Slovak language

'''Slovak''' (''{{Audio|Slovensky_jazyk.ogg|slovenský jazyk}}'', ''slovenčina'', not to be confused with ''slovenski jezik'' or ''slovenščina'', the native name of the [[Slovene language]]), is an [[Indo-European language]] that belongs to the [[West Slavic languages]] (together with [[Czech language|Czech]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Silesian language|Silesian]], [[Kashubian language|Kashubian]], and [[Sorbian language|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]], [[Vojvodina|Serbia]], [[Ireland]], [[Romania]], [[Poland]], [[Canada]], [[Hungary]], [[Croatia]], [[The United Kingdom]], [[Australia]], [[Austria]], and [[Ukraine]]. ==Alphabet == {{Main|Slovak alphabet}} Slovak uses a [[Latin alphabet]] with small modifications that include the four [[diacritic]]s (ˇ, ´, ¨, ˆ; see Pronunciation) placed above certain letters. ==Orthography== {{IPA notice}} The primary principle of Slovak spelling is the '''[[phoneme|phonemic]] 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|}}. Most [[loanword|foreign words]] 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 [[Italian language|Italian]] ''qualità''). Personal and geographical names from other languages using [[Latin alphabet]]s keep their original spelling, unless there is a fully Slovak form for the name (for example ''Londýn'' for "London"). The [[Acute accent|acute]] mark (in Slovak "dĺžeň", "prolongation mark") indicates a [[Vowel length|long vowel]], 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). The [[circumflex]] ("vokáň") exists only above the letter "o". It turns the o into a [[diphthong]] (see below). The [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlaut]] ("prehláska", "dve bodky" = two dots) is only used above the letter "a". It indicates a raised vowel, almost an "e". The [[caron]] (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 [[Palatalization|palatalized]] consonants, while č, dž, š, ž are [[postalveolar]] 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 [[Hypercorrection|hypercorrectness]]). 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 [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] (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 [[Czech language|Czech]], or in some Slovak dialects. 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|[z]}} in [[prefix (linguistics)|prefixes]], for example ''smluva'' into ''zmluva'', ''sväz'' into ''zväz''. (That is, the phonemic principle has been given priority over the etymological principle in this case.) Along with English, Slovak is one of the few languages to feature heterographic homographs, the most common examples being ''krásne'' {{IPA|/'kraːsne/}} (beautiful) vs. ''krásne'' {{IPA|/'kraːsɲe/}} (beautifully). === Official transcriptions === 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. In the following table, pronunciation of each grapheme is given in this system as well as in the IPA. {| class="wikitable" !grapheme!! IPA !! transcr. |- |a ||{{IPA|a}} ||a |- |á ||{{IPA|aː}} ||á |- |ä ||{{IPA|æ, ɛ}} ||ä, e |- |b ||{{IPA|b}} ||b |- |c ||{{IPA|t͡s}} ||c |- |č ||{{IPA|t͡ʃ}} ||č |- |d ||{{IPA|d}} ||d |- |ď ||{{IPA|ɟ}} ||ď |- |dz ||{{IPA|d͡z}} ||{{unicode|ʒ}} |- |dž ||{{IPA|d͡ʒ}} ||{{unicode|ǯ}} |- |e ||{{IPA|ɛ}} ||e |- |é ||{{IPA|ɛː}} ||é |- |f ||{{IPA|f}} ||f |- |g ||{{IPA|ɡ}} ||g |- |h ||{{IPA|ɦ}} ||h |- |ch ||{{IPA|x}} ||x |- |i ||{{IPA|ɪ}} ||i |- |í ||{{IPA|iː}} ||í |- |j ||{{IPA|j}} ||j |- |k ||{{IPA|k}} ||k |- |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|[æ]}} is already archaic (or dialectical) but still considered correct by some authorities; the other standard pronunciation today is {{IPA|[ɛ]}}. * '''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|[x]}}. * The graphic group '''-ou''' (at the end of words) is pronounced {{IPA|[ɔu̯]}} 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|[ɱ]}} 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|[ŋ]}} in front of the velar plosives {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}. ==Phonology == {{Expand section|date=December 2009}} {| class="IPA wikitable" |+Consonant phonemes of Slovak ! ! [[Labial consonant|Labial]] ! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ! [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-
alveolar]] ! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ! [[Velar consonant|Velar]] ! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |-align=center ![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |m |n | |ɲ | | |-align=center ![[Plosive consonant|Plosive]] |p b |t d | |c ɟ |k ɡ | |-align=center ! [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]] | |t͡s d͡z |t͡ʃ d͡ʒ | | | |-align=center ![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] |f v |s z |ʃ ʒ | |x |ɦ |-align=center ! [[Trill consonant|Trill]] | |r rː | | | | |-align=center ! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]] | |l lː | |j ʎ | | |} {{reflist |group=lower-alpha |refs= }} In the standard language, the [[stress (linguistics)|stress]] 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. [[Preposition]]s form a single [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosodic]] unit with the following word, unless the word is long (four syllables or more) or the preposition stands at the beginning of a sentence. ==Syntax== The main features of Slovak syntax are: * The verb ([[predicate (grammar)|predicate]]) agrees in person and number with its [[subject (grammar)|subject]]. For example: :''Speváčka spieva.'' (The+female+singer is+singing.) :''Speváčky spievajú.'' (Female+singers are+singing.)|hiatus]] sound) :''My speváčky spievame.'' (We the+female+singers are+singing.) :and so forth. * Adjectives, pronouns and numerals agree in [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical gender|gender]] and [[Grammatical case|case]] 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. Word order in Slovak is relatively free, since strong [[inflection]] enables the identification of [[Thematic relation|thematic roles]] (subject, object, predicate, etc.) regardless of word placement. This relatively free word order allows the use of word order to convey [[information structure|topic and emphasis]]. Examples: :''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. :''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 pronunciation the focus can be either on the store itself or on the person. The [[Markedness|unmarked]] order is Subject-Verb-Object. Nevertheless, word order is not completely free. 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.) ===Articles=== 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 [[definiteness]] must be indicated. ===Numerals=== 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")). The numerals are: (1) jeden (jedno (neuter), jedna (feminine)), (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,... 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). ===Verbs=== *Verbs have three major conjugations. Three persons and two numbers (singular and plural) are distinguished. There are several [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] [[paradigm]]s. *á-Type Verbs {| class="wikitable" |- ! volať, to call ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle (masculine - feminine - neuter) |- | 1st Person | volám | voláme | volal - volala - volalo |- | 2nd Person | voláš | voláte |- | 3rd Person | volá | volajú |} *á-Type Verbs - rhythmic law {| class="wikitable" |- ! bývať, to live ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | bývam | bývame | býval - bývala - bývalo |- | 2nd Person | bývaš | bývate |- | 3rd Person | býva | bývajú |} *á-Type Verbs - soft stem {| class="wikitable" |- ! vracať, to return ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | vraciam | vraciame | vracal - vracala - vracalo |- | 2nd Person | vraciaš | vraciate |- | 3rd Person | vracia | vracajú |} *í-Type Verbs {| class="wikitable" |- ! robiť, to do, work ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | robím | robíme | robil - robila - robilo |- | 2nd Person | robíš | robíte |- | 3rd Person | robí | robia |} *í-Type Verbs - rhythmic law {| class="wikitable" |- ! vrátiť, to return ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | vrátim | vrátime | vrátil - vrátila - vrátilo |- | 2nd Person | vrátiš | vrátite |- | 3rd Person | vráti | vrátia |} *ie-Type Verbs {| class="wikitable" |- ! vidieť, to see ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | vidím | vidíme | videl - videla - videlo |- | 2nd Person | vidíš | vidíte |- | 3rd Person | vidí | vidia |} *e-Type Verbs -ovať {| class="wikitable" |- ! kupovať, to buy ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | kupujem | kupujeme | kupoval - kupovala - kupovalo |- | 2nd Person | kupuješ | kupujete |- | 3rd Person | kupuje | kupujú |} *e-Type Verbs - (typically -Cnuť) {| class="wikitable" |- ! zabudnúť, to forget ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | zabudnem | zabudneme | zabudol - zabudla - zabudlo |- | 2nd Person | zabudneš | zabudnete |- | 3rd Person | zabudne | zabudnú |} *ie-Type Verbs - (typically -Vnuť) {| class="wikitable" |- ! minúť, to spend, miss ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | miniem | minieme | minul - minula - minulo |- | 2nd Person | minieš | miniete |- | 3rd Person | minie | minú |} *ie-Type Verbs - -cť, -sť, -zť {| class="wikitable" |- ! niesť, to carry ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | nesiem | nesieme | niesol - niesla - nieslo |- | 2nd Person | nesieš | nesiete |- | 3rd Person | nesie | nesú |} *ie-Type Verbs - -nieť {| class="wikitable" |- ! stučnieť, to carry (be fat) ! Singular ! Plural ! Past Participle |- | 1st Person | stučniem | stučnieme | stučnel - stučnela - stučnelo |- | 2nd Person | stučnieš | stučniete |- | 3rd Person | stučnie | stučnejú |} *Irregular Verbs {| class="wikitable" |- ! ! byť, to be ! jesť, to eat ! vedieť, to know |- | 1st Sg | som | jem | viem |- | 2nd Sg | si | ješ | vieš |- | 3rd Sg | je | je | vie |- | 1st Pl | sme | jeme | vieme |- | 2nd Pl | ste | jete | viete |- | 3rd Pl | sú | jedia | vedia |- | Past Participle | bol, bola, bolo | jedol, jedla, jedlo | vedel, vedela, vedelo |} *[[subject (grammar)|Subject]] [[personal pronoun]]s are omitted unless they are emphatic. *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 [[lexemes]]. Example: :to hide = skryť, to be hiding = skrývať *Historically, there were two [[preterite|past tenses]]. 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: :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) *There is one [[future tense]]. For imperfective verbs, it is formed analytically, for perfective verbs it is identical with the present tense. Examples: :skryť (to hide) : skryjem (I will hide / I will have hidden) :skrývať (to be hiding) : budem skrývať (I will be hiding) *There are two conditional forms. Both are formed analytically from the past tense: :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) *The [[grammatical voice|passive voice]] is formed either as in English (to be + past participle) or as in [[Romance languages]] (using the reflexive pronoun 'sa'): :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) *The active present [[participle]] (=which is ...ing) is formed using the suffixes –úci/ -iaci / - aci :skryť (to hide) : skryjúci :skrývať (to be hiding): skrývajúci *The [[gerund]] (=by/when ...ing) is formed using the suffixes –úc / -uc / –iac/-ac :skryť (to hide): skryjúc :skrývať (to be hiding): skrývajúc *The active past [[participle]] (= which was ...ing) was formerly formed using the suffix –vší, but is no longer used. *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) *The 'verbal noun' (= the ...ing) is formed using the suffix –ie: :skryť (to hide): skrytie (the hiding) :skrývať (to be hiding): skrývanie (the continuous hiding) ===Adverbs=== Adverbs are formed by replacing the adjectival ending with the ending –o or –e/-y. Sometimes both –o and -e are possible. Examples: :vysoký (high) – vysoko (highly) :pekný (nice) – pekne (nicely) :priateľský (friendly) – priateľsky (in a friendly manner) :rýchly (fast) – rýchlo / rýchle (quickly) The comparative/superlative of adverbs is formed by replacing the adjectival ending with a comparative/superlative ending -(ej)ší or –(ej)šie. Examples: :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 appear in the case required by the preposition in the given context. Example: :from friends = od priateľov 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. :throughout the square = po námestí (locative case) :past the square = po námestie (accusative case) Po has a different meaning depending on the case of its governed noun. ==Relationships to other languages== The Slovak language is a descendant of [[Proto-Slavic]] language, itself a descendant of [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]. It is closely related to the other [[West Slavic languages]], primarily to [[Czech language|Czech]], but it also has some striking similarities with other [[Slavic languages]], primarily the Southern Slavic languages and [[Old Church Slavonic]]. It has been also influenced by [[German language|German]], [[English language|English]], [[Latin]] and [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]. ===Czech=== Most dialects of Czech and Slovak are [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] (see [[Differences between Slovak and Czech languages]]). 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. Since the [[dissolution of Czechoslovakia]] 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. Czech and Slovak have a long history of interaction and mutual influence well before the creation of [[Czechoslovakia]] in 1918. [[literary language|Literary]] Slovak shares significant [[Czech orthography|orthographic features with Czech]], as well as technical and professional terminology dating from the Czechoslovak period, but there are phonetic, grammatical and vocabulary [[Differences between Slovak and Czech|differences]]. ===Other Slavic languages === 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 [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]] of all the Slovak dialects, but both lack technical terminology and upper [[Register (linguistics)|register]] expressions. Polish and [[Sorbian language|Sorbian]] 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 [[Rusyn language|Rusyn]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] and even [[Russian language|Russian]] (in this order), although their orthography, based on the [[Cyrillic alphabet]], is very different. There are also similarities with the western Southern Slavic languages, i.e. [[Croatian language|Croatian]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]] and to a lesser degree [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]] stemming from the time before the arrival of the Hungarians in Central Europe. {| class="wikitable" |- ! English word ! Slovak ! Rusyn ! Ukrainian ! Belarusian ! Czech ! Polish ! Serbian and Croatian |- | to buy | kupovať | куповати (kupovati) | купувати (kupuvaty) | купляць (kupljać) | kupovat | kupować | kupovati |- | Welcome! | Vitajte! | Вітайте! (vitajte!) | Вітаю! (vitaju!) | Вітаю! (vitaju!) | Vítejte | Witajcie | Dobrodošli |- | morning | ráno | рано (rano) | рано/ранок (rano/ranok) | рана/ранак (rana/ranak) | ráno | rano/ranek | jutro/rano/uranak |- | Thank you | Ďakujem | Дякую (djakuju) | Дякую (djakuju) | Дзякуй (dzjakuj) | Děkuji | Dziękuję | Hvala |- |rowspan=2| How are you? |rowspan=2| Ako sa máš? |rowspan=2| Як ся маєш/маш?
(jak sja maeš/maš?) | Як справи? (jak spravy?) |Як справы? (jak spravy?) |rowspan=2| Jak se máš? |rowspan=2| Jak się masz? |- | Як себе/ся маєш?
(jak sebe/sja maeš?) | Як маесься?
(jak maeśśja?) | Kako si? |} Note: ''Jak sja maješ?'' in [[Ukraine]] is often considered to be a [[Polonization|Polonized]] version of greeting. In proper [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] grammar it would have been something like ''Jak maješ-sja?'' ===English === {{Expand section|date=December 2009}} weekend - víkend, football - futbal, ham & eggs - hemendex, offside - ofsajd, out (football) - aut, body check (hockey)- bodíček, couch - gauč ===German === {{Expand section|date=December 2009}} German loanwords include "coins," Slovak ''mince'', German ''münzen''; "to wish", Slovak ''vinšovať'' (colloquial, standard term: ''želať''), German ''wünschen''; and "color," Slovak ''farba'', German ''Farbe''. ===Hungarian=== Hungarians and Slovaks have had a language interaction ever since the settlement of Hungarians in the Carpathian area. Hungarians adopted many words from various Slavic languages related to agriculture and administration, and there are also a number of [[Hungarian language|Hungarian loanwords]] in Slovak. Examples include: *"wicker whip": Slovak ''korbáč'' (the standard name for "whip" is ''bič'' and ''korbáč'' , itself originating from [[Turkish language|Turkish]] ''kırbaç'', usually means only 1 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", 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''. *"rumour": Slovak ''chýr'' – Hungarian ''hír''; *"encumbrance": Slovak ''ťarcha'' – Hungarian ''teher''; *"camel": Slovak ''ťava'' – Hungarian ''teve''; *"ditch": Slovak ''jarok'' – Hungarian ''árok''; ===Romanian=== Romanian words entered the Slovak language in the course of the [[Wallachia]]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. ==Dialects== [[Image:Vojvodina slovak map.png|thumb|250px|Official usage of Slovak language in Vojvodina, Serbia]] There are many varieties of Slovak. These may be divided in four basic groups: *Eastern Slovak dialects (in [[Spiš]], [[Šariš]], [[Zemplín (region)|Zemplín]] and [[Abov]]) *Central Slovak dialects (in [[Liptov]], [[Orava (county)|Orava]], [[Turiec]], [[Tekov]], [[Hont]], [[Novohrad]], [[Gemer]] and the historic [[Zvolen county]]) *Western Slovak dialects (in remaining Slovakia: [[Kysuce]], [[Trenčín]], [[Trnava]], [[Nitra]], [[Záhorie]]) *Lowland (dolnozemské) Slovak dialects (outside Slovakia in the [[Pannonian Plain]] in Serbian [[Vojvodina]], and in southeastern [[Hungary]], western [[Romania]], and the Croatian part of [[Syrmia]]) 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). For an external map of the three groups in Slovakia see [http://www.pitt.edu/~armata/dialects.htm here]. 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 [[Bratislava]] (in western Slovakia) to understand a dialect from eastern Slovakia. 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 [[Slavonia]], and elsewhere) 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 (Serbian, Hungarian and Romanian). ==See also== * [[Slovak declension]] * [[List of language regulators]] for a list of other languages with regulated official form of the language. ==External links== {{InterWiki|code=sk}} {{commons category|Slovak language}} * [http://slovniky.lingea.sk/Home.aspx?set=ensk&n=7fffff English-Slovak / Slovak-English Online Dictionary] * [http://slovniky.korpus.sk/?lang=en Online Monolingual Dictionaries] * [http://korpus.juls.savba.sk/ Slovak National Corpus] * [http://www.surfacelanguages.com/language/Slovak Basic Slovak Phrasebook] * [http://sites.google.com/site/marekhlavac/slovak_lessons_beginner_lesson1 Slovak Language Lessons for Beginners - online course with audio samples] * [http://slovake.eu/en/ Slovake.eu - free multilingual website to learn the Slovak language] {{Official EU languages}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2011}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Slovak Language}}