Lesson 3. ä, ô, diphthongs, and syllabic r, l

ä sounds [e], like e in “bet” (a bit wider, like the a of “cat”, is also correct), and is written only after p, b, m, v: mäso (meat), päť (five). By ear ä is the same as e: learn the spelling with the word. ô is [ŭo]: a quick u sliding into o, in one syllable: stôl (table), môj (my). The mark over ô is the vokáň; the two dots over ä are the dve bodky. ia, ie, iu are diphthongs: two letters, one syllable, like “ya” in “yacht” or “ye” in “yes”. piatok (Friday) has two syllables, pia-tok; mlieko (milk), mlie-ko; dievča (girl), diev-ča. iu is rare, in word endings: you'll see it later. The checker can't tell ô from o or ä from a (“stol” is accepted), but spelling by sound, “stuol” or “meso”, is a mistake: write the letter, not the sound. Length and stress are separate: the stress is always on the first syllable, and a long syllable can be anywhere. In kancelária the stress is on kan-, and the long -lá- is the third syllable; in námestie the long ná- is also stressed. Common mistakes: • × “meso” — write mäso, although it sounds [e]. • × stôl said “stohl” or in two syllables, “stu-ol” — ô is one syllable. • × piatok in three syllables, “pee-AH-tok” — pia- is one syllable.

In Slovak r and l can carry a syllable themselves, like a vowel: prvý (first) — pr-vý; krv (blood) — one syllable; vlk (wolf) — one syllable; hrdlo (throat) — hr-dlo; štvrtok (Thursday) — štvr-tok. Don't add a vowel: English speakers tend to slip one in between the consonants (“vilk”, “kerv”). The r stays a tapped r, never the American “er”. The long ŕ and ĺ are rare; you only need to recognize them: vŕba (willow), stĺp (pillar). How to count syllables: each syllable has one vowel, one diphthong, or an r / l with no vowel. Common mistakes: • × “shtver-tok”, “per-vee” — there's no vowel between the consonants. • × “hrudlo” — write hrdlo: hr- has no vowel.