Slovak
Slovenčina
Slovak and Czech are close enough that their speakers understand each other without effort, to the point that both languages shared the airwaves in former Czechoslovakia. Slovak is set apart by ľ, ĺ, ŕ and ô, and by the absence of the Czech ř. Its written standard is recent: it was settled in the mid-nineteenth century by Ľudovít Štúr, on the basis of the central dialects.
- Family
- West Slavic
- Script
- Latin
- Speakers
- ≈ 5 million
- Where
- Slovakia
- In the game
- Mid-range language
How to spot it
Like Czech but without ř: instead you get ľ, ĺ, ŕ and ô. The word “a” links the clauses.
A few sentences
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Zajtra pôjdeme na výlet k rieke, ak bude pekne.
Tomorrow we will take a trip to the river if the weather is nice.
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V lete chodíme k moru do Chorvátska.
In summer we go to the seaside in Croatia.
-
Dnes som vstal veľmi neskoro.
I got up very late today.
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Nemám rád dlhé cesty autom.
I do not like long car journeys.
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Kúpil som čerstvé vajcia.
I bought fresh eggs.