FamilySearch Wiki

Slovakia Languages

Revision as of 08:17, 22 May 2023 by Garycrobinson (talk | contribs) (restructuring pre-existing information to match new template)

Slovakia Wiki Topics
Bratislava Danube.jpg
Beginning Research
Record Types
Slovakia Background
Local Research Resources

Most of the people in Slovakia speak the Slovak language. Slovak is a member of the West Slavic sub-group of the Slavic languages of the Indo-European language family. Slovak is related to Czech, Polish and Russian. The Czech and Slovak languages are very much alike. These two languages are the most similar of all slavic languages. Slovak was the official language in the Slovak lands in the former Czechoslovakia. In addition, the Slovak language may be found in the records of Slovak communities in the United States and Canada or other areas settled by Slovak

Languages Used in the Record

However, except for modern records of the 1900s, records in Slovakia were written mostly in Latin and Hungarian. Many records were also written in German. Other languages sometimes used in Slovak records include Ukrainian (Ruthene dialect), Czech, Slovak, Old Church Slavonic, Polish, Hebrew, and Yiddish.

Word Lists - Language Aids

Before 1918 the Slovak lands were part of the Kingdom of Hungary which, together with Austria, constituted the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Records written before 1918 may be in Hungarian, Latin, German, or Slovak. Slovak records often contain Hungarian, Latin, or German words.

To help you read genealogical records see the following:

Reading Aids

Church records can be read easily, especially if they are on column for. Reading aids give translations of the titles of columns.

  • You can efficiently search the column with just the parents' names in baptism records until you find a record that relates to your family. Then you can use the translated column headings to extract the rest of the details in the record.
  • You can efficiently search the column or columns with just the bride and groom names until you find a record that relates to your family. Then you can use the translated column headings to extract the rest of the details in the record.
  • You can efficiently search the column with just name of the deceased, which usually lists the parents of children or the spouse of adults, until you find a record that relates to your family. Then you can use the translated column headings to extract the rest of the details in the record.

The Wiki article, Slovakia Church Records Reading Aids, gives translations of Slovakian, Hungarian, and Latin column headings.

Additional Tutorials

Handwriting Lessons on FamilySearch Learning Center:

Slovenská abeceda/The Slovak Alphabet

A, a, Á, á, Ä, ä B, b C, c, Č, č D, d, Ď, ď Dz, dz, Dž, dž E, e, É, é F, f G, g H, h Ch, ch I, i, Í, í J, j K, k L, l, Ĺ, ĺ, Ľ, ľ M, m N, n, Ň, ň O, o, Ó, ó, Ô, ô P, p Q, q R, r, Ŕ, ŕ S, s, Š, š T, t, Ť, ť U, u, Ú, ú V, v W, w X, x Y, y, Ý, ý Z, z, Ž, ž

The Slovak alphabet uses several letters in addition to the 26 letters used in the English alphabet. These are á, ä, č, ď, é, í, ĺ, ľ, ň, ó, ô, ŕ, š, ť, ú, ý, ž. The letter combinations dz, dž, and ch are also considered as single letters, dz and dž is alphabetized after d and ch is alphabetized after h. Letters q, w, and x are used only in words of foreign origin.

Slovak dictionaries and indexes use the following alphabetical order:

a,á,ä b c č d,ď dz,dž e,é f g h ch i,í j k l,ĺ,ľ m n,ň o,ó,ô p (q) r,ŕ s š t,ť u,ú v (w) ( x) y,ý z ž

Lemko Language

Lemko language is described as a dialect of the Ukrainian language, a dialect of the Rusyn language and more recently sometimes described as a distinct dialect of the Slovak. In any case, the Lemko tongue and the Ukrainian language are akin but not always mutually intelligible. Rusyn (also referred to as the Ruthenian language) is similar to the Slovak language and Ukrainian language; Ukrainian scholars consider Rusyn a dialect of Ukrainian.

Lemko Script.jpg
Lemko Script 2.jpg

Description

The languages spoken in Slovakia are [1] [2]

  • Slovak is the official language and is part of the Slavic language family.
    • Slovak is closely related to Czech and Polish. The Slovak vocabulary has been influenced by Latin, German, and other Slavic languages.
  • Hungarian is spoken in the southern regions.
  • Rusyn is spoken in parts of the Northeast.

More than 60% of the population in Slovakia speaks two or more foreign languages. They include

  • Czech - most known in Slovakia.
  • English - most used at a conversational level.
  • German - second most used
  • Russian - third used

Map of Language Distribution in 1930
Slovakia languages.png

NOTE: In municipalities where the minority population is more than 15% in two consecutive censuses, the minority language is considered co-official.

Word List(s)

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Alphabet

Pronunciation

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Dictionaries

  • Watson, Maria. My first picture dictionary. English - Slovak. Stanmore, United Kingdom: Biblio Bee Publications, 2018. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Šimko, Ján. English Slovak dictionary. Wauconda, Illinois: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1991. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Trnka, Nina. Slovak-English, English-Slovak dictionary. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1992. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Hungarian phrasebook & dictionary. Footscray, Vic: Lonely Planet, 2012. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Kelly, Nancy J. Rusin/Rusyn -- American Dictionary. Syracuse: Hale Mary Press, 2016. Available at: WorldCat.

Online Dictionaries

Language Aids

  • Rubach, Jerzy. The lexical phonology of Slovak. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Zybatow, Gerhild, Petr Biskup, Marcel Guhl, and Claudia Hurtig. Slavic grammar from a formal perspective. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Edition, 2015. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Pugh, Stefan. The Rusyn language : a grammar. Muenchen: Lincom Europa, 2009. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Alberti, Gábor and Tibor Laczkó. Syntax of Hungarian. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2018. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Alberti, Gábor and Tibor Láczko. Syntax of Hungarian Nouns and Noun Phrases, Volume 2. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2017. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Naughton, J. D. and Karen von Kunes. Czech : an essential grammar. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2021. Available at: WorldCat.

Additional Resources

  • Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. Historical Dictionary of Slovakia. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2014. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. The A to Z of Slovakia. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2010. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Vaňko, Juraj. The language of Slovakia's Rusyns. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Available at: WorldCat.

References

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Slovakia," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovakia#:~:text=The%20official%20language, accessed 16 May 2023.
  2. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Slovak language," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_language, accessed 16 May 2023.
Retrieved from "https://integration-ru.familysearch.org/en/wiki/index.php?title=Slovakia_Languages&oldid=5337965"