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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.

Slovak
By Dick Oakes


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, Ĺ ĺ, Ľ ľ, 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


Slovak is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages (together with Czech, Polish, Silesian, Kashubian, and Sorbian).

Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people. There are also Slovak speakers in the United States, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Ireland, Romania, Poland, Canada, Hungary, Croatia, The United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, and Ukraine.

The letters d, n, and t are usually softened when followed by e or i.

Letters not listed below are pronounced approximately as in English.


A, a   - a as in father (short)
Á, á   - a as in father (long)
Ä, ä   - e as in let
E, e   - e as in let
É, é   - prolonged e as in where
I, i   - i as in machine (short)
Í, í   - i as in machine (long)
O, o   - o as in gone (short)
Ó, ó   - o as in gone (long)
Ô, ô   - the dipthong uo as in whoa
U, u   - u as in duke
Ú, ú   - u as in duke (long)
Y, y   - i as in machine (short); same as I, i
Ý, ý   - i as in machine (long); same as Í, í
 
C, c   - c as in dance
Ch, ch   - ch as in loch
Č, č   - c as in cello
Ď, ď   - a soft dy (the apostrophe on ď, rather than the caron, is preferred in typesetting)
Dz, dz   - dz adze
DŽ, dž   - dg as in edge
J, j   - y as in yes
Ľ, ľ   - ly as in halyard
Ĺ, ĺ   - ll in million
Ň, ň   - ny as in canyon
R, r   - slightly rolled
Š, š   - s as in sugar
Ť, ť   - t as in tune
W, w   - v as in van (found only in foreign words)
Ž, ž   - z as in azure