How to read and say Slovenian

Vowels

There are five vowels in Slovene: a, e, i, o, u are similar to the Spanish vowels.

In some Slovene words the letter r, like Serbo-Croatian, becomes a hard semi-vowel when it stands before another consonant, as in rdeč (red) or rjav (brown), or when it stands between two consonants, as in Brnik (the Ljubljana airport) or vrt (garden). Like other Slavic languages, the sound of each vowel is pure and clear. Notice the vowels have both long and short sounds.

A

the 'a' in "far" [long] (aa) / the 'a' in "above" [short] (uh) "abeceda" (alphabet)

E

the 'e' in "bled" [long] (ehh) / the 'e' in "met" [short] (eh) "edinček" (only child)

I

the 'ee' in "see" [long] (ee) / the 'i' in "bit" [short] (ih) "ica" (little cow)

O

the 'oa' in "cloak" [long] (ohh) / the 'o' in "obey" [short] (oh) "obala" (coast)

U

the 'oo' in "pool" [long] (oo) / the 'oo' in "book" [short] (u) "ura" (clock)

Consonants

There are twenty consonants in Slovene. They can be voiced or unvoiced. They are pronounced as they are spelled (refer to the alphabet).

B

the 'b' in "best" [end of a word 'p' sound]; "bdenje" (vigil)

C

the 'ts' in "bets"; "car" (tsar)

Č

the 'ch' in "chocolate"; "čmrlj" (bumble-bee)

D

the 'd' in "day" [end of a word 't' sound]; "daljava" (distance)

Dž

the 'j' in "jeep"; "džumbus" (noise)

F

the 'f' in "far"; "fižol" (beans)

G

the 'g' in "go" [end of a word 'k' sound]; galeb (sea-gull)

H

the 'h' in "heat"; "hajduk" (bandit)

J

the 'y' in "Yankee"; "Jugoslavija" (Yugoslavia)

K

the 'k' in "kick"; "kamra" (bedroom in Slovene farm houses)

L

the 'l' in "left", [but 'w' after another consonant or at the end of a word]; "letališče" (airport)

Lj

the 'li' in "battalion"; "ljubka" (dapper (female form))

M

the 'm' in "mom"; "mah" (moss)

N

the 'n' in "nothing"; pronounced like a Spanish ñ as in "Señor" after an i; a common trait among Slavs. ni [nyee]; "nitje" (niti)

Nj

the 'n' in "news"; "njiva" (field)

P

the 'p' in "path"; "patos" (ecstazy)

R

the 'r' in trilled like Spanish 'r' in "rico", or 'er' when used as a vowel; "rjutje" (roar)

S

the 's' in "seven"; "shramba" (closet)

Š

the 'sh' in "shock"; "ščetka" (brush)

T

the 't' in "taxi"; "tovariš" (comrade)

V

the 'v' in "vase" [after a vowel or before a consonant is 'w' sound, by itself is 'oo' sound], "včasih" (sometimes)

Z

the 'z' in "zero"; "zlato" (gold)

Ž

the 'su' in "pleasure" or 'ge' in "garage"; "žrtev" (victim)

The voiced consonants are b, d, g, j, l, m, n, r, v, z, ž. The unvoiced consonants are c, č, f, h, k, p, s, š, t.

Look carefully at the letters č, š, and ž. They are typical for Slovene and some other Central and South European languages. Also, note how you pronounce j and h in Slovene.

Certain letters will at times be grouped with certain other letters and have a slightly different pronunciation. The same happens when they occupy a certain position in the word.

Examples:

When l is at the end of a word or placed after any consonant other than j, it is pronounced as w as in bel (BEW, "white"), popoldan (POPOWDAN, "afternoon").

V is pronounced as 'v' before vowels (vaja "exercise", voda "water"), before the consonants r (vrt "garden", vreme "weather") and before vowels within a word (živeti "to live", zvezek "notebook"). When v is at the end of the word, after a vowel or before a consonant (except r and l) it is pronounced as w, as in prav[prow] ("OK"), kovček[kowcheck] ("suitcase"). When v is at the beginning of the word or when it appears between consonants or before two or more consonants it is pronounced as 'u' as in vprašati[uprashati] ("to ask"), vhod[ukhod] ("entrance"), avto[auto] ("car, automobile").

In different parts of Slovenia, people ponounce word differently. In Maribor they say vprašati[fprashat] ("to ask"), vhod[fkhod] The Slovene r is pronounced strongly, slightly rolled. It is pronounced as er when it stands before another consonant or when it stands between two consonants.

In western Slovenia, "how" is "kako", while in eastern Slovenia, "how" is (like in Russia) "kak".

In the few words in which they appear, two identical vowels or consonants are pronounced as one long one, as in priimek ("surname"), oddelek ("department").

Common diphthongs

The Slovene diphthongs are generally considered phonemically as combinations of two phonemes, a vowel and /j/ or a vowel and [w] (often written as [u]. The Slovene phonetic diphthongs are [ew, Ew, aw, Ow, ej, oj, Oj, aj, uj]. The diphthongs [aw] and [aj] can safely be used as equivalents of the English /aU/ and /aI/.

aj

Like the word "eye"

ej

Like 'ay' in "pay"

oj

Like 'oy' in "toy"

uj

Like 'wee' in "week"

ae

Like 'a' in "father" and 'e' in "empty"

ija

Like 'ia' in "Lydia"

ije

Like 'ie' in the Spanish word "miedo"

Common Digraphs

nje

similar to the Spanish sound 'ñe' in "muñeco" [nyeh]

lj

as 'lee' in "leek"

dja

as the 'dia' in "Lydia" [dyah]

kje

as the quie' in the Spanish word "quiero" [kyeh]

Stress

Like Serbo-Croatian, stress usually falls on the second or third-last syllable, but there is no hard and fast rule. In this phrasebook, the stressed syllable is always put in capital letters.