The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Slovak language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Slovak phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Slovak.

Consonants
IPA Examples English approximation
b b, vstup do[1] bill
c[2] radosť, loď[3] stew
d domov, prvýkrát bolo[1] door
f farba, vták[4] focus
ɡ garáž, kde[1] go
ɦ hlava ahead
j jogurt yellow
ɟ[2] ďaleko, byť zaradený[1] dew
k koláč, ping-pong[3] scan
l láska[5] pill
vlk little
l̩ː vĺča little left (long)
ʎ ľad[5] failure
m maslo, hanba[6] milk
n noc[6] now
ɲ laň canyon
p pavúk, dub[3] spill
r robot US atom
prst
r̩ː vŕba Spanish perro
s slnko, mráz[3] six
ʂ šach, ž[3] shell
t tulipán, hlad[3] stand
ts cena, jedz[3] bats
človek, [3] chase
ʋ sever[4] between vine and wine
x chlieb, sneh Scottish loch
z zima, ananás bol[1] zoo
ʐ žena, Aleš bol[1] fusion
Marginal consonants
dz dz, noc bez[1] heads
bán, cárovič bol[1] job
ɣ vrh guľou[1] Spanish amigo
ɱ informácia[6] comfort
ŋ banka[6] sing
v vzrast,[4] Adolf bol[1] vine
w pravda, krv,[4] Tatrou wine
Vowels[7]
IPA Examples English approximation
Monophthongs
a matka art
ráno father
ɛɐ mäso[8] American than; German Herz
e drevo traditional RP left
i tri, syr kit
písať, výr leave
ɔ dom off
u ruža bull
úroda fool
Marginal monophthongs
fén Indian maid
ɔː móda RP law
Diphthongs
ɪɐ piaty yap; German Wirt
ɪe viera yes
ʊɔ stôl warrior
Marginal diphthongs
ɪu vyššiu use
 
Suprasegmentals
IPA Examples Explanation
ˈ Revúca [ˈreʋuːtsa] primary stress (always falling on the first syllable of a word)
. Mária [ˈmaːri.a] [9] syllabification

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Apart from being the main realization of the phonemes /b, d, ɟ, dz, dʐ, ɡ, z, ʐ/, [b, d, ɟ, dz, , ɡ, z, ʐ] also occur as allophones of /p, t, c, ts, tʂ, k, s, ʂ/ before the voiced obstruents /b, d, ɡ, ɟ, dʐ, z, ʐ, ɦ/. /f/ and /x/ are also voiced in this environment, to [v] and [ɣ].
  2. ^ a b Pavlík (2004), pp. 99, 106.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Apart from being the main realization of the phonemes /k, p, s, ʂ, t, c, ts, tʂ/, [k, p, s, ʂ, t, c, ts, ] also occur as word-final allophones of /ɡ, b, z, ʐ, d, ɟ, dz, dʐ/ unless the following word starts with any of the voiced obstruents /b, d, ɡ, ɟ, dʐ, z, ʐ, ɦ/ and is pronounced without a pause, in which case they are realized as voiced [ɡ, b, z, ʐ, d, ɟ, dz, ].
  4. ^ a b c d The phones transcribed [f, v, ʋ, w] are allophones of a single /v/ phoneme (but note that [f, v] are also allophones of the /f/ phoneme):
    [f] occurs word-initially before the voiceless obstruents /p, t, c, k, tʂ, s, ʂ, x/;
    [v] occurs word-initially before the voiced obstruents /b, d, ɟ, ɡ, dʐ, z, ʐ, ɦ/;
    [w] or [ʋ] (in our transcriptions always represented as [w]) occur in the syllable coda;
    [ʋ] occurs in all other cases (Hanulíková & Hamann (2010:374)).
  5. ^ a b The /l–ʎ/ contrast is neutralized before front vowels, when only the alveolar /l/ occurs. The neutralization is taken further in western dialects in which the alveolo-palatal /ʎ/ merges with the alveolar /l/ in all environments (Hanulíková & Hamann (2010:374)).
  6. ^ a b c d Nasals always assimilate their place of articulation to that of the following consonant. Before velar consonants they are [ŋ], and before labial consonants they are [m]; the labiodental [ɱ] appears before /f/ and /v/. Orthographic ⟨n⟩ before ⟨p⟩ and ⟨b⟩ is rare and is confined mostly to loanwords.
  7. ^ In the majority of cases only one long vowel per word may occur. The phonemic diphthongs /ɪɐ, ɪe, ɪu, ʊɔ/ count as long vowels.
  8. ^ [ɛɐ] is a phonological monophthong, usually transcribed with ⟨æ⟩ in phonemic transcription. However, for speakers that distinguish it from /e/, it is clearly an opening diphthong (Pavlík 2004:94).
  9. ^ Syllable breaks are indicated only in the case of the sequences [i.a], [i.e] and [i.u], which occur in loanwords and are spelled the same as the native diphthongs [ɪɐ, ɪe, ɪu]. In the case of other hiatuses, the syllable break is omitted.

References

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  • Hanulíková, Adriana; Hamann, Silke (2010), "Slovak" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 40 (3): 373–378, doi:10.1017/S0025100310000162
  • Kráľ, Ábel (1988), Pravidlá slovenskej výslovnosti, Bratislava: Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo
  • Pavlík, Radoslav (2004), Bosák, Ján; Petrufová, Magdaléna (eds.), "Slovenské hlásky a medzinárodná fonetická abeceda" [Slovak Speech Sounds and the International Phonetic Alphabet] (PDF), Jazykovedný časopis [The Linguistic Journal] (in Slovak) (55/2), Bratislava: Slovak Academic Press, spol. s r. o.: 87–109, ISSN 0021-5597
  • Jazyková poradňa : Ako správne skloňovať cudzie vlastné mená Merliah a Kylie? (in Slovak), Bratislava: Petit Press

See also

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