Slovak Unlocked Part 1: Understanding Slavic Languages
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Do you remember your first encounter with Slovak language? Did it sound familiar to any other language? Or maybe you thought there is no way you can ever learn any Slovak?
We are here to unravel the world of Slovak language. From its origins and distinctive features to its practical applications, we'll guide you through the essential aspects, leaving you with a deeper understanding and appreciation of this language.
Slovak is Slavic–Getting to Know the Language Family
Slovak belongs to the Slavic language family, a branch of Indo-European languages. Slavic languages are spoken by more than 300 million people worldwide, primarily in Eastern Europe, much of the Balkans and parts of Central Europe and northern part of Asia. The language group is divided into three major subgroups:
1. West Slavic Languages: it includes languages like Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Sorbian.
2. East Slavic Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian
3. South Slavic Languages: it includes languages like Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Slovene, Macedonian, and Bulgarian.
Can Slavic Language Speakers Understand Each Other?
Well, it depends. Speakers of closely related languages within the same subgroup are more likely to understand each other, while understanding across subgroups can be more challenging. However, even limited mutual intelligibility can facilitate basic communication and the sharing of some concepts between Slavic speakers.
Also, one must be aware that there are many false friends! False friends are words in two languages that look or sound similar but have different meanings. These linguistic "look-alikes" can lead to misunderstandings or confusion, especially for language learners or individuals who assume that because the words resemble each other, they must share the same meaning.
Let’s take for example Slovak (West Slavic) and Slovene (South Slavic). The word otrok in Slovene stands for a child. However, in Slovak, it means a slave. Another example from the same subgroup. Čerstvý in Slovak means fresh (čerstvý chlieb–fresh bread). Czerstwy in Polish means stale (czerstwy chleb–stale bread). The meaning is completely opposite!
Slovak and Czech are a special case. The mutual intelligibility between the two languages is very high. A person speaking Czech and a person speaking Slovak should be able to understand each other. We will explore this unique relationship further in one of the next parts of Slovak unlocked.
Stay tuned!
Source: Unsplash