Slovak Alphabet, Language and Literature
The official language of Slovakia is Slovak, a member of the Slavik language family. It is an Indo-European language used in the Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, the United States and other countries where ethnic Slovaks live. The language is similar to Czech and Polish. There are nearly 6 million people who speak this language in the world. Hungarian is widely spoken in the southern part of this country with Russia spoken in the northeast. 1/5 of the people living in Slovakia speak a language other than Slovak as their first language. 68% of the people living in Slovakia speak two languages in which Czech is the most popular choice.
The language is written using an alphabet of Latin origin. One letter usually stands for one sound:
Lower case 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, p, q, r, ŕ, s, š, t, ť, u, ú, v,
w, x, y, ý, z, ž
Capital 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, P, Q, R, Ŕ, S, Š, T, Ť, U, Ú, V, W, X, Y, Ý, Z, Ž
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Vowels |
a, á, ä, e, é, i, í, o, ó, y, ý, u, ú |
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Consonants |
b, c, č, d, ď, dz, dž, f, g, h, ch, j, k, l, ĺ, ľ, m, n, ň, p, q, r, ŕ, s, š, t, ť, v, w, x, z, ž |
The best known Slovak hero, found in many folktales is Juraj Jánošík (1688 – 1713). The legend states that he takes from the poor to give to the rich, just like Robin Hood.
Online Slovak lessons for kids: dinolingo.com
