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{{short description|West Slavic language spoken primarily in Slovakia}}
{{Refimprove|date=January 2008}}
{{redirect|Slovenčina|the South Slavic language spoken in Slovenia|Slovene language}}
{{Infobox Language
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
|name=Slovak
{{Infobox language
|nativename=''slovenčina, slovenský jazyk''
| name = Slovak
|familycolor=Indo-European
| altname =
|states={{flag|Slovakia}} and as a minority language also in the <br />
| nativename = {{lang|sk|slovenčina}}, {{lang|sk|slovenský jazyk}}
{{USA}}<br />
| pronunciation = {{IPA|sk|ˈslɔʋentʂina|}}, {{IPA|sk|ˈslɔʋenskiː ˈjazik|}}
{{flag|Czech Republic}}, <br />
| states = ], ], ], ], ], and ]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.vojvodina.gov.rs/en/autonomous-province-vojvodina | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220044137/http://www.vojvodina.gov.rs/en/autonomous-province-vojvodina | archive-date=20 December 2017 | title=Autonomous Province of Vojvodina &#124; Покрајинска влада }}</ref>
{{flag|Serbia}}, <br />
| ethnicity = ], ]
{{flag|Ireland}}<br />
| speakers = ]: {{sigfig|5.388870|1}} million
{{flag|United Kingdom}}<br />
| date = 2012–2021
{{flag|Romania}}<br />
| ref = e27
{{flag|Poland}}<br />
| speakers2 = ]: {{sigfig|2.050800|2}} million (2012)<ref name=e27/>
{{CAN}}, <br />
| speakers_label = Speakers
{{flag|Hungary}}<br />
| script = ] (])<br />]<br />] (])
{{flag|Croatia}}<br />
| familycolor = Indo-European
{{flag|Australia}}<br />
| fam2 = ]
{{flag|Austria}}<br />
| fam3 = ]
{{flag|Ukraine}}<br />
| fam4 = ]
{{flag|Bulgaria}}{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}
| fam5 = ]
|region=]
| dia1 = ]
|speakers=over 7 million
| dia2 = ]
|script=] (])
| dia3 = ] (including ])<ref>{{Cite book |title=Brill Encyclopedia of Slavic Languages and Linguistics |last=Habijanec |first=Siniša |publisher=] |year=2020 |doi=10.1163/2589-6229_ESLO_COM_031961 |url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/db/eslo |editor-last=Greenberg |editor-first=Marc |chapter=Pannonian Rusyn |issn=2589-6229 |quote=The third theory defines Pannonian Rusyn as a West Slavic language originating in the East Slovak Zemplín and Šariš dialects and being a mixture of the two. It fits the linguistic data in the most consistent manner and has been accepted by an overwhelming majority of scholars in the field (Bidwell 1966; Švagrovský 1984; Witkowski 1984; Lunt 1998; Čarskij 2011) and verified by several comprehensive analyses of Pannonian Rusyn language data (Bidwell 1966; Lunt 1998; Čarskij 2011). |access-date=2024-04-01 |editor-last2=Grenoble |editor-first2=Lenore}}</ref>
|fam2=]
| nation = {{SVK}}<br />''{{EU}}''<br />{{flag|Vojvodina}} (])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vojvodina.gov.rs/en/autonomous-province-vojvodina|title=Autonomous Province of Vojvodina|publisher=Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina|date=2013|access-date=25 May 2017}}</ref>
|fam3=]
| minority = {{CZE}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://vlada.gov.cz/cz/ppov/rnm/narodnostni-mensiny---uvod-1361/ | title=Národnostní menšiny &#124; Vláda ČR }}</ref> <br />{{POL}}<ref name="7th EFNIL">{{cite conference |title=The relationship between official and minority languages in Poland |conference=7th Annual Conference: The Relationship between Official Languages and Regional and Minority Languages in Europe |location=Dublin, Ireland |publisher=European Federation of National Institutions for Language |last1=Pisarek |first1=Walery |date=2009 |page=18 |url=http://www.efnil.org/documents/conference-publications/dublin-2009/16-Dublin-Pisarek-Mother.pdf |access-date=28 November 2019 |archive-date=14 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214104352/http://www.efnil.org/documents/conference-publications/dublin-2009/16-Dublin-Pisarek-Mother.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />{{HUN}}<ref>{{cite web|author=<!--Not stated-->|title=Hungary needs to strengthen use of and access to minority languages|url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/european-charter-regional-or-minority-languages/home/-/asset_publisher/VzXuex45jmKt/content/hungary-needs-to-strengthen-use-of-and-access-to-minority-languages|publisher=]|place=Strasbourg, France|date=14 December 2016|access-date=29 June 2020|quote=The following languages have been given special protection under the European Charter : Armenian, Beas, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Polish, Romani, Romanian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian and Ukrainian.}}</ref><br />
|fam4=]
{{CRO}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2020_07_78_1484.html|website=Narodne novine | title=Odluka o donošenju kurikuluma za nastavni predmet Slovački jezik i kultura u osnovnim i srednjim školama u Republici Hrvatskoj (Model C) }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://pravamanjina.gov.hr/nacionalne-manjine/nacionalne-manjine-u-republici-hrvatskoj/slovaci/369 | title=Slovaci }}</ref><br />
|nation={{EU}}<br>{{SVK}}<br>{{flag|Vojvodina}} in {{flag|Serbia}}
{{ROM}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pukanec.sk/fotogaleria/navsteva-mesta-nadlak-24-26-8-2012.html#fgallery--21419-1 | title=Pukanec }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.slovacivrumunsku.sk/01-skol.php | title=Slováci v Rumunsku | access-date=27 January 2024 | archive-date=27 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127162600/http://www.slovacivrumunsku.sk/01-skol.php | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Semnarea Programului de cooperare în domeniul educației între Ministerul Educației Naționale din România și Ministerul Educației, Științei, Cercetării și Sportului din Republica Slovacă {{!}} Ministerul Educației | url=https://www.edu.ro/semnarea-programului-de-cooperare-%C3%AEn-domeniul-educa%C8%9Biei-%C3%AEntre-ministerul-educa%C8%9Biei-na%C8%9Bionale-din-0 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127161914/https://www.edu.ro/semnarea-programului-de-cooperare-%C3%AEn-domeniul-educa%C8%9Biei-%C3%AEntre-ministerul-educa%C8%9Biei-na%C8%9Bionale-din-0 | access-date=2024-12-26 | archive-date=2024-01-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.slovenskezahranicie.sk/rumunsko/ | title=Rumunsko }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bihon.ro/stirile-judetului-bihor/75-de-ani-de-invatamant-in-limba-slovaca-444889/ | title=75 de ani de invatamant in limba slovaca | date=16 September 2011 }}</ref>
----
| agency = ]
'''Recognised minority language in:'''<br />
| iso1 = sk
{{UKR}}
| iso2b = slo
|agency=]
| iso2t = slk
|iso1=sk|iso2b=slo|iso2t=slk|iso3=slk|lingua= 53-AAA-db < ]<br>(varieties: 53-AAA-dba to 53-AAA-dbs)}}
| iso3 = slk
| glotto = slov1269
| glottorefname = Slovak
| lingua = 53-AAA-db < ]<br />(varieties: 53-AAA-dba to 53-AAA-dbs)
| notice = IPA
| map = Idioma eslovaco.PNG
| mapcaption = The Slovak-speaking world:
{{Legend|#0080ff|regions where Slovak is the language of the majority}} {{Legend|#88c4ff|regions where Slovak is the language of a significant minority}}
}}
'''Slovak''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|l|oʊ|v|æ|k|,_|-|v|ɑː|k}} {{respell|SLOH|va(h)k}};<ref>{{citation|last=Wells|first=John C.|year=2008|title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary|edition=3rd|publisher=Longman|isbn=9781405881180}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Roach|first=Peter|year=2011|title=Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary|edition=18th|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521152532}}</ref> ]: {{lang|sk|slovenčina}} {{IPA|sk|ˈslɔʋent͡ʂina|}} or {{lang|sk|slovenský jazyk}} {{IPA|sk|ˈslɔʋenskiː ˈjazik||Slovensky jazyk.ogg}}), is a ] of the ], written in ].<ref name=brit>{{cite web|title= Czech language|url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/149048/Czech-language |publisher= Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date= 6 January 2015}}</ref> It is part of the ], and is one of the ], which are part of the larger ]. Spoken by approximately 5 million people as a native language, primarily ethnic ], it serves as the official language of ] and one of the 24 ].


Slovak is closely related to ], to the point of very high ],<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1007/s11185-015-9150-9|title = Mutual intelligibility between West and South Slavic languages|journal = Russian Linguistics|volume = 39|issue = 3|pages = 351–373|year = 2015|last1 = Golubović|first1 = Jelena|last2 = Gooskens|first2 = Charlotte|doi-access = free}}</ref> as well as ].<ref>{{cite book |last = Swan|first=Oscar E. |title = A grammar of contemporary Polish |year = 2002 |isbn = 0893572969 |location = Bloomington, Ind. |publisher = Slavica |oclc = 50064627 |language=en | page=5}}</ref> Like other Slavic languages, Slovak is a ] with a complex system of ] and relatively flexible ]. Its vocabulary has been extensively influenced by ]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://babel.mml.ox.ac.uk/naughton/lit_to_1918.html |publisher=Babel - ] Modern Languages |title=Czech Literature, 1774 to 1918 |first1=James |last1=Naughton |date=2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181014091315/http://babel.mml.ox.ac.uk/naughton/lit_to_1918.html |archive-date= Oct 14, 2018 }}</ref> and ],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Czech Republic |url=http://slavic.ucla.edu/czech/czech-republic/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011114417/http://slavic.ucla.edu/czech/czech-republic/ |archive-date=2017-10-11 |access-date=2024-04-30}}</ref> as well as other ].
'''Slovak''' (''{{Audio|Slovensky_jazyk.ogg|slovenský jazyk}}'', ''slovenčina'', not to be confused with ''slovenski jezik'' or ''slovenščina'', the native name of the ]), is an ] that belongs to the ] (together with ], ], ], ], and <!-- This is really Sorbian, NOT Serbian! Do not change it into Serbian! --> ]).


==History==
Slovak is spoken in ] (by 5 million people), also in the ] (1,200,000), the ] (350,000), ] (60,000), ] (30,000), ] (22,000), ] (20,000), ] (20,000), ] (11,800), ] (5,000), ], ], ]{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} and ].
{{Main|History of the Slovak language}}
The Czech–Slovak group developed within West Slavic in the ] period, and the standardization of Czech and Slovak within the Czech–Slovak dialect continuum emerged in the early modern period. In the later mid-19th century, the modern ] and written standard became codified by ] and reformed by ]. The ] spoken in the western part of the country along the border with the ] are also sometimes classified as Slovak, although some of their western variants are closer to Czech; they nonetheless form the bridge dialects between the two languages.


==Geographic distribution and status==
==Alphabet ==
{{Main|Slovak alphabet}}


Slovak language is primarily spoken in Slovakia. The country's constitution declared it the official language of the state (štátny jazyk):
Slovak uses a ] with small modifications that include the four ]s (ˇ, ´, ¨, ^; see Pronunciation) placed above certain letters.
{{Blockquote|(1) Na území Slovenskej republiky je štátnym jazykom slovenský jazyk.
(2) Používanie iných jazykov než štátneho jazyka v úradnom styku ustanoví zákon.}}


{{Blockquote|(1) The Slovak language is the official language on the territory of the Slovak Republic.
==Orthography==
(2) The use of languages other than the official language in official communication shall be laid down by law.}}
{{IPA notice}}
The primary principle of Slovak spelling is the '''] principle''', "Write as you hear". The secondary principle is the '''morphological principle''': forms derived from the same stem are written in the same way even if they are pronounced differently. An example of this principle is the assimilation rule (see below). The tertiary principle is the '''etymological principle''', which can be seen in the use of ''i'' after certain consonants and of ''y'' after other consonants, although both ''i'' and ''y'' are pronounced the same way. Finally there is the rarely applied '''grammatical principle''', under which, for example, there is a difference in writing (but not in the pronunciation) between the basic singular and plural form of masculine adjectives, for example ''pekný'' (nice – sg.) vs ''pekní'' (nice – pl.), both pronounced {{IPA-cs|pekniː|}}.


], Article 6.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.prezident.sk/upload-files/46422.pdf | title=Constitution of the Slovak Republic | website=www.prezident.sk}}</ref>
Most ] receive Slovak spelling immediately or after some time. For example, "weekend" is spelled ''víkend'', "software" - ''softvér'', "gay" - ''gej'' (both not exclusively), and "quality" is spelled ''kvalita'' (possibly from ] ''qualità''). Personal and geographical names from other languages using ]s keep their original spelling, unless there is a fully Slovak form for the name (for example ''Londýn'' for "London").


Beside that, national minorities and ethnic groups also have explicit permission to use their distinct languages.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Constitution of the slovak republic | url=https://www.prezident.sk/upload-files/46422.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927134402/https://www.prezident.sk/upload-files/46422.pdf | archive-date=2015-09-27}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite web | url=https://eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-education-systems/slovakia/overview | title=Overview }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.narodnostnemensiny.vlada.gov.sk/site/assets/files/3562/sprava_o_stave_pouzivania_jazykov_narodnostnych_mensin_na_uzemi_slovenskej_republiky_za_obdobie_rokov_2015_-_2016_e.pdf?csrt=10256904479415764857 | title=Report on the use of national minority languages in the territory of the Slovak Republic for the period 2015-2016 | website=www.narodnostnemensiny.vlada.gov.sk}}</ref> Slovakia is a country with established ] concerning its ].<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web| title=Act of the national council of the Slovak Republic on the State Language of the Slovak Republic | url=https://www.culture.gov.sk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/zakon_o_sj_v_anj.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127182430/https://www.culture.gov.sk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/zakon_o_sj_v_anj.pdf | archive-date=2021-11-27}}</ref>
The ] mark (in Slovak "dĺžeň", "prolongation mark") indicates a ], for example í = approximately /i:/. This mark may appear on any vowel except "ä" (wide "e", široké "e" in Slovak). It may also appear above the consonants "l" and "r" (which, in such cases, are considered vowels).


===Regulation===
The ] ("vokáň") exists only above the letter "o". It turns the o into a ] (see below).
Standard Slovak ({{lang|sk|spisovná slovenčina}}) is defined by an Act of Parliament on the State Language of the Slovak Republic (language law). According to this law, the Ministry of Culture approves and publishes the codified form of Slovak based on the judgment of specialised Slovak linguistic institutes and specialists in the area of the state language. This is traditionally the ], which is part of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. In practice, the Ministry of Culture publishes a document that specifies authoritative reference books for standard Slovak usage, which is called the codification handbook ({{lang|sk|]}}). The current regulations were published on 15 March 2021. There are four such publications:<ref>{{cite web |title=MK-3620/2021-110/6659 |url=https://www.culture.gov.sk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/kodifikovana-podoba-vyhlasenie-2021_.pdf |website=Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic |access-date=5 August 2021 |language=Slovak |date=15 March 2021}}</ref>
* '{{lang|sk|Pravidlá slovenského pravopisu}}', 2013; (orthographic rules)
* '{{lang|sk|Krátky slovník slovenského jazyka}}', 2020; (dictionary)
* '{{lang|sk|Pravidlá slovenskej výslovnosti}}', 2009; (pronunciation)
* '{{lang|sk|Morfológia slovenského jazyka}}', 1966; (morphology)


Slovak speakers are also found in the ] in the ], the ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], the ], ], ], ], ], and other countries to a lesser extent.
The ] ("prehláska", "dve bodky" = two dots) is only used above the letter "a". It indicates a raised vowel, almost an "e".


Slovak language is one of the official languages of ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Statute Of The Autonomous Province Of Vojvodina - Skupština Autonomne Pokrajine Vojvodine |url=https://www.skupstinavojvodine.gov.rs/Strana.aspx?s=statut&j=EN |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=www.skupstinavojvodine.gov.rs}}</ref>
The ] (in Slovak "mäkčeň", "palatalization mark" or "softener") indicates either palatalization or a change of alveolar fricatives into post-alveolar, in informal Slovak linguistics often called just "palatalization". Eight consonants can bear a caron. Not all "normal" consonants have a "caroned" counterpart:
*In printed texts, the caron is printed in two forms: (1) č, dž, š, ž, ň and (2) ľ, ď, ť (looking more like an apostrophe), but this is just a convention. In handwritten texts, it always appears in the first form.
*Phonetically, there are two forms of "palatalization": ľ, ň, ď, ť are ] consonants, while č, dž, š, ž are ] affricates and fricatives.
*To accelerate writing, a rule has been introduced that the frequent character combinations ňe, ďe, ťe, ľe, ňi, ďi, ťi, ľi, ňí, ďí, ťí, ľí are simply written '''ne, de, te, le, ni, di, ti, li, ní, dí, tí, lí''' (that is without the caron). These combinations are usually pronounced as if there were a caron above the consonant. There are exceptions:
:# foreign words (for example ''telefón'' is pronounced with a hard t and a hard l)
:# the following words: ''ten'' (that), ''jeden'' (one), ''vtedy'' (then), ''teraz'' (now)
:# nominative masculine plural endings of pronouns and adjectives do not "soften" preceding n, d, t, l (for example ''tí odvážni mladí muži'' {{IPA|/tiː odvaːʒni mladiː muʒi/}}, the/those brave young men)
:# short e in adjectival endings, which is derived from long é shortened by the "rhythmical rule" (see below), does not "soften" preceding n, d, t, l (for example ''krásne stromy'' {{IPA|/kraːsnɛ.../}}, beautiful trees, c.f. ''zelené stromy'' {{IPA|/zɛlʲɛnɛː.../}}, green trees)
*'''ľ''' is nowadays pronounced by many speakers, particularly from western Slovakia, as a non-palatalized ''l''. In standard Slovak, ''li'' and ''le'' are never palatalized; such palatalized pronunciation of ''li'' and ''le'' is already a marked pronunciation (of a middle and eastern dialects, or a sign of ]). However, palatalizing ''li'' and ''le'' is officially prescribed in literary Slovak and non-palatalized pronunciation is considered incorrect.


]
In addition, the following rules hold:
# When a ''voiced consonant having a voiceless correspondent'' (that is b, d, ď, dz, dž, g, h, z, ž) stands at the end of the word before a pause, it is pronounced as a ''voiceless consonant'' (that is p, t, ť, c, č, k, ch, s, š, respectively), for example ''pohyb'' is pronounced {{IPA|/pohip/}}, ''prípad'' is pronounced {{IPA|/priːpat/}}
# When "v" stands at the end of the syllable, it is pronounced as non-syllabic u (bilabial approximant {{IPA|/u̯/}}), with the exception of the position before "n" or "ň", for example, ''kov'' {{IPA|/kou̯/}} (metal), ''kravský'' {{IPA|/krau̯skiː/}} (cow - adjective), but ''povstať'' {{IPA|/pofstatʲ/}} (uprise) because the v is not at the end of the syllable (''po-vstať''), ''hlavný'' {{IPA|/hlavniː/}} because "v" stands before "n" here
# The '''assimilation rule''': Consonant clusters containing both voiced and voiceless elements are entirely voiced if the last consonant is a voiced one, or voiceless if the last consonant is voiceless. For example, ''otázka'' is pronounced {{IPA|/otaːska/}}, ''vzchopiť sa'' is pronounced {{IPA|/fsxopitsːa/}}. This rule applies also over the word boundary, for example ''prísť domov'' {{IPA|/priːzdʲ domou̯/}} (to come home), ''viac jahôd'' {{IPA|/vi̯adzjahu̯ot/}} (more strawberries). The voiced counterpart of "ch" {{IPA|/x/}} is {{IPA|/ɣ/}}.
# The '''rhythmical rule''': A long syllable (that is, a syllable containing á, é, í, ý, ó, ú, ŕ, ĺ, ia, ie, iu, ô) cannot be followed by another long syllable in the same word. This rule has morphonemic implications (for example ''žen-ám'' but ''tráv-am'') and ] (for example ''nos-ím'' but ''súd-im''). There are several exceptions to this rule. It is typical of the literary Slovak language, and does not appear in ], or in some Slovak dialects.


===Slovak language high schools abroad===
One of the most important changes in Slovak orthography in the 20th century was in 1953 when ''s'' began to be written as ''z'' where pronounced {{IPA|}} in ], for example ''smluva'' into ''zmluva'', ''sväz'' into ''zväz''. (That is, the phonemic principle has been given priority over the etymological principle in this case.)


*], 'Szlovák Tanítási Nyelvű Óvoda, Általános Iskola, Gimnázium és Kollégium'<ref>{{Cite web | title=szlovak-bp.sulinet.hu | url=https://szlovak-bp.edu.hu/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319185801/https://szlovak-bp.edu.hu/ | access-date=2024-12-26 | archive-date=2022-03-19}}</ref>
=== Official transcriptions ===
*], 'Szlovák Gimnázium, Általános Iskola, Óvoda és Kollégium'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://szlovak-bcs.edu.hu/|title=Szlovák Iskola - Kezdőlap|website=szlovak-bcs.edu.hu}}</ref>
Slovak linguists do not usually use IPA for phonetic transcription of their own language or others, but have their own system based on the Slovak alphabet. Many English language textbooks make use of this alternative system of 'phonetic' transcription, a factor which probably contributes to some Slovaks developing a particular ('incorrect') pronunciation of certain English phonemes.
*], ']'<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jankollar.org/sr/ | title=Gymnázium Jána Kollára so žiackym domovom v Báčskom Petrovci | date=26 January 2024 }}</ref>
In the following table, pronunciation of each grapheme is given in this system as well as in the IPA.
*], 'Gimnazija Mihailo Pupin' <ref>{{cite web | url=https://gymko.edu.rs/o-gimnaziji/ | title=O Gimnaziji – Gimnazija "Mihajlo Pupin" Kovačica }}</ref>
*], 'Liceul Teoretic Jozef Gregor Tajovský'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tajovskynadlac.ro/|title=LICEUL TEORETIC "JOZEF GREGOR TAJOVSKÝ" NĂDLAC|website=tajovskynadlac.ro}}</ref>


==Dialects==
{| class="wikitable"
]
!grapheme!! IPA !! transcr.
There are many Slovak dialects, which are divided into the following four basic groups:
*] (], ], ], ])
*] (in ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and around ].)
*] (in ], ], ] and ])

*Lowland (dolnozemské) Slovak dialects (outside Slovakia in the ] in Serbian ], and in southeastern ], western ], and the Croatian part of ])

The fourth group of dialects is often not considered a separate group, but a subgroup of Central and Western Slovak dialects (see e.g. Štolc, 1968), but it is currently undergoing changes due to contact with surrounding languages (Serbo-Croatian, Romanian, and Hungarian) and long-time geographical separation from Slovakia (see the studies in ''Zborník Spolku vojvodinských slovakistov'', e.g. Dudok, 1993).

The dialect groups differ mostly in phonology, vocabulary, and tonal inflection. Syntactic differences are minor. Central Slovak forms the basis of the present-day standard language. Not all dialects are fully mutually intelligible. It may be difficult for an inhabitant of the western Slovakia to understand a dialect from eastern Slovakia and the other way around.

The dialects are fragmented geographically, separated by numerous mountain ranges. The first three groups already existed in the 10th century. All of them are spoken by the Slovaks outside Slovakia, and central and western dialects form the basis of the lowland dialects (see above).

The western dialects contain features common with the Moravian dialects in the Czech Republic, the southern central dialects contain a few features common with South Slavic languages, and the eastern dialects a few features common with Polish and the East Slavonic languages (cf. Štolc, 1994). Lowland dialects share some words and ]s with the languages surrounding them (Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, and Romanian).

==Phonology==
{{main|Slovak phonology}}

Slovak contains 15 vowel phonemes (11 monophthongs and four diphthongs) and 29 consonants.

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Slovak vowel phonemes
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | ]
! colspan="2" | ]
|- class=small
! short
! long
! short
! long
|- |-
! align="left" | ]
|a ||{{IPA|a}} ||a
| align="center" | {{IPA link|i̞|i}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|i̞|iː}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|u̞|u}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|u̞|uː}}
|- |-
! align="left" | ]
|á ||{{IPA|aː}} ||á
| align="center" | {{IPA link|e̞|e}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|e̞|eː}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|ɔ}}
| align="center" | ({{IPA link|ɔː}})
|- |-
! align="left" | ]
|ä ||{{IPA|æ, ɛ}} ||ä, e
| align="center" | ({{IPA|æ}})<!-- Do not use the IPA link template here. /æ/ is a phonological monophthong, not a phonetic one. Phonetically, it is an opening diphthong . -->
|
| align="center" | {{IPA link|ä|a}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|ä|aː}}
|- |-
! align="left" | ]s
|b ||{{IPA|b}} ||b
| colspan="4" align="center" | {{IPA|(ɪu) &nbsp; ɪe &nbsp; ɪɐ &nbsp; ʊɔ}}
|}

The phoneme /æ/ is marginal and often merges with /e/; the two are normally only distinguished in higher registers.{{sfnp|Kráľ|1988|p=55}}

Vowel length is phonemic in Slovak and both short and long vowels have the same quality.{{sfnp|Pavlík|2004|pp=93–95}} In addition, Slovak, unlike Czech, employs a ] which forbids two long vowels from following one another within the same word. In such cases the second vowel is shortened. For example, adding the locative plural ending {{lang|sk|-ách}} to the root {{lang|sk|vín-}} creates {{lang|sk|vínach}}, not {{lang|sk|*vínách}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bethin |first1=Christina Y. |title=Slavic Prosody: Language Change and Phonological Theory |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521591481 |page=149}}</ref> This law also applies to diphthongs; for example, the adjective meaning "white" is {{lang|sk|biely}}, not {{lang|sk|*bielý}} (compare Czech {{lang|cs|bílý}}).

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Slovak consonant phonemes{{sfnp|Hanulíková|Hamann|2010|p=374}}
! colspan="3" |
! ]
! ]
! ]
! ]
! ]
! ]
|- |-
! colspan="3" | ]
|c ||{{IPA|t͡s}} ||c
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
|
|
|- |-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | ]
|č ||{{IPA|t͡ʃ}} ||č
! {{small|]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|c}} {{sfnp|Pavlík|2004|pp=99,106}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
|
|- |-
! {{small|]}}
|d ||{{IPA|d}} ||d
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɟ}} {{sfnp|Pavlík|2004|pp=99,106}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|- |-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | ]
|ď ||{{IPA|ɟ}} ||ď
! {{small|]}}
|
| {{IPA link|ts}}
| {{IPA link|tʂ}}
|
|
|
|- |-
! {{small|]}}
|dz ||{{IPA|d͡z}} ||{{unicode|ʒ}}
|
| {{IPA link|dz}}
| {{IPA link|dʐ}}
|
|
|
|- |-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | ]
|dž ||{{IPA|d͡ʒ}} ||{{unicode|ǯ}}
! {{small|]}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʂ}}
|
| {{IPA link|x}}
|
|- |-
! {{small|]}}
|e ||{{IPA|ɛ}} ||e
|- |
|é ||{{IPA|ɛː}} ||é | {{IPA link|z}}
| {{IPA link|ʐ}}
|-
|
|f ||{{IPA|f}} ||f
|- |
|g ||{{IPA|ɡ}} ||g | {{IPA link|ɦ}}
|- |-
! rowspan="3" | ]
|h ||{{IPA|ɦ}} ||h
! colspan="2" | {{small|plain}}
|-
|ch ||{{IPA|x}} ||x | {{IPA link|ʋ|v}}
|- |
|
|i ||{{IPA|ɪ}} ||i
| {{IPA link|j}}
|-
|
|í ||{{IPA|iː}} ||í
|- |
|j ||{{IPA|j}} ||j
|- |-
! rowspan="2" | {{small|]}}
|k ||{{IPA|k}} ||k
! {{small|short}}
|-
|l ||{{IPA|l, l̩}} ||l
|-
|ĺ ||{{IPA|l̩ː}} ||{{unicode|ĺ}}
|-
|ľ ||{{IPA|ʎ}} ||{{unicode|ľ}}
|-
|m ||{{IPA|m}} ||m
|-
|n ||{{IPA|n}} ||n
|-
|ň ||{{IPA|ɲ}} ||ň
|-
|o ||{{IPA|ɔ}} ||o
|-
|ó ||{{IPA|ɔː}} ||ó
|-
|ô ||{{IPA|u̯o}} ||ŭo
|-
|p ||{{IPA|p}} ||p
|-
|q ||{{IPA|kv}} ||kv
|-
|r ||{{IPA|r, r̩}} ||r
|-
|ŕ ||{{IPA|r̩ː}} ||ŕ
|-
|s ||{{IPA|s}} ||s
|-
|š ||{{IPA|ʃ, ʂ}} ||š
|-
|t ||{{IPA|t}} ||t
|-
|ť ||{{IPA|c}} ||ť
|-
|u ||{{IPA|u}} ||u
|-
|ú ||{{IPA|uː}} ||ú
|-
|v ||{{IPA|v}} ||v
|-
|w ||{{IPA|v}} ||v
|-
|x ||{{IPA|ks}} ||ks
|-
|y ||{{IPA|ɪ}} ||i
|-
|ý ||{{IPA|iː}} ||í
|-
|z ||{{IPA|z}} ||z
|-
|ž ||{{IPA|ʒ, ʐ}} ||ž
|}

Some additional notes (transcriptions in IPA unless otherwise stated):
* Pronunciation of '''ä''' as {{IPA|}} is already archaic (or dialectical) but still considered correct by some authorities; the other standard pronunciation today is {{IPA|}}.
* '''r''' and '''l''' can be syllabic {{IPA|/r̩/}} and {{IPA|/l̩/}} and behave as vowels. When they are used in this manner, they may be written with the acute accent ('''ŕ''' and '''ĺ'''). e.g., ''vlk'' (wolf), ''prst'' (finger), ''štvrť'' (quarter), ''krk'' (neck), bisyllabic ''vĺča''—''vĺ-ča'' (wolfling), ''vŕba''—''vŕ-ba'' (willow-tree), etc.
* '''ch''', normally the unvoiced {{IPA|}}.
* The graphic group '''-ou''' (at the end of words) is pronounced {{IPA|}} but is not considered a separate diphthong. Its phonemic interpretation is {{IPA|/ov/}}.
* '''ia''', '''ie''', '''iu''' form diphthongs {{IPA|/i̯a/ /i̯e/ /i̯u/}} in native Slovak words, but two monophthongs in foreign and loan words.
* '''m''' has the allophone {{IPA|}} in front of the labiodental fricatives {{IPA|/f/}} and {{IPA|/v/}}.
* '''n''' in front of (post)alveolar fricatives has an allophone written as {{IPA|/n̠/}} in Slovak phonemic transcription.
* '''n''' can be {{IPA|}} in front of the velar plosives {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}.

==Phonology ==
{{Expand section|date=December 2009}}
{| class="IPA wikitable"
|+Consonant phonemes of Slovak<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Hanulíková|Hamann|2010}}</ref>
!
! ]
! ]
! ]<ref name=footnote1 group=lower-alpha/>
! ]
! ]
! ]
|-align=center
!]
|m
|n
| |
| {{IPA link|ɫ|l}}
|ɲ
| |
| {{IPA link|ʎ}}
| |
|-align=center
!]
|p b
|t d
| |
|-
|c ɟ
! {{small|]}}
|k ɡ
| |
| {{IPA link|ɫ|lː}}
|-align=center
! ]
| |
|t͡s d͡z
|t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
| |
| |
| |
|-
|-align=center
!] ! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | ]
! {{small|short}}
|f v<ref name=footnote2 group=lower-alpha/>
|s z
|ʃ ʒ
| |
| {{IPA link|ɾ|r}}<!-- Please do not change it to "{{IPA link|ɾ}}", we transcribe it as reliable sources do. -->
|x
|ɦ
|-align=center
! ]
| |
|r rː
| |
| |
| |
|-
! {{small|]}}
| |
| {{IPA link|r|rː}}<!-- Please do not change it to "{{IPA link|r}}", we transcribe it as reliable sources do. -->
|-align=center
! ]
| |
|l lː
| |
|j ʎ
| |
| |
|} |}

{{reflist |group=lower-alpha |refs=
Slovak has ]; when a voiced consonant ({{lang|sk|b, d, ď, g, dz, dž, z, ž, h|italic=no}}) is at the end of a word before a pause, it is devoiced to its voiceless counterpart ({{lang|sk|p, t, ť, k, c, č, s, š, ch|italic=no}}, respectively). For example, {{lang|sk|pohyb}} is pronounced {{IPA|/pɔɦip/}} and {{lang|sk|prípad}} is pronounced {{IPA|/priːpat/}}.
<ref name=footnote1>The postalveolar consonants are often pronounced with ], similar to ] and ].</ref>

<ref name=footnote2>{{IPA|/v/}} is frequently pronounced as a ], particularly in the syllable onset before a vowel or sonorant.</ref>
Consonant clusters containing both voiced and voiceless elements are entirely voiced if the last consonant is a voiced one, or voiceless if the last consonant is voiceless. For example, {{lang|sk|otázka}} is pronounced {{IPA|/ɔtaːska/}} and {{lang|sk|vzchopiť sa}} is pronounced {{IPA|/fsxɔpitsːa/}}. This rule applies also over the word boundary. For example, {{lang|sk|prísť domov}} {{IPA|sk|priːzɟ dɔmɔw|}} (to come home) and {{lang|sk|viac jahôd}} {{IPA|sk|ʋɪɐdz jaɦʊɔt|}} (more strawberries). The voiced counterpart of "{{lang|sk|ch}}" {{IPA|/x/}} is {{IPA|}}, and the unvoiced counterpart of "{{lang|sk|h}}" {{IPA|/ɦ/}} is {{IPA|/x/}}.

==Orthography==
{{Main|Slovak orthography|Slovak braille}}

Slovak uses the ] with small modifications that include the four ]s (<big>ˇ, ´, ¨, ˆ</big>) placed above certain letters ({{lang|sk|a-á,ä; c-č; d-ď; dz-dž; e-é; i-í; l-ľ,ĺ; n-ň; o-ó,ô; r-ŕ; s-š; t-ť; u-ú; y-ý; z-ž|italic=no}})

{{columns-list|colwidth=16em|
*A a {{IPA|}}
*Á á {{IPA|}}
*Ä ä {{IPA|}}
*B b {{IPA|}}
*C c {{IPA|}}
*Č č {{IPA|}}
*D d {{IPA|}}
*Ď ď {{IPA|}}
*Dz dz {{IPA|}}
*Dž dž {{IPA|}}
*E e {{IPA|}}
*É é {{IPA|}}
*F f {{IPA|}}
*G g {{IPA|}}
*H h {{IPA|}}
*Ch ch {{IPA|}}
*I i {{IPA|}}
*Í í {{IPA|}}
*J j {{IPA|}}
*K k {{IPA|}}
*L l {{IPA|}}
*Ľ ľ {{IPA|}}
*Ĺ ĺ {{IPA|}}
*M m {{IPA|}}
*N n {{IPA|}}
*Ň ň {{IPA|}}
*O o {{IPA|}}
*Ó ó {{IPA|}}
*Ô ô {{IPA|}}
*P p {{IPA|}}
*''Q q {{IPA|}}''
*R r {{IPA|}}
*Ŕ ŕ {{IPA|}}
*S s {{IPA|}}
*Š š {{IPA|}}
*T t {{IPA|}}
*Ť ť {{IPA|}}
*U u {{IPA|}}
*Ú ú {{IPA|}}
*V v {{IPA|}}
*''W w {{IPA|}}''
*''X x {{IPA|}}''
*Y y {{IPA|}}
*Ý ý {{IPA|}}
*Z z {{IPA|}}
*Ž ž {{IPA|}}
}} }}


''Italic'' letters are used in loanwords and foreign names.
In the standard language, the ] is always on the first syllable of a word (or on the preceding preposition, see below). This is not the case in certain dialects. The eastern dialects, for example, have penultimate stress, which at times makes them difficult for speakers of Standard Slovak to understand. Some of the north-central dialects have a weak stress on the first syllable, which becomes stronger and "moves" to the penultimate in certain cases. Monosyllabic conjunctions, monosyllabic short personal pronouns and auxiliary verb forms of the verb ''byť'' (to be) are, as a rule, not stressed.


The primary principle of Slovak spelling is the ] principle. The secondary principle is the morphological principle: forms derived from the same stem are written in the same way even if they are pronounced differently. An example of this principle is the assimilation rule (see below). The tertiary principle is the etymological principle, which can be seen in the use of ''i'' after certain consonants and of ''y'' after other consonants, although both ''i'' and ''y'' are usually pronounced the same way.
]s form a single ] unit with the following word, unless the word is long (four syllables or more) or the preposition stands at the beginning of a sentence.


Finally, the rarely applied grammatical principle is present when, for example, the basic singular form and plural form of masculine adjectives are written differently with no difference in pronunciation (e.g. {{lang|sk|pekný}} = nice – singular versus {{lang|sk|pekní}} = nice – plural). Such spellings are most often remnants of differences in pronunciation that were present in Proto-Slavic (in Polish, where the vowel merger did not occur, {{lang|pl|piękny}} and {{lang|pl|piękni}} and in Czech {{lang|cs| pěkný}} and {{lang|cs|pěkní}} are pronounced differently).
==Syntax==
The main features of Slovak syntax are:


Most ]s from foreign languages are respelt using Slovak principles either immediately or later. For example, "weekend" is spelled {{lang|sk|víkend}}, "software" – {{lang|sk|softvér}}, "gay" – {{lang|sk|gej}} (both not exclusively){{Clarify|reason=Which two are meant? What are/do they "not exclusively"?|date=September 2020}}, and "quality" is spelled {{lang|sk|kvalita}}. Personal and geographical names from other languages using Latin alphabets keep their original spelling unless a fully Slovak form of the name exists (e.g. {{lang|sk|Londýn}} for "]").
* The verb (]) agrees in person and number with its ]. For example:
:''Speváčka spieva.'' (The+female+singer is+singing.)
:(Speváčk-a spieva-0, where -0 is a third person singular ending)


Slovak features some ] (words with identical spelling but different pronunciation and meaning), the most common examples being {{lang|sk|krásne}} {{IPA|/ˈkraːsnɛ/}} (beautiful) versus {{lang|sk|krásne}} {{IPA|/ˈkraːsɲɛ/}} (beautifully).
:''Speváčky spievajú.'' (Female+singers are+singing.)
:(Speváčk-y spieva-j-ú; -ú is a third person plural ending, and /j/ is a ] sound)


==Grammar==
:''My speváčky spievame.'' (We the+female+singers are+singing.)
===Syntax===
:(My speváčk-y spieva-me, where -me is the first person plural ending)
The main features of Slovak syntax are as follows:
*The verb (]) agrees in person and number with its ].

Some examples include the following:
:{{lang|sk|Speváčka spieva}}. (The+singer+feminine suffix {{lang|sk|čka}} is+singing.)
:({{lang|sk|Speváčk-a spieva-∅}}, where -∅ is (the ]) third-person-singular ending)

:{{lang|sk|Speváčky spievajú}}. (Singer+feminine suffix {{lang|sk|čka}}+plural suffix {{lang|sk|y}} are+singing.)
:({{lang|sk|Speváčk-y spieva-j-ú}}; {{lang|sk|-ú}} is a third-person-plural ending, and /j/ is a ] sound)

:{{lang|sk|My speváčky spievame}}. (We the+singer+feminine suffix {{lang|sk|čka}}+plural suffix {{lang|sk|y}} are+singing.)
:({{lang|sk|My speváčk-y spieva-me}}, where {{lang|sk|-me}} is the first-person-plural ending)
:and so forth. :and so forth.
*Adjectives, pronouns and numerals agree in ], ] and ] with the noun to which they refer.
*Adjectives precede their noun. Botanic or zoological terms are exceptions (e.g. {{lang|sk|mačka divá}}, literally "cat wild", {{lang|la|Felis silvestris}}) as is the naming of Holy Spirit ({{lang|sk|Duch Svätý}}) in a majority of churches.


Word order in Slovak is relatively free, since strong ] enables the identification of ] (subject, object, predicate, etc.) regardless of word placement. This relatively free word order allows the use of word order to convey ].
* Adjectives, pronouns and numerals agree in ], ] and ] with the noun to which they refer.
* Adjectives precedes their noun. Botanic or zoological terms are exceptions (for example, ''mačka divá'', literally "cat wild", ''Felis silvestris''), as is the naming of Holy Spirit (Duch Svätý) in a majority of churches.


Some examples are as follows:
Word order in Slovak is relatively free, since strong ] enables the identification of ] (subject, object, predicate, etc.) regardless of word placement. This relatively free word order allows the use of word order to convey ].
:{{lang|sk|Ten veľký muž tam dnes otvára obchod}}. = That big man opens a store there today. ({{lang|sk|ten}} = that; {{lang|sk|veľký}} = big; {{lang|sk|muž}} = man; {{lang|sk|tam}} = there; {{lang|sk|dnes}} = today; {{lang|sk|otvára}} = opens; {{lang|sk|obchod}} = store) – The word order does not emphasize any specific detail, just general information.
:{{lang|sk|Ten veľký muž dnes otvára obchod tam}}. = That big man is today opening a store there. – This word order emphasizes the place ({{lang|sk|tam}} = there).
:{{lang|sk|Dnes tam otvára obchod ten veľký muž}}. = Today over there a store is being opened by that big man. – This word order focuses on the person who is opening the store ({{lang|sk|ten}} = that; {{lang|sk|veľký}} = big; {{lang|sk|muž}} = man).
:{{lang|sk|Obchod tam dnes otvára ten veľký muž}}. = The store over there is today being opened by that big man. – Depending on the intonation the focus can be either on the store itself or on the person.


The ] order is ]. Variation in word order is generally possible, but word order is not completely free.
Examples:
In the above example, the noun phrase {{lang|sk|ten veľký muž}} cannot be split up, so that the following combinations are not possible:
:''Ten veľký muž tam dnes otvára obchod.'' = That big man opens a store there today. (''ten'' = that; ''veľký'' = big; ''muž'' = man; ''tam'' = there; ''dnes'' = today; ''otvára'' = opens; ''obchod'' = store) - The word order is does not emphasize any specific detail, just general information.
:{{lang|sk|Ten otvára veľký muž tam dnes obchod}}.
:''Ten veľký muž dnes otvára obchod tam.'' = That big man is today opening a store there. - This word order emphasizes the place (''tam'' = there).
:{{lang|sk|Obchod muž tam ten veľký dnes otvára}}. ...
:''Dnes tam otvára obchod ten veľký muž.'' = Today over there a store is being opened by that big man. - This word order focuses on the person who is opening the store (''ten'' = that; ''veľký'' = big; ''muž'' = man).
:''Obchod tam dnes otvára ten veľký muž.'' = The store over there is today being opened by that big man. - Depending on the pronunciation the focus can be either on the store itself or on the person.


And the following sentence is stylistically infelicitous:
The ] order is Subject-Verb-Object. Nevertheless, word order is not completely free.
:{{lang|sk|Obchod ten veľký muž dnes tam otvára}}. (Only possible in a poem or other forms of artistic style.)
In the above example, the following combinations are not possible:
:''Ten otvára veľký muž tam dnes obchod.''
:''Obchod muž tam ten veľký dnes otvára.'' ...
And the following are unlikely:
:''Otvára ten veľký muž tam dnes obchod?'' (But when understood as a question, this would be a correct word order, i.e. "Is that big man opening the store there"?)
:''Obchod ten veľký muž dnes tam otvára.'' (Only possible in a poem or a similar style.)


The regular variants are as follows:
==Morphology==
: {{lang|sk|Ten veľký muž tam dnes otvára obchod.}}
===Articles===
: {{lang|sk|Ten veľký muž tam otvára dnes obchod.}}
There are no articles in the Slovak language. The demonstrative pronoun ten (fem: tá, neuter: to) may be used in front of the noun in situations where ] must be indicated.
: {{lang|sk|Obchod tam dnes otvára ten veľký muž.}}
: {{lang|sk|Obchod tam otvára dnes ten veľký muž.}}
: {{lang|sk|Dnes tam obchod otvára ten veľký muž.}}
: {{lang|sk|Dnes tam ten veľký muž otvára obchod.}}


===Morphology===
===Nouns, adjectives, pronouns ===
{{Main|Slovak declension}}
{{Expand section|date=December 2009}}


===Numerals=== ====Articles====
Slovak, like every major Slavic language other than ] and ], does not have articles. The demonstrative pronoun in masculine form {{lang|sk|ten}} (that one) or {{lang|sk|tá}} in feminine and {{lang|sk|to}} in neuter respectively, may be used in front of the noun in situations where ] must be made explicit.
There are unique forms for 0-10. 11-19 are formed by the numeral plus "násť." Compound numerals (21, 1054) are combinations of these words formed in the same order as their mathematical symbol is written (for example 21 = dvadsaťjeden, literally "twenty one")).


====Nouns, adjectives, pronouns====
The numerals are:
{{Main|Slovak declension}}
(1) jeden (jedno (neuter), jedna (feminine)),
Slovak nouns are inflected for ] and ]. There are six cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, and instrumental. The ] is purely optional and most of the time unmarked. It is used mainly in spoken language and in some fixed expressions: {{lang|sk|mama}} mum (nominative) vs. {{lang|sk|mami}} mum! (vocative), {{lang|sk|tato}}, {{lang|sk|oco}} dad (N) vs. {{lang|sk|tati}}, {{lang|sk|oci}} dad! (V), {{lang|sk|pán}} Mr., sir vs. {{lang|sk|pane}} sir (when addressing someone e.g. in the street). There are two numbers: singular and plural. Nouns have inherent ]. There are three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Adjectives and pronouns must agree with nouns in case, number, and gender.
(2) dva (dve (neuter, feminine)),
(3) tri,
(4) štyri,
(5) päť,
(6) šesť,
(7) sedem,
(8) osem,
(9) deväť,
(10) desať, (11) jedenásť, (12) dvanásť, (13) trinásť, (14) štrnásť, (15) pätnásť, (16) šestnásť, (17) sedemnásť, (18) osemnásť, (19) devätnásť, (20) dvadsať, (21) dvadsaťjeden,... (30) tridsať, (31) tridsaťjeden,... (40) štyridsať,... (50) päťdesiat,... (60) šesťdesiat,... (70) sedemdesiat,... (80) osemdesiat,... (90) deväťdesiat,... (100) sto, (101) stojeden,... (200) dv'''e'''sto,... (300) tristo,... (900)deväťsto,... (1,000) tisíc,... (1,100) tisícsto,... (2,000) dv'''e'''tisíc,... (100,000) stotisíc,... (200,000) dv'''e'''stotisíc,... (1,000,000) milión,... (1,000,000,000) miliarda,...


====Numerals====
Counted nouns have two forms: their most common form is in plural genitive (''päť domov'' = five houses or ''stodva žien'' = one hundred two women), while the plural form of the noun when counting the amount of 2, 3, 4 is in nominative, which is the form as without counting (''dva domy'' = two houses or ''dve ženy'' = two women).
The numerals 0–10 have unique forms, with numerals 1–4 requiring specific gendered representations. Numerals 11–19 are formed by adding {{lang|sk|násť}} to the end of each numeral. The suffix {{lang|sk|dsať}} is used to create numerals 20, 30 and 40; for numerals 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90, {{lang|sk|desiat}} is used. Compound numerals (21, 1054) are combinations of these words formed in the same order as their mathematical symbol is written (e.g. 21 = {{lang|sk|dvadsaťjeden}}, literally "twenty-one").


The numerals are as follows:
===Verbs===
*Verbs have three major conjugations. Three persons and two numbers (singular and plural) are distinguished. There are several ] ]s.
*á-Type Verbs
{| class="wikitable" {| class="wikitable"
|- |-
! 1–10 !! !! 11–20 !! !! 10–100 !!
! volať, to call
! Singular
! Plural
! Past Participle (masculine - feminine - neuter)
|- |-
| 1 || {{lang|sk|jeden}} (number, masculine), {{lang|sk|jedno}} (neuter), {{lang|sk|jedna}} (feminine) || 11 || {{lang|sk|jedenásť}} || 10 || {{lang|sk|desať}}
| 1st Person
| volám
| voláme
| volal - volala - volalo
|- |-
| 2 || {{lang|sk|dva}} (number, masculine inanimate), {{lang|sk|dve}} (neuter, feminine), {{lang|sk|dvaja}} (masculine animate) || 12 || {{lang|sk|dvanásť}} || 20 || {{lang|sk|dvadsať}}
| 2nd Person
| voláš
| voláte
|- |-
| 3 || {{lang|sk|tri}} (number, neuter, masculine inanimate, feminine), {{lang|sk|traja}} (masculine animate) || 13 || {{lang|sk|trinásť}} || 30 || {{lang|sk|tridsať}}
| 3rd Person
| volá
| volajú
|}

*á-Type Verbs - rhythmic law
{| class="wikitable"
|- |-
| 4 || {{lang|sk|štyri}} (number, neuter, masculine inanimate, feminine), {{lang|sk|štyria}} (masculine animate) || 14 || {{lang|sk|štrnásť}} || 40 || {{lang|sk|štyridsať}}
! bývať, to live
! Singular
! Plural
! Past Participle
|- |-
| 5 || {{lang|sk|päť}} || 15 || {{lang|sk|pätnásť}} || 50 || {{lang|sk|päťdesiat}}
| 1st Person
| bývam
| bývame
| býval - bývala - bývalo
|- |-
| 6 || {{lang|sk|šesť}} || 16 || {{lang|sk|šestnásť}} || 60 || {{lang|sk|šesťdesiat}}
| 2nd Person
| bývaš
| bývate
|- |-
| 7 || {{lang|sk|sedem}} || 17 || {{lang|sk|sedemnásť}} || 70 || {{lang|sk|sedemdesiat}}
| 3rd Person
|-
| býva
| 8 || {{lang|sk|osem}} || 18 || {{lang|sk|osemnásť}} || 80 || {{lang|sk|osemdesiat}}
| bývajú
|-
| 9 || {{lang|sk|deväť}} || 19 || {{lang|sk|devätnásť}} || 90 || {{lang|sk|deväťdesiat}}
|-
| 10 || {{lang|sk|desať}} || 20 || {{lang|sk|dvadsať}} || 100 || {{lang|sk|sto}}
|} |}


Some higher numbers: (200) {{lang|sk|dv'''e'''sto}}, (300) {{lang|sk|tristo}}, (900) {{lang|sk|deväťsto}}, (1,000) {{lang|sk|tisíc}}, (1,100) {{lang|sk|tisícsto}}, (2,000) {{lang|sk|dv'''e'''tisíc}}, (100,000) {{lang|sk|stotisíc}}, (200,000) {{lang|sk|dv'''e'''stotisíc}}, (1,000,000) {{lang|sk|milión}}, (1,000,000,000) {{lang|sk|miliarda}}.
*á-Type Verbs - soft stem

{| class="wikitable"
Counted nouns have two forms. The most common form is the plural genitive (e.g. {{lang|sk|päť domov}} = five houses or {{lang|sk|stodva žien}} = one hundred two women), while the plural form of the noun when counting the amounts of 2–4, etc., is usually the nominative form without counting (e.g. {{lang|sk|dva domy}} = two houses or {{lang|sk|dve ženy}} = two women) but gender rules do apply in many cases.

====Verbs====
Verbs have three major conjugations. Three persons and two numbers (singular and plural) are distinguished. ] ]s are omitted unless they are emphatic.

*Some imperfective verbs are created from the stems of perfective verbs to denote repeated or habitual actions. These are considered separate ]. One example is as follows: to hide (perfective) = {{lang|sk|skryť}}, to hide (habitual) = {{lang|sk|skrývať}}.
*Historically, two ] forms were utilized. Both are formed analytically. The second of these, equivalent to the ], is not widely used in the modern language, being rather considered archaic. Examples for two related verbs are as follows:
:{{lang|sk|skryť: skryl som}} (I hid / I have hidden); {{lang|sk|bol som skryl}} (I had hidden)
:{{lang|sk|skrývať: skrýval som; bol som skrýval}}.
*One ] exists. For imperfective verbs, it is formed analytically; for perfective verbs, it is identical to the present tense. Some examples are as follows:
:{{lang|sk|skryť: skryjem}}
:{{lang|sk|skrývať: budem skrývať}}
*Two ] forms exist. Both are formed analytically from the past tense:
:{{lang|sk|skryť: skryl by som}} (I would hide), {{lang|sk|bol by som skryl}} (I would have hidden)
:{{lang|sk|skrývať: skrýval by som; bol by som skrýval}}
*The ] is formed either as in English (] + passive participle) or using the reflexive pronoun 'sa':
:{{lang|sk|skryť: je skrytý; sa skryje}}
:{{lang|sk|skrývať: je skrývaný; sa skrýva}}
*The ] (= ~ed (one), the "third form") is formed using the suffixes -{{lang|sk|ný}} / -{{lang|sk|tý}} / -{{lang|sk|ený}}:
:{{lang|sk|skryť: skrytý}}
:{{lang|sk|skrývať: skrývaný}}
*The active ] (= ~ing (one)) is formed using the suffixes -{{lang|sk|úci}} / -{{lang|sk|iaci}} / -{{lang|sk|aci}}
:{{lang|sk|skryť: skryjúci}}
:{{lang|sk|skrývať: skrývajúci}}
*The ] (=(while/by) ...ing) is formed using the suffixes -{{lang|sk|úc}} / -{{lang|sk|uc}} / -{{lang|sk|iac/-ac}}.{{clarify|date=December 2012}}<!-- is this still used in Slovak or is it archaic? -->
:{{lang|sk|skryť: skryjúc}} (by hiding (perfective))
:{{lang|sk|skrývať: skrývajúc}} ((while/during) hiding)
*The active ] (= ~ing (in the past)) was formerly formed using the suffix -{{lang|sk|vší}}, but is no longer used.
*The ] (= the (process of) ...ing) is formed using the suffix -{{lang|sk|ie}}:
:{{lang|sk|skryť: skrytie}}
:{{lang|sk|skrývať: skrývanie}}

====Conjugations====
Several ] paradigms exist as follows:<ref>Jozef Ružička and co.: Morfológia slovenského jazyka, 1966</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
|+{{lang|sk|á}}-type verbs (Class I)
!{{lang|sk|volať}}, to call
!Singular
!Plural
!Past tense (masculine – feminine – neuter)
|- |-
|1st person
! vracať, to return
|{{lang|sk|volám}}
! Singular
|{{lang|sk|voláme}}
! Plural
|{{lang|sk|volal}} – {{lang|sk|volala}} – {{lang|sk|volalo}}
! Past Participle
|- |-
|2nd person
| 1st Person
|{{lang|sk|voláš}}
| vraciam
|{{lang|sk|voláte}}
| vraciame
| vracal - vracala - vracalo
|- |-
|3rd person
| 2nd Person
|{{lang|sk|volá}}
| vraciaš
|{{lang|sk|volajú}}
| vraciate
|-
| 3rd Person
| vracia
| vracajú
|} |}


{|class="wikitable"
*í-Type Verbs
|+{{lang|sk|á}}-type verbs (Class I) + ]
{| class="wikitable"
!{{lang|sk|bývať}}, to live, dwell, but not exist
!Singular
!Plural
!Past tense
|- |-
|1st person
! robiť, to do, work
|{{lang|sk|bývam}}
! Singular
|{{lang|sk|bývame}}
! Plural
|{{lang|sk|býval}} – {{lang|sk|bývala}} – {{lang|sk|bývalo}}
! Past Participle
|- |-
|2nd person
| 1st Person
|{{lang|sk|bývaš}}
| robím
|{{lang|sk|bývate}}
| robíme
| robil - robila - robilo
|- |-
|3rd person
| 2nd Person
|{{lang|sk|býva}}
| robíš
|{{lang|sk|bývajú}}
| robíte
|-
| 3rd Person
| robí
| robia
|} |}


{|class="wikitable"
*í-Type Verbs - rhythmic law
|+{{lang|sk|á}}-type verbs (Class I) (soft stem)
{| class="wikitable"
!{{lang|sk|vracať}}, to return or (mostly in slang) to vomit
|-
!Singular
! vrátiť, to return
!Plural
! Singular
!Past tense
! Plural
! Past Participle
|- |-
| 1st Person |1st person
|{{lang|sk|vraciam}}
| vrátim
|{{lang|sk|vraciame}}
| vrátime
|{{lang|sk|vracal}} – {{lang|sk|vracala}} – {{lang|sk|vracalo}}
| vrátil - vrátila - vrátilo
|- |-
| 2nd Person |2nd person
|{{lang|sk|vraciaš}}
| vrátiš
|{{lang|sk|vraciate}}
| vrátite
|- |-
| 3rd Person |3rd person
|{{lang|sk|vracia}}
| vráti
|{{lang|sk|vracajú}}
| vrátia
|} |}


{|class="wikitable"
*ie-Type Verbs
|+{{lang|sk|í}}-type verbs (Class V)
{| class="wikitable"
!{{lang|sk|robiť}}, to do, work
!Singular
!Plural
!Past tense
|- |-
|1st person
! vidieť, to see
|{{lang|sk|robím}}
! Singular
|{{lang|sk|robíme}}
! Plural
|{{lang|sk|robil}} – {{lang|sk|robila}} – {{lang|sk|robilo}}
! Past Participle
|- |-
|2nd person
| 1st Person
|{{lang|sk|robíš}}
| vidím
|{{lang|sk|robíte}}
| vidíme
| videl - videla - videlo
|- |-
|3rd person
| 2nd Person
|{{lang|sk|robí}}
| vidíš
|{{lang|sk|robia}}
| vidíte
|-
| 3rd Person
| vidí
| vidia
|} |}


{|class="wikitable"
*e-Type Verbs -ovať
|+{{lang|sk|í}}-type verbs (Class V) + ]
{| class="wikitable"
!{{lang|sk|vrátiť}}, to return
!Singular
!Plural
!Past tense
|- |-
|1st person
! kupovať, to buy
|{{lang|sk|vrátim}}
! Singular
|{{lang|sk|vrátime}}
! Plural
|{{lang|sk|vrátil}} – {{lang|sk|vrátila}} – {{lang|sk|vrátilo}}
! Past Participle
|- |-
|2nd person
| 1st Person
|{{lang|sk|vrátiš}}
| kupujem
|{{lang|sk|vrátite}}
| kupujeme
| kupoval - kupovala - kupovalo
|- |-
|3rd person
| 2nd Person
|{{lang|sk|vráti}}
| kupuješ
|{{lang|sk|vrátia}}
| kupujete
|-
| 3rd Person
| kupuje
| kupujú
|} |}


{|class="wikitable"
*e-Type Verbs - (typically -Cnuť)
|+{{lang|sk|e}}-type verbs (Class IV) (-{{lang|sk|ovať}})
{| class="wikitable"
!{{lang|sk|kupovať}}, to buy
!Singular
!Plural
!Past tense
|- |-
|1st person
! zabudnúť, to forget
|{{lang|sk|kupujem}}
! Singular
|{{lang|sk|kupujeme}}
! Plural
|{{lang|sk|kupoval}} – {{lang|sk|kupovala}} – {{lang|sk|kupovalo}}
! Past Participle
|- |-
|2nd person
| 1st Person
|{{lang|sk|kupuješ}}
| zabudnem
|{{lang|sk|kupujete}}
| zabudneme
| zabudol - zabudla - zabudlo
|- |-
|3rd person
| 2nd Person
|{{lang|sk|kupuje}}
| zabudneš
|{{lang|sk|kupujú}}
| zabudnete
|-
| 3rd Person
| zabudne
| zabudnú
|} |}


{|class="wikitable"
*ie-Type Verbs - (typically -Vnuť)
|+{{lang|sk|e}}-type verbs (Class IV) (-{{lang|sk|nuť}}, typically preceded by a consonant)
{| class="wikitable"
!{{lang|sk|zabudnúť}}, to forget
!Singular
!Plural
!Past tense
|- |-
|1st person
! minúť, to spend, miss
|{{lang|sk|zabudnem}}
! Singular
|{{lang|sk|zabudneme}}
! Plural
|{{lang|sk|zabudol}} – {{lang|sk|zabudla}} – {{lang|sk|zabudlo}}
! Past Participle
|- |-
|2nd person
| 1st Person
|{{lang|sk|zabudneš}}
| miniem
|{{lang|sk|zabudnete}}
| minieme
| minul - minula - minulo
|- |-
|3rd person
| 2nd Person
|{{lang|sk|zabudne}}
| minieš
|{{lang|sk|zabudnú}}
| miniete
|-
| 3rd Person
| minie
| minú
|} |}


{|class="wikitable"
*ie-Type Verbs - -cť, -sť, -zť
|+{{lang|sk|ie}}-type verbs (Class V)
{| class="wikitable"
!{{lang|sk|vidieť}}, to see
|-
!Singular
! niesť, to carry
!Plural
! Singular
!Past tense
! Plural
! Past Participle
|- |-
| 1st Person |1st person
|{{lang|sk|vidím}}
| nesiem
|{{lang|sk|vidíme}}
| nesieme
|{{lang|sk|videl}} – {{lang|sk|videla}} – {{lang|sk|videlo}}
| niesol - niesla - nieslo
|- |-
| 2nd Person |2nd person
|{{lang|sk|vidíš}}
| nesieš
|{{lang|sk|vidíte}}
| nesiete
|- |-
| 3rd Person |3rd person
|{{lang|sk|vidí}}
| nesie
|{{lang|sk|vidia}}
| nesú
|} |}


{|class="wikitable"
*ie-Type Verbs - -nieť
|+{{lang|sk|ie}}-type verbs (Class III) (-{{lang|sk|nuť}}, typically preceded by a vowel)
{| class="wikitable"
!{{lang|sk|minúť}}, to spend, miss
!Singular
!Plural
!Past tense
|- |-
|1st person
! stučnieť, to carry (be fat)
|{{lang|sk|miniem}}
! Singular
|{{lang|sk|minieme}}
! Plural
|{{lang|sk|minul}} – {{lang|sk|minula}} – {{lang|sk|minulo}}
! Past Participle
|- |-
|2nd person
| 1st Person
|{{lang|sk|minieš}}
| stučniem
|{{lang|sk|miniete}}
| stučnieme
| stučnel - stučnela - stučnelo
|- |-
|3rd person
| 2nd Person
|{{lang|sk|minie}}
| stučnieš
|{{lang|sk|minú}}
| stučniete
|}

{|class="wikitable"
|+{{lang|sk|ie}}-type verbs (Class III) (-{{lang|sk|cť}}, -{{lang|sk|sť}}, -{{lang|sk|zť}})
!{{lang|sk|niesť}}, to carry
!Singular
!Plural
!Past tense
|- |-
|1st person
| 3rd Person
|{{lang|sk|nesiem}}
| stučnie
|{{lang|sk|nesieme}}
| stučnejú
|{{lang|sk|niesol}} – {{lang|sk|niesla}} – {{lang|sk|nieslo}}
|-
|2nd person
|{{lang|sk|nesieš}}
|{{lang|sk|nesiete}}
|-
|3rd person
|{{lang|sk|nesie}}
|{{lang|sk|nesú}}
|} |}


{|class="wikitable"
*Irregular Verbs
|+{{lang|sk|ie}}-type verbs (Class II) (-{{lang|sk|nieť}})
{| class="wikitable"
!{{lang|sk|stučnieť}}, to carry (be fat)
!Singular
!Plural
!Past tense
|- |-
|1st person
|{{lang|sk|stučniem}}
|{{lang|sk|stučnieme}}
|{{lang|sk|stučnel}} – {{lang|sk|stučnela}} – {{lang|sk|stučnelo}}
|-
|2nd person
|{{lang|sk|stučnieš}}
|{{lang|sk|stučniete}}
|-
|3rd person
|{{lang|sk|stučnie}}
|{{lang|sk|stučnejú}}
|}

{|class="wikitable"
|+Irregular verbs
! !
! byť, to be !{{lang|sk|byť}}, to be
! jesť, to eat !{{lang|sk|jesť}}, to eat
! vedieť, to know !{{lang|sk|vedieť}}, to know
|- |-
| 1st Sg |1st singular
| som |{{lang|sk|som}}
| jem |{{lang|sk|jem}}
| viem |{{lang|sk|viem}}
|- |-
| 2nd Sg |2nd singular
|{{lang|sk|si}}
| si
| ješ |{{lang|sk|ješ}}
| vieš |{{lang|sk|vieš}}
|- |-
| 3rd Sg |3rd singular
|{{lang|sk|je}}
| je
|{{lang|sk|je}}
| je
| vie |{{lang|sk|vie}}
|- |-
| 1st Pl |1st plural
| sme |{{lang|sk|sme}}
| jeme |{{lang|sk|jeme}}
| vieme |{{lang|sk|vieme}}
|- |-
| 2nd Pl |2nd plural
| ste |{{lang|sk|ste}}
| jete |{{lang|sk|jete}}
| viete |{{lang|sk|viete}}
|- |-
| 3rd Pl |3rd plural
| sú |{{lang|sk|sú}}
| jedia |{{lang|sk|jedia}}
| vedia |{{lang|sk|vedia}}
|- |-
| Past Participle |Past tense
| bol, bola, bolo |{{lang|sk|bol}}, {{lang|sk|bola}}, {{lang|sk|bolo}}
| jedol, jedla, jedlo |{{lang|sk|jedol}}, {{lang|sk|jedla}}, {{lang|sk|jedlo}}
| vedel, vedela, vedelo |{{lang|sk|vedel}}, {{lang|sk|vedela}}, {{lang|sk|vedelo}}
|} |}


===Adverbs===
*] ]s are omitted unless they are emphatic.
Adverbs are formed by replacing the adjectival ending with the ending -{{lang|sk|o}} or -{{lang|sk|e}} / -{{lang|sk|y}}. Sometimes both -{{lang|sk|o}} and -{{lang|sk|e}} are possible. Examples include the following:
:{{lang|sk|vysoký}} (high) – {{lang|sk|vysoko}} (highly)
:{{lang|sk|pekný}} (nice) – {{lang|sk|pekne}} (nicely)
:{{lang|sk|priateľský}} (friendly) – {{lang|sk|priateľsky}} (in a friendly manner)
:{{lang|sk|rýchly}} (fast) – {{lang|sk|rýchlo}} (quickly)


The comparative of adverbs is formed by replacing the adjectival ending with a comparative/superlative ending -{{lang|sk|(ej)ší}} or -{{lang|sk|(ej)šie}}, whence the superlative is formed with the prefix ''naj-.'' Examples include the following:
*Non-continuous time is indicated with a perfective verb and the continuous version with an imperfective verb which is formed on the perfective stem. These are considered separate ]. Example: :to hide = skryť, to be hiding = skrývať
:{{lang|sk|rýchly}} (fast) – {{lang|sk|rýchlejší}} (faster) – {{lang|sk|najrýchlejší}} (fastest): {{lang|sk|rýchlo}} (quickly) – {{lang|sk|rýchlejšie}} (more quickly) – {{lang|sk|najrýchlejšie}} (most quickly)


====Prepositions====
*Historically, there were two ]. Both are formed analytically. One of these is not used in the modern language, being considered dated and/or grammatically incorrect. Examples for two related verbs:
Each preposition is associated with one or more grammatical cases. The noun governed by a preposition must agree with the preposition in the given context. The preposition {{lang|sk|od}} always calls for the genitive case, but some prepositions such as {{lang|sk|po}} can call for different cases depending on the intended sense of the preposition.
:skryť (to hide) : skryl som (I hid / I have hidden); bol som skryl (I had hidden)
:skrývať (to be hiding): skrýval som (I was hiding); bol som skrýval (I had been hiding)


:from friends = {{lang|sk|od priateľov}} (genitive case of {{lang|sk|priatelia}})
*There is one ]. For imperfective verbs, it is formed analytically, for perfective verbs it is identical with the present tense. Examples:
:around the square = {{lang|sk|po námestí}} (locative case of {{lang|sk|námestie}})
:skryť (to hide) : skryjem (I will hide / I will have hidden)
:up to the square = {{lang|sk|po námestie}} (accusative case of {{lang|sk|námestie}})
:skrývať (to be hiding) : budem skrývať (I will be hiding)


==Vocabulary==
*There are two conditional forms. Both are formed analytically from the past tense:
Slovak is a descendant of ], itself a descendant of ]. It is closely related to the other ], primarily to ] and ]. Czech also influenced the language in its later development. The highest number of borrowings in the old Slovak vocabulary come from ], ], Czech, ], Polish and ] (in that order).<ref>{{cite book |first1=Martina |last1=Kopecká |first2=Tatiana |last2=Laliková |first3=Renáta |last3=Ondrejková| first4=Jana| last4=Skladaná |first5=Iveta |last5=Valentová |title=Staršia slovenská lexika v medzijazykových vzťahoch ) |pages=10–46|publisher=Jazykovedný ústav Ľudovíta Štúra SAV| location=Bratislava| year=2011| isbn=978-80-224-1217-9| url=https://www.juls.savba.sk/attachments/pub_starsia_slovenska_lexika/starsia.pdf}}</ref> Recently, it is also influenced by English.
:skryť (to hide) : skryl by som (I would hide), bol by som skryl (I would have hidden)
:skrývať (to be hiding) : skrýval by som (I would be hiding), bol by som skrýval (I would have been hiding)


===Czech===
*The ] is formed either as in English (to be + past participle) or as in ] (using the reflexive pronoun 'sa'):
Although most dialects of Czech and Slovak are ] (see ]), ] are less intelligible to speakers of Czech and closer to Polish and ], and contact between speakers of Czech and speakers of the eastern dialects is limited.
:skryť (to hide): je skrytý (he is hidden); sa skryje (he is hidden)
:skrývať (to be hiding): je skrývaný (he is being hidden); sa skrýva (he is being hidden)


Since the ] it has been permitted to use Czech in TV broadcasting and during court proceedings (Administration Procedure Act 99/1963 Zb.). From 1999 to August 2009, the Minority Language Act 184/1999 Z.z., in its section (§) 6, contained the variously interpreted unclear provision saying that "When applying this act, it holds that the use of the Czech language fulfills the requirement of fundamental intelligibility with the state language"; the state language is Slovak and the Minority Language Act basically refers to municipalities with more than 20% ethnic minority population (no such Czech municipalities are found in Slovakia). Since 1 September 2009 (due to an amendment to the State Language Act 270/1995 Z.z.) a language "fundamentally intelligible with the state language" (i.e. the Czech language) may be used in contact with state offices and bodies by its native speakers, and documents written in it and issued by bodies in the Czech Republic are officially accepted. Regardless of its official status, Czech is used commonly both in Slovak mass media and in daily communication by Czech natives as an equal language.
*The active present ] (=which is ...ing) is formed using the suffixes –úci/ -iaci / - aci
:skryť (to hide) : skryjúci (which is hiding)
:skrývať (to be hiding): skrývajúci (which is being hiding)


Czech and Slovak have a long history of interaction and mutual influence well before the creation of ] in 1918, a state which existed until 1993. ] Slovak shares significant ], as well as technical and professional terminology dating from the Czechoslovak period, but phonetic, grammatical, and vocabulary ] do exist.
*The ] (=by/when ...ing) is formed using the suffixes –úc / -uc / –iac/-ac
:skryť (to hide): skryjúc (by/when hiding)
:skrývať (to be hiding): skrývajúc (by/when being hiding)


===Other Slavic languages===
*The active past ] (= which was ...ing) was formerly formed using the suffix –vší, but is no longer used.
Slavic language varieties are relatively closely related, and have had a large degree of mutual influence, due to the complicated ethnopolitical history of their historic ranges. This is reflected in the many features Slovak shares with neighboring language varieties. Standard Slovak shares high degrees of mutual intelligibility with many Slavic varieties. Despite this closeness to other Slavic varieties, significant variation exists among Slovak dialects. In particular, eastern varieties differ significantly from the standard language, which is based on central and western varieties.


] have the greatest degree of mutual intelligibility with ] of all the Slovak dialects, followed by ], but both Eastern Slovak and Rusyn lack familiar technical terminology and upper ] expressions. Polish and ] also differ quite considerably from Czech and Slovak in upper registers, but non-technical and lower register speech is readily intelligible. Some mutual intelligibility occurs with spoken ], ], and even ] (in this order), although their orthographies are based on the ].
*The passive participle (= ...ed (adj.)) is formed using the suffixes -ný / -tý / -ený:
:skryť (to hide): skrytý (hid)
:skrývať (to be hiding): skrývaný (being hidden)


{|class="wikitable"
*The 'verbal noun' (= the ...ing) is formed using the suffix –ie:
|-
:skryť (to hide): skrytie (the hiding)
!English
:skrývať (to be hiding): skrývanie (the continuous hiding)
!Slovak
!Czech
!Polish


!Rusyn
===Adverbs===
!Ukrainian
Adverbs are formed by replacing the adjectival ending with the ending –o or –e/-y. Sometimes both –o and -e are possible. Examples:
!Belarusian
:vysoký (high) – vysoko (highly)
:pekný (nice) – pekne (nicely)
:priateľský (friendly) – priateľsky (in a friendly manner)
:rýchly (fast) – rýchlo / rýchle (quickly)


!Serbo-Croatian
The comparative/superlative of adverbs is formed by replacing the adjectival ending with a comparative/superlative ending -(ej)ší or –(ej)šie. Examples:
!Bulgarian
:rýchly (fast) – rýchlejší (faster) – najrýchlejší (fastest): rýchlo (quickly) – rýchlejšie (more quickly) – najrýchlejšie (most quickly)
!Slovenian
|-
|to buy
|{{lang|sk|kupovať}}
|{{lang|cs|kupovat}}
|{{lang|pl|kupować}}
|{{lang|rue|куповати}} ({{transl|rue|kupovaty}})
|{{lang|uk|купувати}} ({{transl|uk|kupuvaty}})
|{{lang|be|купляць}} ({{transl|be|kuplać}})


|{{lang|sh|kupovati}}
===Prepositions===
|{{lang|bg|купува}} ({{transl|bg|kupuva}})
Each preposition is associated with one or more grammatical cases. The noun governed by a preposition must appear in the case required by the preposition in the given context.
|{{lang|sl|kupovati}}
Example:
|-
:from friends = od priateľov
|Welcome
Priateľov is the genitive case of priatelia. It must appear in this case because the preposition od (=from) always calls for its objects to be in the genitive.
|{{lang|sk|Vitajte}}
:throughout the square = po námestí (locative case)
|{{lang|cs|Vítejte}}
:past the square = po námestie (accusative case)
|{{lang|pl|Witajcie}}
Po has a different meaning depending on the case of its governed noun.
|{{lang|rue|Вітайте}} ({{transl|rue|vitajte}})
|{{lang|uk|Вітаю}} ({{transl|uk|vitaju}})
|{{lang|be|Вітаю}} ({{transl|be|vitaju}})


|{{lang|sh|Dobrodošli}}
==History==
|{{lang|bg|добре дошли}} ({{transl|bg|dobre došli}})
{{Main|History of the Slovak language}}
|{{lang|sl|Dobrodošli}}

==Relationships to other languages==
The Slovak language is a descendant of ] language, itself a descendant of ]. It is closely related to the other ], primarily to ], but it also has some striking similarities with other ], primarily the Southern Slavic languages and ]. It has been also influenced by ], ], ] and ].

===Slavic languages (except Czech) ===
Slavic language varieties tend to be closely related, and have had a large degree of mutual influence, due to the complicated ethnopolitical history of their historic ranges. This is reflected in the many features Slovak shares with neighboring language varieties. Standard Slovak shares high degrees of mutual intelligibility with many Slavic varieties. Despite this closeness to other Slavic varieties, there is significant variation among Slovak dialects. In particular, eastern varieties differ significantly from the standard language, which is based on central and western varieties.

Eastern Slovak dialects have the greatest degree of mutual intelligibility with ] of all the Slovak dialects, but both lack technical terminology and upper ] expressions. Polish and ] also differ quite considerably from Czech and Slovak in upper registers, but non-technical and lower register speech is readily intelligible. There is also some mutual intelligibility with spoken ], ] and even ] (in this order), although their orthography, based on the ], is very different.

There are also similarities with the western Southern Slavic languages, i.e. ], ] and to a lesser degree ] stemming from the time before the arrival of the Hungarians in Central Europe.

{| class="wikitable"
|- |-
|morning
! English word
|{{lang|sk|ráno}}
! Slovak
|{{lang|cs|ráno/jitro}}
! Ruthenian
|{{lang|pl|rano/ranek}}
! Ukrainian
|{{lang|rue|рано}} ({{transl|rue|rano}})
! Czech
|{{lang|uk|рано/ранок}} ({{transl|uk|rano/ranok}})
! Polish
|{{lang|be|рана/ранак}} ({{transl|be|rana/ranak}})
! Serbian and Croatian
|{{lang|sh|jutro}}
|{{lang|bg|утро}} ({{transl|bg|utro}})
|{{lang|sl|jutro}}
|- |-
|Thank you
| to buy
|{{lang|sk|Ďakujem}}
| kupovať
|{{lang|cs|Děkuji}}
| куповати (kupovati)
|{{lang|pl|Dziękuję}}
| купувати (kupuvaty)
|{{lang|rue|Дякую}} ({{transl|rue|diakuju}})
| kupovat
|{{lang|uk|Дякую}} ({{transl|uk|diakuju}})
| kupować
|{{lang|be|Дзякуй}} ({{transl|be|dziakuj}})
| kupovati

|{{lang|sh|Hvala}}
|{{lang|bg|благодаря}} ({{transl|bg|blagodarja}})
|{{lang|sl|Hvala}}
|- |-
|rowspan=2|How are you?
| Welcome!
|rowspan=2|{{lang|sk|Ako sa máš?}}
| Vitajte!
|rowspan=2|{{lang|cs|Jak se máš?}}
| Вітайте! (vitajte!)
|rowspan=2|{{lang|pl|Jak się masz}}?<br />(colloquially "{{lang|pl|jak leci?}}")
| Вітаю! (vitaju!)

| Vítejte
|rowspan=2|{{lang|rue|Як ся маєш/маш?}}<br />({{transl|rue|jak sia maješ/maš?}})
| Witajcie
|{{lang|uk|Як справи?}} ({{transl|uk|jak spravy?}})
| Dobrodošli
|{{lang|be|Як справы?}} ({{transl|be|jak spravy?}})
|rowspan=2|{{lang|sh|Kako si?}}
|rowspan=2|{{lang|bg|Как си?}} ({{transl|bg|Kak si?}})
|rowspan=2|{{lang|sl|Kako se imaš?/Kako si?}}
|- |-
|{{lang|uk|Як ся маєш?}}<br />({{transl|uk|jak sia maješ?}})
| morning
|{{lang|be|Як маесься?}}<br />({{transl|be|jak majeśsia?}})
| ráno
| рано (rano)
| рано/ранок (rano/ranok)
| ráno
| rano/ranek
| rano/uranak
|-
| Thank you
| Ďakujem
| Дякую (djakuju)
| Дякую (djakuju)
| Děkuji
| Dziękuję
| Hvala
|-
|rowspan=2| How are you?
|rowspan=2| Ako sa máš?
|rowspan=2| Як ся маєш/маш?<br> (jak sja maeš/maš?)
| Як справи? (jak spravy?)
|rowspan=2| Jak se máš?
|rowspan=2| Jak się masz?
|-
| Як себе/ся маєш?<br>(jak sebe/sja maeš?)
| Kako si?
|} |}


===Latin===
<small>Note: ''Jak sja maješ?'' in ] is often considered to be a ] version of greeting. In proper ] grammar it would have been something like ''Jak maješ-sja?''</small>
* {{lang|sk|bakuľa}}: {{lang|la|baculum}} (stick)
* {{lang|sk|kláštor}}: {{lang|la|claustrum}} (monastery)
* {{lang|sk|kostol}}: {{lang|la|castellum}} (church)
* {{lang|sk|košeľa}}: {{lang|la|casula}} (shirt)
* {{lang|sk|machuľa}}: {{lang|la|macula}} (blot, stain)
* {{lang|sk|škola}}: {{lang|la|scola}} (school)
* {{lang|sk|skriňa}}: {{lang|la|skrinium}} (cupboard)
* {{lang|sk|titul}}: {{lang|la|titulus}} (title)


===Czech=== ===English===
<u>Sports:</u>
Most dialects of Czech and Slovak are ] (see ]). Eastern Slovak dialects are less intelligible with Czech; they differ from Czech and from other Slovak dialects, and mutual contact between speakers of Czech and speakers of the eastern dialects is limited.
* {{lang|sk|športovať}}: to do sports
* {{lang|sk|šport}}: sport
* {{lang|sk|futbal}}: football (]; it can also mean ], especially when specified as {{lang|sk|americký futbal}})
* {{lang|sk|ofsajd}}: offside
* {{lang|sk|aut}}: out (football)
* {{lang|sk|hokej}}: hockey
* {{lang|sk|bodyček}}: body check (hockey)


<u>Food:</u>
Since the ] it has been allowed to use Czech in TV broadcasting and - like any other language of the world - during court proceedings (Administration Procedure Act 99/1963 Zb.). From 1999 to August 2009, the Minority Language Act 184/1999 Z.z., in its section (§) 6, contained the variously interpreted unclear provision saying that "When applying this act, it holds that the use of the Czech language fulfills the requirement of fundamental intelligibility with the state language" ; the state language is Slovak and the Minority Language Act basically refers to municipalities with more than 20% ethnic minority population (there are no such Czech municipalities in Slovakia). Since 1 September 2009 (due to an amendment to the State Language Act 270/1995 Z.z.) a language "fundamentally intelligible with the state language" (i.e. the Czech language) may be used in contact with state offices and bodies by its native speakers and documents written in it and issued by bodies in the Czech Republic are officially accepted. Regardless of its official status, Czech is used commonly both in Slovak mass media and in daily communication by Czech natives as an equal language.
* {{lang|sk|hemendex}}: ham & eggs
* {{lang|sk|kečup}}: ]


<u>Clothing:</u>
Czech and Slovak have a long history of interaction and mutual influence well before the creation of ] in 1918. ] Slovak shares significant ], as well as technical and professional terminology dating from the Czechoslovak period, but there are phonetic, grammatical and vocabulary ].
* {{lang|sk|džínsy}}: jeans
* {{lang|sk|legíny}}: leggings
* {{lang|sk|sveter}}: sweater
* {{lang|sk|tenisky}}: tennis shoes


<u>Exclamations:</u>
===Latin ===
* {{lang|sk|fajn}}: fine
{{Empty section|date=December 2009}}
* {{lang|sk|super}}: super
*{{lang|sk|okej}}: OK


===English === ===German===
{{Expand section|date=December 2009}}
weekend - víkend, football - futbal, ham & eggs - hemendex, offside - ofsajd, out (football) - aut,
body check (hockey)- bodíček, couch - gauč


<u>Nouns:</u>
===German ===
* {{lang|sk|brak}}: {{lang|de|Brack}} (rubbish)
{{Expand section|date=December 2009}}
* {{lang|sk|cech}}: {{lang|de|Zeche}} (guild)
German loanwords include "coins," Slovak ''mince'', German ''münzen''; "to wish", Slovak ''vinšovať'' (colloquial, standard term: ''želať''), German ''wünschen''; and "color," Slovak ''farba'', German ''Farbe''.<ref>http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=21&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fhv.umb.sk%2Fapp%2FcmsFile.php%3Fdisposition%3Da%26ID%3D3394&ei=qxmPR-XQHJHEnQPLtK2kDg&usg=AFQjCNEf4UirU9NpoB4MgWiIOOeens_u8w&sig2=vmlPBs5VgF9y6L__QQ3vmg google.com</ref>
* {{lang|sk|cieľ}}: {{lang|de|Ziel}} (goal/target)
* {{lang|sk|cín}}: {{lang|de|Zinn}} (tin)
* {{lang|sk|deka}}: {{lang|de|Decke}} (blanket)
* {{lang|sk|drôt}}: {{lang|de|Draht}} (wire)
* {{lang|sk|erb}}: {{lang|de|erben}} (coat-of-arms, from "to inherit")
* {{lang|sk|faloš}}: {{lang|de|Falschheit}} (falsity)
* {{lang|sk|farba}}: {{lang|de|Farbe}} (color)
* {{lang|sk|fašiangy}}: {{lang|de|Fasching}} (carnival)
* {{lang|sk|fialka}}: {{lang|de|Veilchen}} (viola)
* {{lang|sk|fľaša}}: {{lang|de|Flasche}} (bottle)
* {{lang|sk|fúra}}: {{lang|de|Fuhre}} (load)
* {{lang|sk|gróf}}: {{lang|de|Graf}} (count)
* {{lang|sk|hák}}: {{lang|de|Haken}} (hook)
* {{lang|sk|helma}}: {{lang|de|Helm}} (helmet)
* {{lang|sk|hoblík}}: {{lang|de|Hobel}} (hand plane)
* {{lang|sk|jarmok}}: {{lang|de|Jahrmarkt}} (funfair)
* {{lang|sk|knedľa}}: {{lang|de|Knödel}} (dumpling)
* {{lang|sk|minca}}: {{lang|de|Münze}} (coin)
* {{lang|sk|ortieľ}}: {{lang|de|Urteil}} (verdict)
* {{lang|sk|pančucha}}: {{lang|de|Bundschuh}} (stocking)
* {{lang|sk|plech}}: {{lang|de|Blech}} (sheet metal)
* {{lang|sk|regál}}: {{lang|de|Regal}} (shelf)
* {{lang|sk|ruksak}}: {{lang|de|Rucksack}} (backpack)
* {{lang|sk|rúra}}: {{lang|de|Rohr}} (pipe)
* {{lang|sk|rytier}}: {{lang|de|Ritter}} (knight)
* {{lang|sk|šachta}}: {{lang|de|Schacht}} (mine shaft)
* {{lang|sk|šindeľ}}: {{lang|de|Schindel}} (roof shingle)
* {{lang|sk|šnúra}}: {{lang|de|Schnur}} (cord)
* {{lang|sk|taška}}: {{lang|de|Tasche}} (purse)
* {{lang|sk|téma}}: {{lang|de|Thema}} (topic)
* {{lang|sk|vaňa}}: {{lang|de|Badewanne}} (bathtub)
* {{lang|sk|Vianoce}}: {{lang|de|Weihnachten}} (Christmas)
* {{lang|sk|vločka}}: {{lang|de|Flocke}} (flake)
* {{lang|sk|žumpa}}: {{lang|de|Sumpf}} (cesspit)


<u>Verbs:</u>
===Hungarian===
* {{lang|sk|študovať}}: {{lang|de|studieren}} (to study (as in, to major in))
Hungarians and Slovaks have had a language interaction ever since the settlement of Hungarians in the Carpathian area. While Hungarians took over many words from Slavic languages related to agriculture and administration, there is also a very small number of ] in Slovak. Examples include:
* {{lang|sk|vinšovať}}: {{lang|de|wünschen}} (to wish)
*"wicker whip": Slovak ''korbáč'' (the standard name for "whip" is ''bič'' and ''korbáč'' , itself originating from ] ''kırbaç'', usually means only 1 particular type of it—the "wicker whip") – Hungarian ''korbács'';
** Note: colloquially, the standard term in Slovak is {{lang|sk|želať}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jesenská |first1=Petra |title=Jazyková situácia na Slovensku v kontexte EÚ, s ohľadom na anglicizmy v slovenskej dennej tlači |url=https://www.ff.umb.sk/app/cmsFile.php?disposition=a&ID=3394 |access-date=2019-11-27 |language=sk |date=2007}}</ref>
*"dragon/kite": Slovak ''šarkan'' (rather rare, ''drak'' is far more common in this meaning; ''šarkan'' often means only "kite", esp. a small one that is flown for fun and this term is far more common than ''drak'' in this meaning; for the "dragon kite", the term ''drak'' is still used almost exclusively) – Hungarian ''sárkány''.<ref></ref>
*"rumour": Slovak ''chýr'' – Hungarian ''hír'';
*"encumbrance": Slovak ''ťarcha'' – Hungarian ''teher'';
*"camel": Slovak ''ťava'' – Hungarian ''teve'';
*"ditch": Slovak ''jarok'' – Hungarian ''árok'';


<u>Greetings:</u>
===Romanian===
Romanian words entered the Slovak language in the course of the ]n colonization in the 14th and 15th century when sheep breeding became common in Slovak mountains. Many of today's "typical" Slovak words like "bača" (shepherd = pastor in Romanian), "valach" (young shepherd), "magura" (hill = deal in Romanian), "koliba"(chalet = coliba in Romanian), "košiar" (cot = coliba in Romanian), and even "bryndza" (special sheep cheese = branza de burduf in Romanian; cheeze = branza in Romanian) were brought in by Wallachian shepherds.


{{lang|sk|Servus}} is commonly used as a greeting or upon parting in Slovak-speaking regions and some German-speaking regions, particularly Austria. {{lang|sk|Papa}} is also commonly used upon parting in these regions. Both {{lang|sk|servus}} and {{lang|sk|papa}} are used in colloquial, informal conversation.
==Dialects==
]
There are many varieties of Slovak. These may be divided in four basic groups:
*Eastern Slovak dialects (in ], ], ] and ])
*Central Slovak dialects (in ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and the historic ])
*Western Slovak dialects (in remaining Slovakia: ], ], ], ], ])
*Lowland (dolnozemské) Slovak dialects (outside Slovakia in the ] in Serbian ], and in southeastern ], western ], and the Croatian part of ])


===Hungarian===
The fourth group of dialects is often not considered a separate group, but a subgroup of Central and Western Slovak dialects (see e.g. Štolc, 1968), but it is currently undergoing changes due to contact with surrounding languages (Serbian, Romanian and Hungarian) and long-time geographical separation from Slovakia (see the studies in ''Zborník Spolku vojvodinských slovakistov'', e.g. Dudok, 1993).
Hungarians and Slovaks have had language interaction ever since the settlement of Hungarians in the ]. Hungarians also adopted many words from various Slavic languages related to agriculture and administration, and a number of ] are found in Slovak. Some examples are as follows:

*"wicker whip": Slovak {{lang|sk|korbáč}} (the standard name for "whip" is {{lang|sk|bič}} and {{lang|sk|korbáč}}, itself originating from ] {{lang|tr|kırbaç}}, usually means only one particular type of it—the "wicker whip") – Hungarian {{lang|hu|korbács}};
For an external map of the three groups in Slovakia see .
*"dragon/kite": Slovak {{lang|sk|šarkan}} (rather rare, {{lang|sk|drak}} is far more common in this meaning; {{lang|sk|šarkan}} often means only "kite", especially a small one that is flown for fun and this term is far more common than {{lang|sk|drak}} in this meaning; for the "dragon kite", the term {{lang|sk|drak}} is still used almost exclusively){{Clarify|date=February 2020}} – Hungarian {{lang|hu|sárkány}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c3.hu/~nyelvor/period/1233/123306.htm|title=Magyar Nyelvőr – Pacsai Imre: Magyar–szlovák kulturális és nyelvi kapcsolat jegyei...|first=Pacsai|last=Imre|website=c3.hu}}</ref>
*"rumour": Slovak {{lang|sk|chýr}}, Hungarian {{lang|hu|hír}};
*"]": Slovak {{lang|sk|ťava}}, Hungarian {{lang|hu|teve}};
*"ditch": Slovak {{lang|sk|jarok}}, Hungarian {{lang|hu|árok}};
*"glass": Slovak {{lang|sk|pohár}}, Hungarian {{lang|hu|pohár}};


== Sample text ==
The dialect groups differ mostly in phonology, vocabulary and inflection. Syntactic differences are minor. Central Slovak forms the basis of the present-day standard language. Not all dialects are fully mutually intelligible. It may be difficult for an inhabitant of the Slovak capital ] (in western Slovakia) to understand a dialect from eastern Slovakia.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Slovak:


:''Všetci ľudia sa rodia slobodní a rovní v dôstojnosti aj právach. Sú obdarení rozumom a svedomím a majú sa k sebe správať v duchu bratstva.''<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.amnesty.sk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/UDHRvSVK.pdf | title=Všeobecná deklarácia ľudských práv | language=sk | trans-title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights | publisher=Amnesty International Slovakia}}</ref>
The dialects are fragmented geographically, separated by numerous mountain ranges. The first three groups already existed in the 10th century. All of them are spoken by the Slovaks outside Slovakia (USA, Canada, Croatian ], Bulgaria and elsewhere) and Central and Western dialects form the basis of the Lowland dialects (see above).


Article 1 of the ''Universal Declaration of Human Rights'' in English:
The western dialects contain features common with the Moravian dialects in the Czech Republic, the southern central dialects contain a few features common with South Slavic languages, and the eastern dialects a few features common with Polish and the East Slavonic languages (cf. Štolc, 1994). Lowland dialects share some words and ] with the languages surrounding them (Serbian, Hungarian and Romanian).
:''All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights|website=un.org}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
* ] *]
*]
* ] for a list of other languages with regulated official form of the language.
*]
*] for a list of languages with a regulated standard variety


== References == ==References==
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}


==Bibliography== ==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*Dudok, D. (1993) Vznik a charakter slovenských nárečí v juhoslovanskej Vojvodine . ''Zborník spolku vojvodinských slovakistov'' 15. Nový Sad: Spolok vojvodinských slovakistov, pp.&nbsp;19–29. *Dudok, D. (1993) Vznik a charakter slovenských nárečí v juhoslovanskej Vojvodine . ''Zborník spolku vojvodinských slovakistov'' 15. Nový Sad: Spolok vojvodinských slovakistov, pp.&nbsp;19–29.
*{{Citation * {{citation
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|first=Adriana |first1=Adriana
|last2=Hamann |last2=Hamann
|first2=Silke |first2=Silke
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|issue=3 |issue=3
|pages=373–378 |pages=373–378
|doi=10.1017/S0025100310000162
|url=http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/silke/articles/Hanulikova&Hamann_2010.pdf
|doi-access=free
}}
* {{citation
|last=Kráľ
|first=Ábel
|title=Pravidlá slovenskej výslovnosti
|year=1988
|publisher=Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo
|location=Bratislava
}} }}
*Musilová, K. and Sokolová, M. (2004) Funkčnost česko-slovenských kontaktových jevů v současnosti . In Fiala, J. and Machala, L. (eds.) ''Studia Moravica I'' (''AUPO, Facultas Philosophica Moravica'' 1). Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, pp.&nbsp;133–146. *Musilová, K. and Sokolová, M. (2004) Funkčnost česko-slovenských kontaktových jevů v současnosti . In Fiala, J. and Machala, L. (eds.) ''Studia Moravica I'' (''AUPO, Facultas Philosophica Moravica'' 1). Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, pp.&nbsp;133–146.
*Nábělková, M. (2003) Súčasné kontexty slovensko-českej a česko-slovenskej medzijazykovosti . In Pospíšil, I. – Zelenka, M. (eds.) ''Česko-slovenské vztahy v slovanských a středoevropských souvislostech (meziliterárnost a areál)''. Brno: ÚS FF MU, pp.&nbsp;89–122. *Nábělková, M. (2003) Súčasné kontexty slovensko-českej a česko-slovenskej medzijazykovosti . In Pospíšil, I. – Zelenka, M. (eds.) ''Česko-slovenské vztahy v slovanských a středoevropských souvislostech (meziliterárnost a areál)''. Brno: ÚS FF MU, pp.&nbsp;89–122.
*Nábělková, M. (2006) V čom bližšie, v čom ďalej... Spisovná slovenčina vo vzťahu k spisovnej češtine a k obecnej češtine . In Gladkova, H. and Cvrček, V. (eds.) ''Sociální aspekty spisovných jazyků slovanských''. Praha: Euroslavica, pp.&nbsp;93–106. *Nábělková, M. (2006) V čom bližšie, v čom ďalej... Spisovná slovenčina vo vzťahu k spisovnej češtine a k obecnej češtine . In Gladkova, H. and Cvrček, V. (eds.) ''Sociální aspekty spisovných jazyků slovanských''. Praha: Euroslavica, pp.&nbsp;93–106.
*Nábělková, M. (2007) . ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language'' 183, pp.&nbsp;53–73. *Nábělková, M. (2007) . ''International Journal of the Sociology of Language'' 183, pp.&nbsp;53–73.
*Nábělková, M. (2008) ''Slovenčina a čeština v kontakte: Pokračovanie príbehu.'' . Bratislava/Praha: Veda/Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy. 364 pp., ISBN 978-80-224-1060-1 *Nábělková, M. (2008) ''Slovenčina a čeština v kontakte: Pokračovanie príbehu.'' . Bratislava/Praha: Veda/Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy. 364 pp., {{ISBN|978-80-224-1060-1}}
* {{citation
|last=Pavlík
|first=Radoslav
|journal=Jazykovedný časopis
|trans-journal=The Linguistic Journal
|title=Slovenské hlásky a medzinárodná fonetická abeceda
|trans-title=Slovak Speech Sounds and the International Phonetic Alphabet
|issue=55/2
|editor1-last=Bosák
|editor1-first=Ján
|editor2-last=Petrufová
|editor2-first=Magdaléna
|year=2004
|pages=87–109
|language=sk
|publisher=Slovak Academic Press, spol. s r. o.
|location=Bratislava
|issn=0021-5597
|url=http://www.juls.savba.sk/ediela/jc/2004/2/jc2004_2.pdf
}}
*Sloboda, M. (2004) Slovensko-česká (semi)komunikace a vzájemná (ne)srozumitelnost . ''Čeština doma a ve světě'' XII, No. 3–4, pp.&nbsp;208–220. *Sloboda, M. (2004) Slovensko-česká (semi)komunikace a vzájemná (ne)srozumitelnost . ''Čeština doma a ve světě'' XII, No. 3–4, pp.&nbsp;208–220.
*Sokolová, M. (1995) České kontaktové javy v slovenčine . In Ondrejovič, S. and Šimková, M. (eds.) ''Sociolingvistické aspekty výskumu súčasnej slovenčiny'' (''Sociolinguistica Slovaca'' 1). Bratislava: Veda, pp.&nbsp;188–206. *Sokolová, M. (1995) České kontaktové javy v slovenčine . In Ondrejovič, S. and Šimková, M. (eds.) ''Sociolingvistické aspekty výskumu súčasnej slovenčiny'' (''Sociolinguistica Slovaca'' 1). Bratislava: Veda, pp.&nbsp;188–206.
*Štolc, Jozef (1968) ''Reč Slovákov v Juhoslávii I.: Zvuková a gramatická stavba'' . Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied. *Štolc, Jozef (1968) ''Reč Slovákov v Juhoslávii I.: Zvuková a gramatická stavba'' . Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied.
*Štolc, Jozef (1994) ''Slovenská dialektológia'' . Ed. I. Ripka. Bratislava: Veda. *Štolc, Jozef (1994) ''Slovenská dialektológia'' . Ed. I. Ripka. Bratislava: Veda.
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation
|last=Mistrík
|first=Jozef
|year=1988
|orig-year=First published 1982
|title=A Grammar of Contemporary Slovak
|edition=2nd
|publisher=Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo
|location=Bratislava
}}
* {{citation
|last1=Pauliny
|first1=Eugen
|last2=Ru̇žička
|first2=Jozef
|last3=Štolc
|first3=Jozef
|title=Slovenská gramatika
|year=1968
|publisher=Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo
}}
* {{citation
|last=Short
|first=David
|chapter=Slovak
|title=The Slavonic Languages
|editor1-last=Comrie
|editor1-first=Bernard
|editor2-last=Corbett
|editor2-first=Greville G.
|year=2002
|pages=533–592
|location=London and New York
|publisher=Routledge
|isbn=9780415280785
}}
{{refend}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{InterWiki|code=sk}} {{InterWiki|code=sk}}
{{Wikivoyage|Slovak phrasebook|Slovak|a phrasebook}}
{{Wiktionarylang|code=sk}}
* {{ethnologue|code=slk}}
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* (from Wiktionary's )

; Online Dictionaries
*
*
*

; Corpora
*
*
*

{{Official EU languages}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2011}}

{{commons category|Slovak language}} {{commons category|Slovak language}}
*
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*

{{Slovakia topics}}
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{{Languages of the Czech Republic}}
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{{Portal bar|Languages|Slovakia}}
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Latest revision as of 12:35, 27 December 2024

West Slavic language spoken primarily in Slovakia "Slovenčina" redirects here. For the South Slavic language spoken in Slovenia, see Slovene language.

Slovak
slovenčina, slovenský jazyk
Pronunciation[ˈslɔʋentʂina], [ˈslɔʋenskiː ˈjazik]
Native toSlovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Carpathian Ruthenia, Slavonia, and Vojvodina
EthnicitySlovaks, Pannonian Rusyns
SpeakersL1: 5 million (2012–2021)
L2: 2.1 million (2012)
Language familyIndo-European
Dialects
Writing systemLatin (Slovak alphabet)
Slovak Braille
Cyrillic (Pannonian Rusyn alphabet)
Official status
Official language in Slovakia
 European Union
 Vojvodina (Serbia)
Recognised minority
language in		 Czech Republic
 Poland
 Hungary

 Croatia

 Romania
Regulated byMinistry of Culture of the Slovak Republic
Language codes
ISO 639-1sk
ISO 639-2slo (B)
slk (T)
ISO 639-3slk
Glottologslov1269
Linguasphere53-AAA-db < 53-AAA-b...–d
(varieties: 53-AAA-dba to 53-AAA-dbs)
The Slovak-speaking world:   regions where Slovak is the language of the majority   regions where Slovak is the language of a significant minority
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Slovak (/ˈsloʊvæk, -vɑːk/ SLOH-va(h)k; endonym: slovenčina [ˈslɔʋent͡ʂina] or slovenský jazyk [ˈslɔʋenskiː ˈjazik] ), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of the larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken by approximately 5 million people as a native language, primarily ethnic Slovaks, it serves as the official language of Slovakia and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union.

Slovak is closely related to Czech, to the point of very high mutual intelligibility, as well as Polish. Like other Slavic languages, Slovak is a fusional language with a complex system of morphology and relatively flexible word order. Its vocabulary has been extensively influenced by Latin and German, as well as other Slavic languages.

History

Main article: History of the Slovak language

The Czech–Slovak group developed within West Slavic in the high medieval period, and the standardization of Czech and Slovak within the Czech–Slovak dialect continuum emerged in the early modern period. In the later mid-19th century, the modern Slovak alphabet and written standard became codified by Ľudovít Štúr and reformed by Martin Hattala. The Moravian dialects spoken in the western part of the country along the border with the Czech Republic are also sometimes classified as Slovak, although some of their western variants are closer to Czech; they nonetheless form the bridge dialects between the two languages.

Geographic distribution and status

Slovak language is primarily spoken in Slovakia. The country's constitution declared it the official language of the state (štátny jazyk):

(1) Na území Slovenskej republiky je štátnym jazykom slovenský jazyk. (2) Používanie iných jazykov než štátneho jazyka v úradnom styku ustanoví zákon.

(1) The Slovak language is the official language on the territory of the Slovak Republic. (2) The use of languages other than the official language in official communication shall be laid down by law.

Constitution of Slovakia, Article 6.

Beside that, national minorities and ethnic groups also have explicit permission to use their distinct languages. Slovakia is a country with established Language policy concerning its official language.

Regulation

Standard Slovak (spisovná slovenčina) is defined by an Act of Parliament on the State Language of the Slovak Republic (language law). According to this law, the Ministry of Culture approves and publishes the codified form of Slovak based on the judgment of specialised Slovak linguistic institutes and specialists in the area of the state language. This is traditionally the Ľudovít Štúr Institute of Linguistics, which is part of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. In practice, the Ministry of Culture publishes a document that specifies authoritative reference books for standard Slovak usage, which is called the codification handbook (kodifikačná príručka). The current regulations were published on 15 March 2021. There are four such publications:

  • 'Pravidlá slovenského pravopisu', 2013; (orthographic rules)
  • 'Krátky slovník slovenského jazyka', 2020; (dictionary)
  • 'Pravidlá slovenskej výslovnosti', 2009; (pronunciation)
  • 'Morfológia slovenského jazyka', 1966; (morphology)

Slovak speakers are also found in the Slovak diaspora in the United States, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Serbia, Ireland, Romania, Poland, Canada, Hungary, Germany, Croatia, Israel, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Ukraine, Norway, and other countries to a lesser extent.

Slovak language is one of the official languages of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.

Official usage of Slovak in Vojvodina, Serbia

Slovak language high schools abroad

Dialects

Slovak dialects

There are many Slovak dialects, which are divided into the following four basic groups:

The fourth group of dialects is often not considered a separate group, but a subgroup of Central and Western Slovak dialects (see e.g. Štolc, 1968), but it is currently undergoing changes due to contact with surrounding languages (Serbo-Croatian, Romanian, and Hungarian) and long-time geographical separation from Slovakia (see the studies in Zborník Spolku vojvodinských slovakistov, e.g. Dudok, 1993).

The dialect groups differ mostly in phonology, vocabulary, and tonal inflection. Syntactic differences are minor. Central Slovak forms the basis of the present-day standard language. Not all dialects are fully mutually intelligible. It may be difficult for an inhabitant of the western Slovakia to understand a dialect from eastern Slovakia and the other way around.

The dialects are fragmented geographically, separated by numerous mountain ranges. The first three groups already existed in the 10th century. All of them are spoken by the Slovaks outside Slovakia, and central and western dialects form the basis of the lowland dialects (see above).

The western dialects contain features common with the Moravian dialects in the Czech Republic, the southern central dialects contain a few features common with South Slavic languages, and the eastern dialects a few features common with Polish and the East Slavonic languages (cf. Štolc, 1994). Lowland dialects share some words and areal features with the languages surrounding them (Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, and Romanian).

Phonology

Main article: Slovak phonology

Slovak contains 15 vowel phonemes (11 monophthongs and four diphthongs) and 29 consonants.

Slovak vowel phonemes
Front Back
short long short long
Close i iː u uː
Mid e eː ɔ (ɔː)
Open (æ) a aː
Diphthongs (ɪu)   ɪe   ɪɐ   ʊɔ

The phoneme /æ/ is marginal and often merges with /e/; the two are normally only distinguished in higher registers.

Vowel length is phonemic in Slovak and both short and long vowels have the same quality. In addition, Slovak, unlike Czech, employs a "rhythmic law" which forbids two long vowels from following one another within the same word. In such cases the second vowel is shortened. For example, adding the locative plural ending -ách to the root vín- creates vínach, not *vínách. This law also applies to diphthongs; for example, the adjective meaning "white" is biely, not *bielý (compare Czech bílý).

Slovak consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ
Plosive voiceless p t c k
voiced b d ɟ ɡ
Affricate voiceless ts tʂ
voiced dz dʐ
Fricative voiceless f s ʂ x
voiced z ʐ ɦ
Approximant plain v j
lateral short l ʎ
geminated lː
Trill short r
geminated rː

Slovak has final devoicing; when a voiced consonant (b, d, ď, g, dz, dž, z, ž, h) is at the end of a word before a pause, it is devoiced to its voiceless counterpart (p, t, ť, k, c, č, s, š, ch, respectively). For example, pohyb is pronounced /pɔɦip/ and prípad is pronounced /priːpat/.

Consonant clusters containing both voiced and voiceless elements are entirely voiced if the last consonant is a voiced one, or voiceless if the last consonant is voiceless. For example, otázka is pronounced /ɔtaːska/ and vzchopiť sa is pronounced /fsxɔpitsːa/. This rule applies also over the word boundary. For example, prísť domov [priːzɟ dɔmɔw] (to come home) and viac jahôd [ʋɪɐdz jaɦʊɔt] (more strawberries). The voiced counterpart of "ch" /x/ is , and the unvoiced counterpart of "h" /ɦ/ is /x/.

Orthography

Main articles: Slovak orthography and Slovak braille

Slovak uses the Latin script with small modifications that include the four diacritics (ˇ, ´, ¨, ˆ) placed above certain letters (a-á,ä; c-č; d-ď; dz-dž; e-é; i-í; l-ľ,ĺ; n-ň; o-ó,ô; r-ŕ; s-š; t-ť; u-ú; y-ý; z-ž)

  • A a
  • Á á
  • Ä ä
  • B b
  • C c
  • Č č
  • D d
  • Ď ď
  • Dz dz
  • Dž dž
  • E e
  • É é
  • F f
  • G g
  • H h
  • Ch ch
  • I i
  • Í í
  • J j
  • K k
  • L l
  • Ľ ľ
  • Ĺ ĺ
  • M m
  • N n
  • Ň ň
  • O o
  • Ó ó
  • Ô ô
  • P p
  • Q q
  • R r
  • Ŕ ŕ
  • S s
  • Š š
  • T t
  • Ť ť
  • U u
  • Ú ú
  • V v
  • W w
  • X x
  • Y y
  • Ý ý
  • Z z
  • Ž ž

Italic letters are used in loanwords and foreign names.

The primary principle of Slovak spelling is the phonemic principle. The secondary principle is the morphological principle: forms derived from the same stem are written in the same way even if they are pronounced differently. An example of this principle is the assimilation rule (see below). The tertiary principle is the etymological principle, which can be seen in the use of i after certain consonants and of y after other consonants, although both i and y are usually pronounced the same way.

Finally, the rarely applied grammatical principle is present when, for example, the basic singular form and plural form of masculine adjectives are written differently with no difference in pronunciation (e.g. pekný = nice – singular versus pekní = nice – plural). Such spellings are most often remnants of differences in pronunciation that were present in Proto-Slavic (in Polish, where the vowel merger did not occur, piękny and piękni and in Czech pěkný and pěkní are pronounced differently).

Most loanwords from foreign languages are respelt using Slovak principles either immediately or later. For example, "weekend" is spelled víkend, "software" – softvér, "gay" – gej (both not exclusively), and "quality" is spelled kvalita. Personal and geographical names from other languages using Latin alphabets keep their original spelling unless a fully Slovak form of the name exists (e.g. Londýn for "London").

Slovak features some heterophonic homographs (words with identical spelling but different pronunciation and meaning), the most common examples being krásne /ˈkraːsnɛ/ (beautiful) versus krásne /ˈkraːsɲɛ/ (beautifully).

Grammar

Syntax

The main features of Slovak syntax are as follows:

Some examples include the following:

Speváčka spieva. (The+singer+feminine suffix čka is+singing.)
(Speváčk-a spieva-∅, where -∅ is (the empty) third-person-singular ending)
Speváčky spievajú. (Singer+feminine suffix čka+plural suffix y are+singing.)
(Speváčk-y spieva-j-ú; -ú is a third-person-plural ending, and /j/ is a hiatus sound)
My speváčky spievame. (We the+singer+feminine suffix čka+plural suffix y are+singing.)
(My speváčk-y spieva-me, where -me is the first-person-plural ending)
and so forth.
  • Adjectives, pronouns and numerals agree in person, gender and case with the noun to which they refer.
  • Adjectives precede their noun. Botanic or zoological terms are exceptions (e.g. mačka divá, literally "cat wild", Felis silvestris) as is the naming of Holy Spirit (Duch Svätý) in a majority of churches.

Word order in Slovak is relatively free, since strong inflection enables the identification of grammatical roles (subject, object, predicate, etc.) regardless of word placement. This relatively free word order allows the use of word order to convey topic and emphasis.

Some examples are as follows:

Ten veľký muž tam dnes otvára obchod. = That big man opens a store there today. (ten = that; veľký = big; muž = man; tam = there; dnes = today; otvára = opens; obchod = store) – The word order does not emphasize any specific detail, just general information.
Ten veľký muž dnes otvára obchod tam. = That big man is today opening a store there. – This word order emphasizes the place (tam = there).
Dnes tam otvára obchod ten veľký muž. = Today over there a store is being opened by that big man. – This word order focuses on the person who is opening the store (ten = that; veľký = big; muž = man).
Obchod tam dnes otvára ten veľký muž. = The store over there is today being opened by that big man. – Depending on the intonation the focus can be either on the store itself or on the person.

The unmarked order is subject–verb–object. Variation in word order is generally possible, but word order is not completely free. In the above example, the noun phrase ten veľký muž cannot be split up, so that the following combinations are not possible:

Ten otvára veľký muž tam dnes obchod.
Obchod muž tam ten veľký dnes otvára. ...

And the following sentence is stylistically infelicitous:

Obchod ten veľký muž dnes tam otvára. (Only possible in a poem or other forms of artistic style.)

The regular variants are as follows:

Ten veľký muž tam dnes otvára obchod.
Ten veľký muž tam otvára dnes obchod.
Obchod tam dnes otvára ten veľký muž.
Obchod tam otvára dnes ten veľký muž.
Dnes tam obchod otvára ten veľký muž.
Dnes tam ten veľký muž otvára obchod.

Morphology

Articles

Slovak, like every major Slavic language other than Bulgarian and Macedonian, does not have articles. The demonstrative pronoun in masculine form ten (that one) or tá in feminine and to in neuter respectively, may be used in front of the noun in situations where definiteness must be made explicit.

Nouns, adjectives, pronouns

Main article: Slovak declension

Slovak nouns are inflected for case and number. There are six cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, and instrumental. The vocative is purely optional and most of the time unmarked. It is used mainly in spoken language and in some fixed expressions: mama mum (nominative) vs. mami mum! (vocative), tato, oco dad (N) vs. tati, oci dad! (V), pán Mr., sir vs. pane sir (when addressing someone e.g. in the street). There are two numbers: singular and plural. Nouns have inherent gender. There are three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Adjectives and pronouns must agree with nouns in case, number, and gender.

Numerals

The numerals 0–10 have unique forms, with numerals 1–4 requiring specific gendered representations. Numerals 11–19 are formed by adding násť to the end of each numeral. The suffix dsať is used to create numerals 20, 30 and 40; for numerals 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90, desiat is used. Compound numerals (21, 1054) are combinations of these words formed in the same order as their mathematical symbol is written (e.g. 21 = dvadsaťjeden, literally "twenty-one").

The numerals are as follows:

1–10 11–20 10–100
1 jeden (number, masculine), jedno (neuter), jedna (feminine) 11 jedenásť 10 desať
2 dva (number, masculine inanimate), dve (neuter, feminine), dvaja (masculine animate) 12 dvanásť 20 dvadsať
3 tri (number, neuter, masculine inanimate, feminine), traja (masculine animate) 13 trinásť 30 tridsať
4 štyri (number, neuter, masculine inanimate, feminine), štyria (masculine animate) 14 štrnásť 40 štyridsať
5 päť 15 pätnásť 50 päťdesiat
6 šesť 16 šestnásť 60 šesťdesiat
7 sedem 17 sedemnásť 70 sedemdesiat
8 osem 18 osemnásť 80 osemdesiat
9 deväť 19 devätnásť 90 deväťdesiat
10 desať 20 dvadsať 100 sto

Some higher numbers: (200) dvesto, (300) tristo, (900) deväťsto, (1,000) tisíc, (1,100) tisícsto, (2,000) dvetisíc, (100,000) stotisíc, (200,000) dvestotisíc, (1,000,000) milión, (1,000,000,000) miliarda.

Counted nouns have two forms. The most common form is the plural genitive (e.g. päť domov = five houses or stodva žien = one hundred two women), while the plural form of the noun when counting the amounts of 2–4, etc., is usually the nominative form without counting (e.g. dva domy = two houses or dve ženy = two women) but gender rules do apply in many cases.

Verbs

Verbs have three major conjugations. Three persons and two numbers (singular and plural) are distinguished. Subject personal pronouns are omitted unless they are emphatic.

  • Some imperfective verbs are created from the stems of perfective verbs to denote repeated or habitual actions. These are considered separate lexemes. One example is as follows: to hide (perfective) = skryť, to hide (habitual) = skrývať.
  • Historically, two past tense forms were utilized. Both are formed analytically. The second of these, equivalent to the pluperfect, is not widely used in the modern language, being rather considered archaic. Examples for two related verbs are as follows:
skryť: skryl som (I hid / I have hidden); bol som skryl (I had hidden)
skrývať: skrýval som; bol som skrýval.
  • One future tense exists. For imperfective verbs, it is formed analytically; for perfective verbs, it is identical to the present tense. Some examples are as follows:
skryť: skryjem
skrývať: budem skrývať
  • Two conditional forms exist. Both are formed analytically from the past tense:
skryť: skryl by som (I would hide), bol by som skryl (I would have hidden)
skrývať: skrýval by som; bol by som skrýval
  • The passive voice is formed either as in English (copula + passive participle) or using the reflexive pronoun 'sa':
skryť: je skrytý; sa skryje
skrývať: je skrývaný; sa skrýva
  • The passive participle (= ~ed (one), the "third form") is formed using the suffixes -ný / -tý / -ený:
skryť: skrytý
skrývať: skrývaný
  • The active present participle (= ~ing (one)) is formed using the suffixes -úci / -iaci / -aci
skryť: skryjúci
skrývať: skrývajúci
  • The transgressive (=(while/by) ...ing) is formed using the suffixes -úc / -uc / -iac/-ac.
skryť: skryjúc (by hiding (perfective))
skrývať: skrývajúc ((while/during) hiding)
  • The active past participle (= ~ing (in the past)) was formerly formed using the suffix -vší, but is no longer used.
  • The gerund (= the (process of) ...ing) is formed using the suffix -ie:
skryť: skrytie
skrývať: skrývanie

Conjugations

Several conjugation paradigms exist as follows:

á-type verbs (Class I)
volať, to call Singular Plural Past tense (masculine – feminine – neuter)
1st person volám voláme volal – volala – volalo
2nd person voláš voláte
3rd person volá volajú
á-type verbs (Class I) + rhythmical rule
bývať, to live, dwell, but not exist Singular Plural Past tense
1st person bývam bývame býval – bývala – bývalo
2nd person bývaš bývate
3rd person býva bývajú
á-type verbs (Class I) (soft stem)
vracať, to return or (mostly in slang) to vomit Singular Plural Past tense
1st person vraciam vraciame vracal – vracala – vracalo
2nd person vraciaš vraciate
3rd person vracia vracajú
í-type verbs (Class V)
robiť, to do, work Singular Plural Past tense
1st person robím robíme robil – robila – robilo
2nd person robíš robíte
3rd person robí robia
í-type verbs (Class V) + rhythmical rule
vrátiť, to return Singular Plural Past tense
1st person vrátim vrátime vrátil – vrátila – vrátilo
2nd person vrátiš vrátite
3rd person vráti vrátia
e-type verbs (Class IV) (-ovať)
kupovať, to buy Singular Plural Past tense
1st person kupujem kupujeme kupoval – kupovala – kupovalo
2nd person kupuješ kupujete
3rd person kupuje kupujú
e-type verbs (Class IV) (-nuť, typically preceded by a consonant)
zabudnúť, to forget Singular Plural Past tense
1st person zabudnem zabudneme zabudol – zabudla – zabudlo
2nd person zabudneš zabudnete
3rd person zabudne zabudnú
ie-type verbs (Class V)
vidieť, to see Singular Plural Past tense
1st person vidím vidíme videl – videla – videlo
2nd person vidíš vidíte
3rd person vidí vidia
ie-type verbs (Class III) (-nuť, typically preceded by a vowel)
minúť, to spend, miss Singular Plural Past tense
1st person miniem minieme minul – minula – minulo
2nd person minieš miniete
3rd person minie minú
ie-type verbs (Class III) (-cť, -sť, -zť)
niesť, to carry Singular Plural Past tense
1st person nesiem nesieme niesol – niesla – nieslo
2nd person nesieš nesiete
3rd person nesie nesú
ie-type verbs (Class II) (-nieť)
stučnieť, to carry (be fat) Singular Plural Past tense
1st person stučniem stučnieme stučnel – stučnela – stučnelo
2nd person stučnieš stučniete
3rd person stučnie stučnejú
Irregular verbs
byť, to be jesť, to eat vedieť, to know
1st singular som jem viem
2nd singular si ješ vieš
3rd singular je je vie
1st plural sme jeme vieme
2nd plural ste jete viete
3rd plural sú jedia vedia
Past tense bol, bola, bolo jedol, jedla, jedlo vedel, vedela, vedelo

Adverbs

Adverbs are formed by replacing the adjectival ending with the ending -o or -e / -y. Sometimes both -o and -e are possible. Examples include the following:

vysoký (high) – vysoko (highly)
pekný (nice) – pekne (nicely)
priateľský (friendly) – priateľsky (in a friendly manner)
rýchly (fast) – rýchlo (quickly)

The comparative of adverbs is formed by replacing the adjectival ending with a comparative/superlative ending -(ej)ší or -(ej)šie, whence the superlative is formed with the prefix naj-. Examples include the following:

rýchly (fast) – rýchlejší (faster) – najrýchlejší (fastest): rýchlo (quickly) – rýchlejšie (more quickly) – najrýchlejšie (most quickly)

Prepositions

Each preposition is associated with one or more grammatical cases. The noun governed by a preposition must agree with the preposition in the given context. The preposition od always calls for the genitive case, but some prepositions such as po can call for different cases depending on the intended sense of the preposition.

from friends = od priateľov (genitive case of priatelia)
around the square = po námestí (locative case of námestie)
up to the square = po námestie (accusative case of námestie)

Vocabulary

Slovak is a descendant of Proto-Slavic, itself a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is closely related to the other West Slavic languages, primarily to Czech and Polish. Czech also influenced the language in its later development. The highest number of borrowings in the old Slovak vocabulary come from Latin, German, Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Greek (in that order). Recently, it is also influenced by English.

Czech

Although most dialects of Czech and Slovak are mutually intelligible (see Comparison of Slovak and Czech), eastern Slovak dialects are less intelligible to speakers of Czech and closer to Polish and East Slavic, and contact between speakers of Czech and speakers of the eastern dialects is limited.

Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia it has been permitted to use Czech in TV broadcasting and during court proceedings (Administration Procedure Act 99/1963 Zb.). From 1999 to August 2009, the Minority Language Act 184/1999 Z.z., in its section (§) 6, contained the variously interpreted unclear provision saying that "When applying this act, it holds that the use of the Czech language fulfills the requirement of fundamental intelligibility with the state language"; the state language is Slovak and the Minority Language Act basically refers to municipalities with more than 20% ethnic minority population (no such Czech municipalities are found in Slovakia). Since 1 September 2009 (due to an amendment to the State Language Act 270/1995 Z.z.) a language "fundamentally intelligible with the state language" (i.e. the Czech language) may be used in contact with state offices and bodies by its native speakers, and documents written in it and issued by bodies in the Czech Republic are officially accepted. Regardless of its official status, Czech is used commonly both in Slovak mass media and in daily communication by Czech natives as an equal language.

Czech and Slovak have a long history of interaction and mutual influence well before the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, a state which existed until 1993. Literary Slovak shares significant orthographic features with Czech, as well as technical and professional terminology dating from the Czechoslovak period, but phonetic, grammatical, and vocabulary differences do exist.

Other Slavic languages

Slavic language varieties are relatively closely related, and have had a large degree of mutual influence, due to the complicated ethnopolitical history of their historic ranges. This is reflected in the many features Slovak shares with neighboring language varieties. Standard Slovak shares high degrees of mutual intelligibility with many Slavic varieties. Despite this closeness to other Slavic varieties, significant variation exists among Slovak dialects. In particular, eastern varieties differ significantly from the standard language, which is based on central and western varieties.

Eastern Slovak dialects have the greatest degree of mutual intelligibility with Polish of all the Slovak dialects, followed by Rusyn, but both Eastern Slovak and Rusyn lack familiar technical terminology and upper register expressions. Polish and Sorbian also differ quite considerably from Czech and Slovak in upper registers, but non-technical and lower register speech is readily intelligible. Some mutual intelligibility occurs with spoken Rusyn, Ukrainian, and even Russian (in this order), although their orthographies are based on the Cyrillic script.

English Slovak Czech Polish Rusyn Ukrainian Belarusian Serbo-Croatian Bulgarian Slovenian
to buy kupovať kupovat kupować куповати (kupovaty) купувати (kupuvaty) купляць (kuplać) kupovati купува (kupuva) kupovati
Welcome Vitajte Vítejte Witajcie Вітайте (vitajte) Вітаю (vitaju) Вітаю (vitaju) Dobrodošli добре дошли (dobre došli) Dobrodošli
morning ráno ráno/jitro rano/ranek рано (rano) рано/ранок (rano/ranok) рана/ранак (rana/ranak) jutro утро (utro) jutro
Thank you Ďakujem Děkuji Dziękuję Дякую (diakuju) Дякую (diakuju) Дзякуй (dziakuj) Hvala благодаря (blagodarja) Hvala
How are you? Ako sa máš? Jak se máš? Jak się masz?
(colloquially "jak leci?") 		Як ся маєш/маш?
(jak sia maješ/maš?) 		Як справи? (jak spravy?) Як справы? (jak spravy?) Kako si? Как си? (Kak si?) Kako se imaš?/Kako si?
Як ся маєш?
(jak sia maješ?) 		Як маесься?
(jak majeśsia?)

Latin

  • bakuľa: baculum (stick)
  • kláštor: claustrum (monastery)
  • kostol: castellum (church)
  • košeľa: casula (shirt)
  • machuľa: macula (blot, stain)
  • škola: scola (school)
  • skriňa: skrinium (cupboard)
  • titul: titulus (title)

English

Sports:

  • športovať: to do sports
  • šport: sport
  • futbal: football (Association football; it can also mean American football, especially when specified as americký futbal)
  • ofsajd: offside
  • aut: out (football)
  • hokej: hockey
  • bodyček: body check (hockey)

Food:

  • hemendex: ham & eggs
  • kečup: ketchup

Clothing:

  • džínsy: jeans
  • legíny: leggings
  • sveter: sweater
  • tenisky: tennis shoes

Exclamations:

  • fajn: fine
  • super: super
  • okej: OK

German

Nouns:

  • brak: Brack (rubbish)
  • cech: Zeche (guild)
  • cieľ: Ziel (goal/target)
  • cín: Zinn (tin)
  • deka: Decke (blanket)
  • drôt: Draht (wire)
  • erb: erben (coat-of-arms, from "to inherit")
  • faloš: Falschheit (falsity)
  • farba: Farbe (color)
  • fašiangy: Fasching (carnival)
  • fialka: Veilchen (viola)
  • fľaša: Flasche (bottle)
  • fúra: Fuhre (load)
  • gróf: Graf (count)
  • hák: Haken (hook)
  • helma: Helm (helmet)
  • hoblík: Hobel (hand plane)
  • jarmok: Jahrmarkt (funfair)
  • knedľa: Knödel (dumpling)
  • minca: Münze (coin)
  • ortieľ: Urteil (verdict)
  • pančucha: Bundschuh (stocking)
  • plech: Blech (sheet metal)
  • regál: Regal (shelf)
  • ruksak: Rucksack (backpack)
  • rúra: Rohr (pipe)
  • rytier: Ritter (knight)
  • šachta: Schacht (mine shaft)
  • šindeľ: Schindel (roof shingle)
  • šnúra: Schnur (cord)
  • taška: Tasche (purse)
  • téma: Thema (topic)
  • vaňa: Badewanne (bathtub)
  • Vianoce: Weihnachten (Christmas)
  • vločka: Flocke (flake)
  • žumpa: Sumpf (cesspit)

Verbs:

  • študovať: studieren (to study (as in, to major in))
  • vinšovať: wünschen (to wish)
    • Note: colloquially, the standard term in Slovak is želať

Greetings:

Servus is commonly used as a greeting or upon parting in Slovak-speaking regions and some German-speaking regions, particularly Austria. Papa is also commonly used upon parting in these regions. Both servus and papa are used in colloquial, informal conversation.

Hungarian

Hungarians and Slovaks have had language interaction ever since the settlement of Hungarians in the Carpathian area. Hungarians also adopted many words from various Slavic languages related to agriculture and administration, and a number of Hungarian loanwords are found in Slovak. Some examples are as follows:

  • "wicker whip": Slovak korbáč (the standard name for "whip" is bič and korbáč, itself originating from Turkish kırbaç, usually means only one particular type of it—the "wicker whip") – Hungarian korbács;
  • "dragon/kite": Slovak šarkan (rather rare, drak is far more common in this meaning; šarkan often means only "kite", especially a small one that is flown for fun and this term is far more common than drak in this meaning; for the "dragon kite", the term drak is still used almost exclusively) – Hungarian sárkány.
  • "rumour": Slovak chýr, Hungarian hír;
  • "camel": Slovak ťava, Hungarian teve;
  • "ditch": Slovak jarok, Hungarian árok;
  • "glass": Slovak pohár, Hungarian pohár;

Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Slovak:

Všetci ľudia sa rodia slobodní a rovní v dôstojnosti aj právach. Sú obdarení rozumom a svedomím a majú sa k sebe správať v duchu bratstva.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

See also

References

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Bibliography

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  • Kráľ, Ábel (1988), Pravidlá slovenskej výslovnosti, Bratislava: Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo
  • Musilová, K. and Sokolová, M. (2004) Funkčnost česko-slovenských kontaktových jevů v současnosti . In Fiala, J. and Machala, L. (eds.) Studia Moravica I (AUPO, Facultas Philosophica Moravica 1). Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, pp. 133–146.
  • Nábělková, M. (2003) Súčasné kontexty slovensko-českej a česko-slovenskej medzijazykovosti . In Pospíšil, I. – Zelenka, M. (eds.) Česko-slovenské vztahy v slovanských a středoevropských souvislostech (meziliterárnost a areál). Brno: ÚS FF MU, pp. 89–122.
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  • Nábělková, M. (2008) Slovenčina a čeština v kontakte: Pokračovanie príbehu. . Bratislava/Praha: Veda/Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy. 364 pp., ISBN 978-80-224-1060-1
  • Pavlík, Radoslav (2004), Bosák, Ján; Petrufová, Magdaléna (eds.), "Slovenské hlásky a medzinárodná fonetická abeceda" [Slovak Speech Sounds and the International Phonetic Alphabet] (PDF), Jazykovedný časopis [The Linguistic Journal] (in Slovak) (55/2), Bratislava: Slovak Academic Press, spol. s r. o.: 87–109, ISSN 0021-5597
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  • Sokolová, M. (1995) České kontaktové javy v slovenčine . In Ondrejovič, S. and Šimková, M. (eds.) Sociolingvistické aspekty výskumu súčasnej slovenčiny (Sociolinguistica Slovaca 1). Bratislava: Veda, pp. 188–206.
  • Štolc, Jozef (1968) Reč Slovákov v Juhoslávii I.: Zvuková a gramatická stavba . Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied.
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Further reading

  • Mistrík, Jozef (1988) , A Grammar of Contemporary Slovak (2nd ed.), Bratislava: Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo
  • Pauliny, Eugen; Ru̇žička, Jozef; Štolc, Jozef (1968), Slovenská gramatika, Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo
  • Short, David (2002), "Slovak", in Comrie, Bernard; Corbett, Greville G. (eds.), The Slavonic Languages, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 533–592, ISBN 9780415280785

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