Help:IPA/Slovak

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Slovak on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Slovak in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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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	byť, 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
l̩	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
r̩	prst	US atom
r̩ː	vŕba	Spanish perro
s	slnko, mráz^[3]	six
ʂ	šach, rúž^[3]	shell
t	tulipán, hlad^[3]	stand
ts	cena, jedz^[3]	bats
tʂ	človek, hádž^[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	hádzať, noc bez^[1]	heads
dʐ	džbán, 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
aː	ráno	father
ɛɐ	mäso^[8]	American than; German Herz
e	drevo	traditional RP left
i	tri, syr	kit
iː	písať, výr	leave
ɔ	dom	off
u	ruža	bull
uː	úroda	fool
Marginal monophthongs
eː	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

^ ^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, dʐ, 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].
^ ^a ^b Pavlík (2004), pp. 99, 106.
^ ^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, tʂ] 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, dʐ].
^ ^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)).
^ ^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)).
^ ^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.
^ In the majority of cases only one long vowel per word may occur. The phonemic diphthongs /ɪɐ, ɪe, ɪu, ʊɔ/ count as long vowels.
^ [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).
^ 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.

[voiced-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, dʐ, 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].

[FOOTNOTEPavlík200499,_106-2] Pavlík (2004), pp. 99, 106.

[voiceless-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, tʂ] 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, dʐ].

[v-4] 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)).

[hardsoftlaterals-5] 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)).

[nasal-6] 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.

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