Slovak phonology

This article is about the phonology and phonetics of the Slovak language.

Some additional notes includes the following (transcriptions in IPA unless otherwise stated):

In the standard language, the 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. Eastern dialects have penultimate stresses, which at times makes them difficult to understand for speakers of standard Slovak. 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 usually unstressed.

Prepositions form a single 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.

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 transcription system. In the following table, pronunciation of each grapheme is given in this system as well as in the IPA.

The sample text is a reading of The North Wind and the Sun. The transcription is based on a recording of a 28-year-old female speaker of standard Slovak from Bratislava.

/ˈras sa ˈseveraːk a ˈsl̩nko ˈɦaːdali | ˈkto z ɲix je ˈsilɲejʃiː || ˈf tom ˈzbadali ˈpot͡sestneːɦo | ˈktoriː ˈkraːt͡ʃal ˈzakritiː ˈplaːʃcom || ˈdoɦodli sa | ʒe ˈsilɲejʃiː je ˈten | kto ˈako ˈpr̩viː ˈdokaːʒe | ˈabi si ˈpot͡sestniː ˈvizli̯ekol ˈplaːʃc || ˈa tak ˈzat͡ʃal ˈseveraːk ˈfuːkac zo ˈfʃetkiːx ˈsiːl | ˈale t͡ʃiːm vi̯at͡s ˈfuːkal | ˈtiːm vi̯at͡s sa ˈpot͡sestniː ˈzakriːval ˈplaːʃcom || ˈnakoɲi̯et͡s sa ˈseveraːk ˈvzdal ˈzbitot͡ʃnej ˈnaːmaɦi || ˈpotom ˈsl̩nko ˈzat͡ʃalo ˈsvi̯ecic a ˈɦri̯ac || ˈza maluː ˈxviːʎku ˈbolo ˈpot͡sestneːmu ˈceplo | a ˈvizli̯ekol si ˈplaːʃc || ˈseveraːk ˈmusel ˈnakoɲi̯et͡s ˈuznac | ʒe ˈsl̩nko je ˈsilɲejʃi̯e ˈako on/

[ˈras sa ˈseʋeraːk a ˈsl̩ŋko ˈɦaːdali | ˈkto z ɲiɣ je ˈsilɲejʃiː || ˈf tom ˈzbadali ˈpot͡sestneːɦo | ˈktoriː ˈkraːt͡ʃal ˈzakritiː ˈplaːʃcom || ˈdohodli sa | ʒe ˈsilɲejʃiː je ˈten | kto ˈako ˈpr̩ʋiː ˈdokaːʒe | ˈabi si ˈpot͡sestniː ˈʋizli̯ekol ˈplaːʃc || ˈa taɡ ˈzat͡ʃal ˈseʋeraːk ˈfuːkaɟ zo ˈfʃetkiːx ˈsiːl | ˈale t͡ʃiːm ʋi̯at͡s ˈfuːkal | ˈtiːm ʋi̯at͡s sa ˈpot͡sestniː ˈzakriːʋal ˈplaːʃcom || ˈnakoɲi̯et͡s sa ˈseʋeraːɡ ˈvzdal ˈzbitot͡ʃnej ˈnaːmaɦi || ˈpotom ˈsl̩ŋko ˈzat͡ʃalo ˈsʋi̯ecic a ˈɦri̯ac || ˈza maluː ˈxʋiːʎku ˈbolo ˈpot͡sestneːmu ˈceplo | a ˈʋizli̯ekol si ˈplaːʃc || ˈseʋeraːk ˈmusel ˈnakoɲi̯et͡s ˈuznac | ʒe ˈsl̩ŋko je ˈsilɲejʃi̯e ˈako on]

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