It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s a language and what’s a dialect. In fact, many languages exist in a dialect continuum, and the distinction between language and dialect is purely political, determined by national borders. For example, Czech and Slovak exhibit a high level of mutual intelligibility and could be considered two dialects of the same language—and even were for a period in the 20th century. In the same vein, various dialects of Slovak are spoken across Slovakia, including Eastern Slovak, spoken by around 1 million people in, naturally, eastern Slovakia.
Given that Eastern Slovak isn’t even generally considered an independent language but rather a collection of Slovak dialects, finding a translation company that covers Eastern Slovak specifically is nearly impossible. Most translation agencies would simply offer translation services for Standard Slovak instead. But at TranslationServices.com, we believe in the value of local dialects and minority languages. That’s why, even though Eastern Slovak is an endangered language, we’ve put together a translation team specifically for Eastern Slovak.
Why not reach out to ask about a free quote for our Eastern Slovak translation services?
How is Eastern Slovak different from Standard Slovak?
Eastern Slovak is concentrated in eastern Slovakia, namely the historical regions of Spiš, Šariš, Zemplín, and Abov. Each of these areas has its own flavor of Eastern Slovak. As a whole, though, Eastern Slovak is less similar to Czech, with which Standard Slovak shares a great deal of mutual intelligibility, and more similar to Polish and Rusyn, which are geographically closer. Many of the differences are in pronunciation, resulting in sometimes significant spelling differences. Vocabulary can also differ, with Eastern Slovak vocabulary more similar to its northern and eastern neighbors. Eastern Slovak noun declensions are also different from Standard Slovak, particularly in the genitive, locative, and dative plural endings.
The basic structure of Eastern Slovak is the same as Standard Slovak, however. The language is chock full of nominal inflection, thanks to its three genders and six cases. Since adjectives and pronouns must also agree with the noun in gender, number, and case, the amount of inflection is exceptionally high. Eastern Slovak also contains the notorious Slavic feature of aspectual verbs, with at least two separate verbs for any given action—one that implies completion and one that implies continuous, or incomplete, action.
Professionally translating to and from Eastern Slovak requires expertise that Standard Slovak translators don’t have. We’ve compiled a team of the best Eastern Slovak translators just for you.
Let us translate to and from Eastern Slovak for you.
At TranslationServices.com, we accommodate clients to the best of our abilities. That means that whether you want a translation into Eastern Slovak or out of it, we’re here to help. Translation from Eastern Slovak is particularly useful if you want to translate historical documents, traditional literature, or personal notes into English to share with readers abroad. Translation into Eastern Slovak is a great idea for businesses or content creators who want to go the extra mile to engage the local population, or language revitalizationists who want more entertainment content—from books to websites to games—in Eastern Slovak.
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