Slovak Retail & E-Commerce Translation

About the Slovak Language

Slovak is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages. Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by approximately 5.51 million people (2014).

Slovak should not be confused with Slovene, or Slovenian, the main language of Slovenia.

The main features of Slovak syntax are as follows: The verb (predicate) agrees in person and number with its subject. Adjectives, pronouns and numerals agree in person, gender and case with the noun to which they refer. Adjectives precede their noun. Botanic or zoological terms are exceptions (e.g. mačka divá, literally "cat wild", Felis silvestris) as is the naming of Holy Spirit (Duch Svätý) in a majority of churches. Word order in Slovak is relatively free, since strong inflection enables the identification of grammatical roles (subject, object, predicate, etc.) regardless of word placement. This relatively free word order allows the use of word order to convey topic and emphasis.

The numerals 0–10 have unique forms, with numerals 1–4 requiring specific gendered representations. Numerals 11–19 are formed by adding násť to the end of each numeral. The suffix dsať is used to create numerals 20, 30 and 40; for numerals 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90, desiat is used. Compound numerals (21, 1054) are combinations of these words formed in the same order as their mathematical symbol is written (e.g. 21 = dvadsaťjeden, literally "twenty-one").

Slovak Translation Expertise

Slovak is a highly inflected West Slavic language with six grammatical cases, three genders, and a complex system of noun declensions and verb conjugations that must be parsed carefully during translation. Word order is relatively flexible but carries pragmatic meaning, so translators must understand the emphasis intended in the source text. The rhythmic rule (rytmický zákon), which prevents two long syllables in succession, affects spelling and must be observed in any translated text produced in Slovak.

Slovak uses the Latin alphabet with diacritical marks including háčky (carons) such as č, š, ž, and dĺžne (acute accents) such as á, é, í, which distinguish meaning and pronunciation. The characters ď, ť, ľ, ň, and the unique ô (circumflex o) require proper font support in translated documents.

Common Slovak Documents

Commonly translated documents include the rodný list (birth certificate), sobášny list (marriage certificate), criminal record extracts from the Slovak courts, and academic diplomas issued by Slovak universities.

NAATI certification for Slovak is available but the number of certified translators is limited given the smaller community size. Where a NAATI-certified translator is unavailable, Australian authorities may accept translations from recognised translation services with appropriate qualifications.

About the Slovak Language

Slovak is often considered the most intelligible Slavic language to speakers of other Slavic languages, sometimes called the "Esperanto of the Slavic world." The Slovak alphabet has 46 letters, making it one of the longest Latin-based alphabets in the world. The unique rhythmic rule (rytmický zákon) prohibits two long syllables in a row, a phonological constraint found in no other European language.