Languages
Native
Slovak
82%
Secondary languages
English
26%
Czech
14%
Language Samples
Ahoj, ako sa máš?
Hello, how are you?
Mám sa dobre, ďakujem.
I am very well, thank you.
Jeden, dva, tri, štyri, päť, šesť, sedem, osem, deväť, desať.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
Linguistic History
Slovak is a West Slavic language closely related to Czech and Polish. It developed from the dialects spoken in the western Carpathian region during the early medieval period. The first standardised form of literary Slovak was codified by Anton Bernolák in 1787, based on western Slovak dialects. A second and more lasting standardisation was created by Ľudovít Štúr in 1843, which forms the basis of modern Slovak. Slovak was a co-official language of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1993, when Slovakia became an independent republic. Despite its closeness to Czech, Slovak preserves more archaic Slavic features, including the rhythmic law that limits consecutive long syllables.
Similar Languages
Czech
91%
Polish
80%
Russian
70%
Ukrainian
66%
Media
Bojnice Castle in central Slovakia, one of the most visited castles in the country.
Photo: Pudelek · CC BY-SA 3.0
Did You Know
01
Slovak has a 'rhythmic law' that prevents two long syllables from occurring consecutively in a word — a feature unique among Slavic languages.
02
Slovakia is home to nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, an unusually high number for a country of its size, many of them featuring Slovak-language inscriptions.
03
The Slovak word 'bryndza' (a sheep-milk cheese) has been borrowed into many neighbouring languages and is a protected designation of origin within the EU.