# Slovak: stress and length of vowels



## Boileau419

I am starting to learn Slovak and I feel completely at a loss when I have to pronounce words that have a long vowel that is unstressed. In most languages that I know, when there is a long vowel in a word, that vowel will also be stressed, extra length being a characteristic of stressed syllables. But in Slovak this doesn't seem to be the case. 

I have listened to the recordings in 'Colloquial Slovak' and it seems to me that stress does more or less fall on the long vowel as in "Co robite?", where "-ite" seems to have more stress than "-ro". One apparently doesn't say "RO-bite" but "ro-BI-te". But then what of the rule that says that all words are stressed on the first sylllable? It seems to me that things are much more complicated than that and that stress in Slovak isn't what it is in Italian.


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## sokol

Boileau419 said:


> (...) it seems to me that stress does more or less fall on the long vowel as in "Co robite?", where "-ite" seems to have more stress than "-ro". One apparently doesn't say "RO-bite" but "ro-BI-te". (...)


I can understand your problem because I share it: it is really impossible for me to even try pronouncing a single Czech or Slovak word approximately correctly (same goes for BCS in cases an unstressed vowel is long). So rest assured that you aren't alone, and that indeed there are many languages with unstressed long vowels.

In Austria Czech*) surnames even are pronounced (in Austrian German) on the long vowel - Pro'chazka (Pro'haska) for example.
*) Vowel lenght and stress are quite similar between Czech and Slovak (main difference is that in Slovak there are more diphtongs).

But those vowels nevertheless _are _both long and unstressed - it is just that you and I (and many other people) can't hear the difference.


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## Boileau419

This is a consolation of sorts, haha.


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## Mišo

Boileau419 said:


> I am starting to learn Slovak and I feel completely at a loss when I have to pronounce words that have a long vowel that is unstressed. In most languages that I know, when there is a long vowel in a word, that vowel will also be stressed, extra length being a characteristic of stressed syllables. But in Slovak this doesn't seem to be the case.
> 
> I have listened to the recordings in 'Colloquial Slovak' and it seems to me that stress does more or less fall on the long vowel as in "Co robite?", where "-ite" seems to have more stress than "-ro". One apparently doesn't say "RO-bite" but "ro-BI-te". But then what of the rule that says that all words are stressed on the first sylllable? It seems to me that things are much more complicated than that and that stress in Slovak isn't what it is in Italian.



The stress could be *čo* ro*bí*te and čo *ro*bí*te*, too.
It depends on question strictly meaning, which word would you to accent. First syllable stress rule stay unreached.


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## mateo19

Hello Boileau!

I have had the same problem as you as I have been learning Slovak - I have trouble stressing a syllable that is long if it doesn't contain the primary stress.  I think of it this way though:

1) Pronounce the stressed syllable harder, just as you normally would, which will probably be the first syllable and then
2) When you arrive to the long vowel, instead of thinking of it as a long vowel (which might make you relocate the stress there), think of it as two identical vowels next to each other.

For example, "čo tu robíš" = čo tu robiiš.  Or in IPA I mean [t͡ʃɔ tu 'rɔbi:ʃ]
I hope that shows up OK (I already see that it hasn't, but I cannot do anything about it).  I lost my IPA font and had to copy and paste that.  In any event, good luck and don't despair!  When you have a native Slovak to help you, you will quickly master the intonation of this language!


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## sokol

mateo19 said:


> When you have a native Slovak to help you, you will quickly master the intonation of this language!


This is good advice indeed.

When I did learn Slovenian my intonation was best at the time I was _surrounded _by Slovenes (in Ljubljana). (I've lost it already again, unfortunately.) To learn speaking is to first learn _hearing:_ so if at all possible, talk with Slovaks, or watch Slovak movies or TV, or listen to Slovak radio.


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## Boileau419

Mišo said:


> The stress could be *čo* ro*bí*te and čo *ro*bí*te*, too.
> It depends on question strictly meaning, which word would you to accent. First syllable stress rule stay unreached.


 
So, _čo robíte_*,* in case you stress it like *čo* ro*bí*te*, * is in fact one word, which explains why _čo_ gets the primary stress ? 

I really have trouble trying to pronounce čo *ro*bí*te *


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## Boileau419

This radio has people speaking Slovak all the time http://fr.delicast.com/radio/Slovaquie/SRo_Radio_Slovensko


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## Mišo

Mišo said:


> The stress could be *čo* ro*bí*te and čo *ro*bí*te*, too.
> It depends on question strictly meaning, which word would you to accent. First syllable stress rule stay unreached.



First syllable stress rule stay untouched, of course. 



Boileau419 said:


> So, _čo robíte_*,* in case you stress it like *čo* ro*bí*te*, * is in fact one word, which explains why _čo_ gets the primary stress ?
> 
> I really have trouble trying to pronounce čo *ro*bí*te *



Yes, exactly. It pronounce in fact as one word. It is used in similar phrases often, too.

Just so, in Slovak, syllable lenght do not construe with syllable accent each time.

This is broad pronounce gamut:

Čo robíte?

Čo robíte?


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## shifter78

mateo19 said:


> 2) When you arrive to the long vowel, instead of thinking of it as a long vowel (which might make you relocate the stress there), think of it as two identical vowels next to each other.


Well, don't confuse it with geminates, we have them too (doobeda, v televízii, v reedícii...).

Sokol, I thought for German speakers this is not a problem, e.g. Okt*o*berfest or lederh*o*sen  sounds for me very same way as Slovak intonation, I hear accent on the first syllable as german standard and long o as in Okt*ó*berfest (except pronounciation of r of course). But being not a german speaker, it might be just my wrong perception.

For english speakers, I would say our log vowels carry also a stress (kind of, we at least raise an intonation there), so my advice is to pronounce it as stressed and of course long (short vovel in ship vs. long in sheep) but don't forget to stress also the first syllable (or preceding prepositions etc.) - that way it is given information to the listener that a new word starts.


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## sokol

shifter78 said:


> Sokol, I thought for German speakers this is not a problem, e.g. Okt*o*berfest or lederh*o*sen  sounds for me very same way as Slovak intonation, I hear accent on the first syllable as german standard and long o as in Okt*ó*berfest (except pronounciation of r of course). But being not a german speaker, it might be just my wrong perception.


I guess this is the same phenomenon the other way round: you hear primary and secondary stress of German as primary stress and long vowel.

But you gave me an idea here: at least for speakers with German mother tongue it could be beneficial to try and put "German primary stress" on first syllables (in Czech and Slovak) and to put "German secondary stress" on unstressed long vowels.
I guess the result still would sound rather barbaric to you, but probably much better than what I'd manage with trying to imitate correct stress.


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## mateo19

That's a good point, Shifter, not to confuse geminates with the stressed syllable following the advice that I gave.  I guess the final point is that it's difficult to learn any foreign language and that there is no substitute for native speaker help and native experiences on the part of the learner.  Good luck, Boileau!


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## MarX

Hello!
I read that there's variations of word stress among native speakers themselves. Eastern Slovaks for example use a different stress pattern.
Hope this helps and have fun learning Slovak!
Salam,

MarX


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## Mišo

MarX said:


> Hello!
> I read that there's variations of word stress among native speakers themselves. Eastern Slovaks for example use a different stress pattern.
> Hope this helps and have fun learning Slovak!
> Salam,
> 
> MarX



The eastern dialects as well as some of the north-central dialects (Orava) have a weak stress on the first syllable, which becomes stronger and "moves" to the penultimate in certain cases. 

Dividing and map with tablature of Slovak dialects


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## 2wrbk

Wikipedia says that vowel length isn't phonemic in Eastern dialects. However, according to what I've read, many speakers (even those who are said to speak Standard Slovak) have trouble with consistently producing it in a correct manner, which also causes all kinds of spelling errors. Is that true?


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