Slovak is written in the Latin alphabet with diacritics or diacritical marks , and it is most closely related to Czech, under the cultural influence of which it has developed through most of its history. Slovak has preserved many of the basic Slavic word roots and sounds of Common Slavic, the original language from which all the Slavic languages descended. Slovak developed as a national language in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, prompted by a rise in the Slovak people's awareness of their national identity and the accompanying need for education and literacy. The Slovak language has gained the soft dental consonants t', d', l', and , but it lacks a soft r. Compared with Czech, Slovak word structure has been simplified.
Stress falls on the first syllable of a word.
The vocative case has been virtually lost. Many verbs have an iterative form, which expresses repeated action. Slovak has a complex numeral system and a well-developed system of indefinite pronouns and adverbs. Food and Drink Traditional Slovak eating and drinking habits date back to the old Slavic period influenced later by Hungarian, Austrian and German cooking. Slovak food is based on many different kinds of soups, gruels, boiled and stewed vegetables, roast and smoked meats and dairy products.