Slovakia Languages

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, [[Media:Old_Church_Slavonic_Numbers%2C_Dates%2C_and_Months_by_Matthew_Bialawa.pdf|Old Church Slavonic]], Polish, Hebrew, and Yiddish.

Language Distribution in 1930
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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:
 * Hungarian Genealogical Word List
 * Latin Genealogical Word List
 * German Genealogical Word List
 * Slovak Genealogical Word List
 * Polish Genealogical Word List
 * Czech Genealogical Word List

Reading Aids
Church records can be read easily, especially if they are on column for. Reading aids give translations of the titles of columns. The Wiki article, Slovakia Church Records Reading Aids, gives translations of Slovakian, Hungarian, and Latin column headings.
 * 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.

Additional Tutorials
Handwriting Lessons on FamilySearch Learning Center:
 * German Paleography Seminar - 10 classes
 * German Paleography Seminar - Lessons on German Handwriting
 * Old German Script
 * Part 1
 * Part 2
 * Part 3 (German Church and Civil Records)
 * Latin in German Church Records
 * Latin for Genealogists

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.

Description
The languages spoken in Slovakia are
 * 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

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

Alphabet and Pronunciation
Alphabet

Pronunciation

Language Aids and Dictionaries
Dictionaries

Online Dictionaries

Language Aids

Additional Resources

 * Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. Historical Dictionary of Slovakia. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, Inc, 2014. Available at: WorldCat.