Pronunciation and orthography
If the consonants //d//, //t//, or //n// are followed by the vowels //e//, //i//, or //í//, or the diphthongs //ia//, //ie//, or //iu//, they have a soft pronunciation (//ď, ť, ň//).
| deti | /ďeťi/ |
| teta | /ťeta/ |
| pekne | /pekňe/ |
| rodina | /roďina/ |
| ticho | /ťicho/ |
| nikto | /ňikto/ |
| dívať sa | /ďívať sa/ |
| dieťa | /ďi̯eťa/ |
| peniaze | /peňi̯aze/ |
| cvičenie | /cvičeňi̯e/ |
Exceptions: jeden /jeden/ , ten /ten/ , tamten /tamten/ , sveter /sveter/ , tip /tip/ , politika /politika/ , titul /titul/ , foreign loanwords, etc.
In the descriptions of Slovak pronunciation, you read a rule regarding soft pronunciation for the consonant "l". However, in the modern day, the letter "l" in this position is usually pronounced hard.
| ale | ... is pronounced /ale/, although the prescribed pronunciation is /aľe/ |
| lebo | ... is pronounced /lebo/, although the prescribed pronunciation is /ľebo/ |
| lipa | ... is pronounced /lipa/, although the prescribed pronunciation is /ľipa/ |