Slovio/Alphabet and pronunciation

Slovio | Lessons: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Lesson 1 - Alphabet and pronunciation

The Slovio language can be written either using Latin alphabet based on English, which is purely ASCII, or using a cyrillic alphabet, which is based on Russian. This guide will mostly use the Latin alphabet for simplicity and not to overwhelm learners, but you should familiarize yourself with cyrillic as well. This is the basic Slovio alphabet, both in Latin and the corresponding cyrillic:

A  B  C  Cx  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  R  S  Sx  T  U  V  Z  Zx
А  Б  Ц  Ч   Д  Е  Ф  Г  Х  И  Й  К  Л  М  Н  О  П  Р  С  Ш   Т  У  В  З  Ж

a  b  c  cx  d  e  f  g  h  i  j  k  l  m  n  o  p  r  s  sx  t  u  v  z  zx
а  б  ц  ч   д  е  ф  г  х  и  й  к  л  м  н  о  п  р  с  ш   т  у  в  з  ж

cx, sx, and zx are always represented by two characters in conjunction and form only one letter each.

! TIP Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Czech, Slovak and Polish speakers

• cx = ч, č, cz
• sx = ш, š, sz
• zx = ж, ž, ż
• gx = дж, џ, dž, dż
• wx = щ, шт, шј, št, ś, ć, šč, szcz

Vowels are pronounced the same way they would be in German or Polish.

a	-	car
e	-	bet
i	-	see
o	-	bold
u	-	foot

Consonant pronunciation:

b	-	bold
c	-	cats
cx	-	cheese
d	-	dog
f	-	food
g	-	gold
h	-	home
j	-	yes
k	-	king
l	-	letter
m	-	moon
n	-	noon
p	-	pencil
r	-	roll
s	-	sun
sx	-	shoe
t	-	team
v	-	vanilla
z	-	zoo
zx	-	pleasure

As in most Slavic languages, r should be rolled.

J is used only in some cases:

1. When j sound is at the beginning of the word.
2. In suffixes like -ju, -just, etc.

Otherwise, i is used to represent that sound.

Slovio also includes several optional letters, mainly for expressing sounds of foreign words:

Gx Wx X

Дж Щ Кс

Gx is used to present the sound that would be formed by "dzx", as in George. Wx is used to present the "sxcx" sound, as in Yushchenko. X, if used apart from cx, sx or zx, is equivalent to "ks", as in box.

Pronunciation and stresses

In cases of vowel combination (like ai, oi, io, uo, etc.) it is recommended to pronounce the combination as one diphthong.

It is recommended to accent the penultimate syllable (the syllable before the last one).

Slovio | Lessons: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9