Editing Slovak language (section)

==Phonology==
{{main|Slovak phonology}}

Slovak contains 15 vowel phonemes (11 monophthongs and four diphthongs) and 29 consonants.

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Slovak vowel phonemes
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|- class=small
! short
! long
! short
! long
|-
! align="left" | [[Close vowel|Close]]
| align="center" | {{IPA link|i̞|i}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|i̞|iː}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|u̞|u}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|u̞|uː}}
|-
! align="left" | [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| align="center" | {{IPA link|e̞|e}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|e̞|eː}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|ɔ}}
| align="center" | ({{IPA link|ɔː}})
|-
! align="left" | [[Open vowel|Open]]
| align="center" | ({{IPA|æ}})<!-- Do not use the IPA link template here. /æ/ is a phonological monophthong, not a phonetic one. Phonetically, it is an opening diphthong [ɛɐ]. -->
|
| align="center" | {{IPA link|ä|a}}
| align="center" | {{IPA link|ä|aː}}
|-
! align="left" | [[Diphthong]]s
| colspan="4" align="center" | {{IPA|(ɪu) &nbsp; ɪe &nbsp; ɪɐ &nbsp; ʊɔ}}
|}

The phoneme /æ/ is marginal and often merges with /e/; the two are normally only distinguished in higher registers.{{sfnp|Kráľ|1988|p=55}}

Vowel length is phonemic in Slovak and both short and long vowels have the same quality.{{sfnp|Pavlík|2004|pp=93–95}} In addition, Slovak, unlike Czech, employs a [[Slovak orthography#Rhythmical rule|"rhythmic law"]] which forbids two long vowels from following one another within the same word. In such cases the second vowel is shortened. For example, adding the locative plural ending {{lang|sk|-ách}} to the root {{lang|sk|vín-}} creates {{lang|sk|vínach}}, not {{lang|sk|*vínách}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bethin |first1=Christina Y. |title=Slavic Prosody: Language Change and Phonological Theory |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521591481 |page=149}}</ref> This law also applies to diphthongs; for example, the adjective meaning "white" is {{lang|sk|biely}}, not {{lang|sk|*bielý}} (compare Czech {{lang|cs|bílý}}).

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Slovak consonant phonemes{{sfnp|Hanulíková|Hamann|2010|p=374}}
! colspan="3" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="3" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|c}}{{Sfnp|Pavlík|2004|pp=99,106}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɟ}}{{Sfnp|Pavlík|2004|pp=99,106}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|ts}}
| {{IPA link|tʂ}}
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|dz}}
| {{IPA link|dʐ}}
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʂ}}
|
| {{IPA link|x}}
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|z}}
| {{IPA link|ʐ}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɦ}}
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
! colspan="2" | {{small|plain}}
| {{IPA link|ʋ|v}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | {{small|[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]}}
! {{small|short}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɫ|l}}
|
| {{IPA link|ʎ}}
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[gemination|geminated]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɫ|lː}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
! {{small|short}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɾ|r}}<!-- Please do not change it to "{{IPA link|ɾ}}", we transcribe it as reliable sources do. -->
|
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[gemination|geminated]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|r|rː}}<!-- Please do not change it to "{{IPA link|r}}", we transcribe it as reliable sources do. -->
|
|
|
|
|}

Slovak has [[final devoicing]]; when a voiced consonant ({{lang|sk|b, d, ď, g, dz, dž, z, ž, h|italic=no}}) is at the end of a word before a pause, it is devoiced to its voiceless counterpart ({{lang|sk|p, t, ť, k, c, č, s, š, ch|italic=no}}, respectively). For example, {{lang|sk|pohyb}} is pronounced {{IPA|/pɔɦip/}} and {{lang|sk|prípad}} is pronounced {{IPA|/priːpat/}}.

Consonant clusters containing both voiced and voiceless elements are entirely voiced if the last consonant is a voiced one, or voiceless if the last consonant is voiceless. For example, {{lang|sk|otázka}} is pronounced {{IPA|/ɔtaːska/}} and {{lang|sk|vzchopiť sa}} is pronounced {{IPA|/fsxɔpitsːa/}}. This rule applies also over the word boundary. For example, {{lang|sk|prísť domov}} {{IPA|sk|priːzɟ dɔmɔw|}} (to come home) and {{lang|sk|viac jahôd}} {{IPA|sk|ʋɪɐdz jaɦʊɔt|}} (more strawberries). The voiced counterpart of "{{lang|sk|ch}}" {{IPA|/x/}} is {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, and the unvoiced counterpart of "{{lang|sk|h}}" {{IPA|/ɦ/}} is {{IPA|/x/}}.