Pronunciation reference
Slovak alphabet
slovenská abeceda
Learn the letters, diacritics, and ch as one Slovak digraph.
Overview
Recognize Slovak letters and the digraph ch.
The Slovak alphabet has 46 letters, including letters with diacritics and the digraphs dz, dž, and ch. Acute marks show long vowels, while the caron marks several changed consonants and vowels.
Treat ch as one letter in the alphabet and as one sound in a word. It comes after h in alphabetical order, so chlieb begins with the single digraph ch, not a separate c followed by h.
Alphabet
Letters
Plain consonants and vowels
- a
- b
- c
- d
- e
- f
- g
- h
- i
- j
- k
- l
- m
- n
- o
- ô
- p
- q
- r
- s
- t
- u
- v
- w
- x
- y
- z
Acute vowels
- á
- é
- í
- ó
- ú
- ý
- ä
Caron letters
- č
- ď
- ľ
- ň
- š
- ť
- ž
Digraph
- ch
Listen for
Sound contrasts
c / č plain c / caron
s / š plain s / caron
ch / c + h one digraph / two letters
Articulation
How it is formed
Read each marked letter clearly, then make ch as one breathy sound instead of pausing between c and h.
Examples
Words and phrase
čoženachlieb
Čo je chlieb? What is bread?
Source
Reference
Jazykovedný ústav Ľudovíta Štúra SAV ↗Full attribution on References.