]

ó [oo]

ú [uu]

"Did she just say long vowels? That's making it sound as if there were also long consonants." Oh yes. There are. Long consonants:

ŕ [rr]

ĺ [ll]

Try saying spanish R (or any kind of sharp R). Now make the same sound, but like, longer. If you're doing it right, the tip of you tongue should be moving very fast, kind of like beating your palate, right behind your front teeth.

Also! Ŕ and Ĺ are the only consonants (in slovak) that can make a syllabe!

MÄKČEŇ

This cute little v that is flying over some of the letters (kids in first grade, when they're learning how to write call them "vrany" - crows) help soften the sound. A lot of Slovak dialects differ by them - some use them excesively and some almost don't.

ď, ť, ň, ľ - don't worry, you'll often meet this group, or at least some variaton of it

č - as in check

dž - as in jam, general

š - as in shut

ž - like š, but more in the back of your throat

DVE BODKY AND VOKÁŇ

Both of them are used with only one letter.

ä [æ], also known as "široké e" - broad e. It can be found in word MÄSO, but there's no need to be scared of it - it's a weird sound and if you can't get it right, it's all right. Usually it's just pronounced as e. It is only written after b, m, p, v.

ô [uo] can be found in words like KÔŇ or KÔŠ. While in some words it's degraded into simple o (koš), most of the time it's pronounced the same ways as in kôň or PÔDA.

VOCABULARY:

VRANA (sg.) /VRANY (pl.) (f) - crow/crows

MÄSO (nt) - meat

KÔŇ (m) - horse

KÔŠ (nt) - bin, basket

PÔDA (f) - land, earth, soil

#learn slovak #slovak #slovenčina #slovak langblr #langblr #slovak language #alphabet

[reshiiii]

Slovak alphabet 2/2

Okay, so, slovak alphabet can be divides into two clases: vowels and consonants. Diphthongs are part of vowels.

SAMOHLÁSKY - VOWELS

These can be divides into three clases:

KRÁTKE (short)

That would be A, E, I/Y, O, U. They're pronounced shortly. Btw. Y and I are pronounced the same, but are known as TVRDÉ (hard) and MÄKKÉ (soft) i [as english e] and make difference with consonants, can change the number or gender of the word and so on, but that's for another time.

DLHÉ (long)

These are pronounced a bit longer than the short ones (what a thing, right?). Under 'long vowels' are classified Á, Ä, É, Í/Ý, Ó, Ú. Yes, even ä, altough it's pronounced shortly. But hey, I don't make the rules.

DVOJHLÁSKY (diphthongs)

Ia, ie, iu and ô are rather special, as they cover one sound by two letters (except ô). You can't separate them from each other.

SPOLUHLÁSKY - CONSONANTS

These are classified by two metods, by voicing and by writing i/y.

BY VOICING

PÁROVÉ (paired)

ZNELÉ (voiced)

b, d, ď, g, dz, dž, z, ž, h, v

NEZNELÉ (voiceless)

p, t, ť, k, c, č, s, š, ch, f

As you can see, they form couples and influence each other (that's for another time, it's complicated enough as it is). The couples go like this:

B-P, D-T, Ď-Ť, G-K, DZ-C, DŽ-Č, Z-S, Ž-Š, H-CH, V-F

BY WRITING I/Y

TVRDÉ (hard)

Easy to remember as "those harsh sounding"

d, t, n, l, k, g, h, ch

MÄKKÉ (soft)

"Those with mäkčeň"

ď, ť, ň, ľ, c, č, š, ž, dz, dž, j

OBOJAKÉ (unmarked)

b, m, p, r, s, v, z, f

#learn slovak #slovak #slovenčina #slovak language #slovak langblr #langblr #alphabet