Slovak alphabet and letters
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Sign up for freeLet's start from the very beginning in learning Slovak language! What is more important than to know the alphabet of the one's language? There are some unique letters which are not appearing in English or any other languages. Together, you will learn 46 letters!
Lesson outline
HideList of Slovak letters
Here is the full list of all Slovak letters:
A, Á, Ä, B, C, Č, D, Ď, DZ, DŽ, E, É, F, G, H, CH, I, Í, J, K, L Ĺ, Ľ, M, N, Ň, O, Ó, Ô, P, Q, R, Ŕ, S, Š, T, Ť, U, Ú, V, W, X, Y, Ý, Z, Ž.
| Letter | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A | /a/ | auto |
| Á | /a:/ | láska |
| Ä | /æ/, /ɛ/ | bábätko |
| B | /b/ | babka |
| C | /c/, /ts/ | citrón |
| Č | /tʃ/ | čučoriedka |
| D | /d/ | darček |
| Ď | /ɟ/ | ďateľ |
| DZ | /dz/ | mosadz |
| DŽ | /dʒ/ | džavotať |
| E | /e/, /ɛ/ | elektrina |
| É | /e/, /ɛ/ | krém |
| F | /f/ | fialka |
| G | /g/ | gram |
| H | /h/ | hlava |
| CH | /x/ | chlieb |
| I | /i/ | ihla |
| Í | /i:/ | kríza |
| J | /j/ | jablko |
| K | /k/ | krava |
| L | /l/ | lep |
| Ĺ | /l:/ | dĺžeň |
| Ľ | /ʎ/ | ľalia |
| M | /m/ | mama |
| N | /n/ | noha |
| Ň | /ɲ/ | zbraň |
| O | /o/ | opica |
| Ó | /o:/ | ópium |
| Ô | /uo/ | stôl |
| P | /p/ | papier |
| Q | /kv/ | squash |
| R | /r/ | robot |
| Ŕ | /r:/ | tŕň |
| S | /s/ | soľ |
| Š | /ʃ/ | šaty |
| T | /t/ | tiger |
| Ť | /c/ | ťava |
| U | /u/ | uhol |
| Ú | /u:/ | ústav |
| V | /v/ | vlasy |
| W | /v/ | wafle |
| X | /ks/ | xylofón |
| Y | /i/ | nohy |
| Ý | /i:/ | dlhý |
| Z | /z/ | Zuzana |
| Ž | /ʒ/ | žatva |
We can also say, that the Slovak alphabet is divided into 3 groups:
- simple: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z
- created in combination with diacritics*
- consisting of two letters: dz, dž, ch
*created in combination with diacritics:
- the acute mark ("dĺžeň"): á, é, í, ĺ, ó, ŕ, ú, ý
- the caron ("mäkčeň" or softener): č, ď, ľ, ň, š, ť, ž
- the umlaut (two dots, or "prehláska"): ä
- the circumflex ("vokáň"): ô
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Slovak vowels, consonants and special letters
As in any other languages, Slovak alphabet is also divided to vowels and consonants. There are 14 vowels and 32 consonants.
Slovak vowels
14 vowels consist of short, long and special ones.
- the short vowels: a, e, i, o, u, y, ä
- the long vowels: á, é, í, ó, ú, ý
- the diphthong: ô (as well as "ia", "ie", "iu")
As you could see from the list above, long vowels are pronounced the same way as the short ones, just for a little bit longer time.
Slovak consonants
32 consonants are divided into 3+ groups as well:
- soft ("mäkké"): ď, ť, ň, ľ, c, j, dz, č, dž, š, ž
- hard ("tvrdé"): d, t, n, l, h, ch, k, g
- ambiguous ("obojaké"): b, m, p, r, s, v, z, f
+special without a group: ĺ, q, ŕ, w, x
Special letters
As we indicated at the beginning, there are some special letters, which do not appear in English alphabet.
- "ä" is pronounced as wide "e" and is used only in a few words
- "ô" is pronounced as "uo" and is also used very rarely
- "ch" sound is used very often, and is pronounced as in the word "loch", very similar to "h"
 |  |  |
| five | a horse | a boy |
| päť | kôň | chlapec |
The pronunciation of the Slovak letters will be explained in the topic of next lesson.