SLOVAKIA
Language
Language
Cities in SLOVAKIA
| Bratislava |
Language
The official language is Slovak, which, together with Czech (especially the Moravian dialects) and Polish, belongs to the Western Slavonic language group, which means that there is a strong affinity between them. All three languages have common roots in Old Slavonic.
Slovak is spoken by approx. 5.4 million people in Slovakia and by approx. half a million people outside Slovakia, particularly in the United States, Canada and Australia, as well as by minorities in Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Slovak only emerged as a cultural language at the beginning of the 20th century and was not recognised as an official language by the Hungarians and Czechs for a long time. Polish, in particular, has strong affinities with Slovak, especially in the northern dialects.
Slovak can be divided into three major dialects located in western, central and eastern Slovakia.
Slovak is written in the Latin alphabet, but with many diacritical marks.
A striking feature of Slovak is the use of many consonants in succession and the fact that the stress is almost always on the first syllable. The long vowels are written with an accent: á, é, í, ó, ú, and ý. Without an accent, vowels are pronounced short. The letter g only appears in foreign words.
Through cultural exchanges, trade contacts and other forms of knowledge sharing, Slovak vocabulary has been expanded to include a number of words of foreign origin, such as:
Kino = cinema
Pas = passport
Ambulancia = ambulance
Politika = politics
Benzin = petrol
There are also foreign words that have adapted themselves to the Slovakian spelling, such as:
Restauracia = restaurant
Televizia = television
Holandske kakao = Dutch cocoa
Majoneza = mayonnaise
Some Slovak words and expressions
Hello = ahoj
Please = prosim ta (Czech, prosim vás)
Thank you = dakujem (Czech, dekuji)
I am = ja som
Good morning = dobre rano (Czech, dobré jitro)
Good afternoon = dobry den (Czech, dobré odpoledne)
Good evening = dobry vecer (Czech, dobrý vecer)
Goodbye = dovidenia (Czech, na shledanou)
Good night = dobru noc/sladke snicky
School = skola
Homework = domaca uloha
Sport = sport
Sources
Lacika, J. / Tatras
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc
Meyer, M. / Tsjechië, Slowakije
ANWB
Samuhel, S. / Mountain walks in the High Tatra
Rother
Wilson, N. / Czech & Slovak Republics
Lonely Planet
CIA - World Factbook
BBC - Country Profiles
Copyright: Team The World of Info