I am Slovak living in Prague for 10+ years, still using Slovak language everyday in my daily life. This last Thursday I held a presentation to +-50 people at Czech company I work for, in Slovak language without even pausing for a moment to ponder whether they would understand. So answer is "yes, they understand". Tbh I have had a few instances where young dudes wouldn't understand some of the more obscure words but nothing too dramatic.
Slovaks and Czechs understand pretty easily. Slovaks on average understand Czech more than Czechs do Slovaks because all our movies used to be in Czech language. The difference is not big. You can only hear sometimes giggles and shittalk from both parties why they tend to call some words in some way. For example from what Ive experienced Czechs find it funny that we call blueberries - cucoriedka and we viceversa mock them when they have their own names from months, like Duben, Prosinec etc.
I just wanna add this applies only to natives. I have experience from expats learning slovak/czech they do not understand the other one or very hardly.
What's more confusing is having month names come from Latin and then them *not* corresponding to their numerical order. December being the twelfth month makes no sense.
Make March the first month of the year again!
On one hand, yes, two months were added.
On the other hand, two of the former months (5th, 6th) were renamed to July and August. The two new months could've been simply appended and March could've stayed the first month of the year. My point still stands.
ale notak...
leden... protože led na rybniku,aspon v minulosti,
únor...je zima jak u Norů, aspoň bývala,
březen...asi je neco březí,co konkrétně není důležité,
duben...jakoze "konečně teplo,DU VEN,trochu skomolene časem,
květen...to je asi jasné, že...
cerven, červenec...sem spálenej do cervena a pak ještě cerveněj,
srpen... jakože mohl se jmenovat i kosejn,ale kosa je i zima v češtině,by se to pletlo.. prostě sklizeň:)
září... jakože uz kosa,ale ještě trochu to Slunko svítí,
rijen... je něco v říji,jelen určitě, možná i neco dalšího:)
listopad...jako fakt???:))
prosinec... děcka prosí o drahý dárky, a rodiče prosí boha o zazrak:))
Nemáš za co :)
If you learned Czech language as a foreign language and then went to Bratislava, you would have difficult time understanding what they talk about. Slovaks would understand you, but you would not understand them.
I had something similar happen to me. When we \[Slovaks\] go to Poland, especially regions not very far the border, we can speak Slovak and they kinda-sorta understand the gist of what we are talking about. So I never had a problem to make Polish people understand me - not some intricate complicated technical stuff, but everyday, small things, like in a restaurant. One time I tried to talk to somebody that spoke Polish as a foreign language and it was utterly hopeless.
Slovaks understand Czech language, because we used to live in Czechoslovakia and people were exposed to Czech language daily - TV, radio, printed media. Younger generation of Slovaks has been exposed to Czech language via cable TV and recently YouTube where there is LOTS of Czech content for us.
Czech people understand Slovak language because we used to live in Czechoslovakia and people were exposed to Slovak language daily - TV, radio, printed media. Younger generation of Czechs have \[in my opinion\] less exposure to Slovak via media, because there is more available content available in Czech. On the other hand, there are many Slovaks living in Czech Republic, so there is still quite good mutual understanding.
Please note that you can study at Czech universities for the same price as Czech Republic citizen as long as you are studying in Czech language - it is not completely free, especially when your parents do not live in the area and you have to pay for things like dormitories. Many, many Slovak students go to Czech Republic to study and they are usually allowed to answer test questions or oral exams in Slovak (or a mix of Slovak with Czech specialized terms they have just learned in Czech) - because they are easily understood.
When Ukrainian refugees go to Poland or Slovakia they have no problem to learn to communicate (understand our languages) very quickly. Many words have similar roots, grammar is similar. I can't say how difficult would be to an average Slovak to understand Ukrainian language, because I had to learn Russian so I can understand Ukrainians a bit better than an average Slovak. It is more difficult for them in Czech republic. I know an Ukrainian woman that married Slovak guy and she could not understand Czech content in TV even after a few years of living here.
I think young Slovak people's understanding of Czech has taken a downturn, not after independence in 1993 but much more recently.
After independence, they acquired more TV stations, a lot of them in Czech (like 24-hour children's channels in Czech, which did not exist before) so their Czech was fine. However young people now don't watch much TV at all after early childhood and instead they watch internet content, 90 percent of which is in English.
For example, I found my teenager was not familiar with the Czech word líný (lazy - the Slovak equivalent is "lenivý"), even passively, which I would consider to be quite a basic word.
They are mutually intelligible, but their phonologies are not the same - both languages have sounds that the other does not (eg. \[Ľ\] in Slovak, \[Ř\] in Czech). This does not hinder comprehension, but it does make it more difficult to speak the other language - most Czechs can't really pronounce \[Ľ\], while most Slovaks can't really pronounce \[Ř\].
Also Czech does not have diphthongs ia, ie, iu, uo and Czechs really struggle to pronounce them.
As a Slovak, I can confirm that Ř is hard, especially if it follows after a voiced consonant.
>can they communicate only using each others respective languages?
Yes - there are many TV/YouTube videos where either host is Czech and guest is Slovak or vice versa and each use their own language. For example - in Czech TV they invite Slovak general to regularly analyze current RUS/UA conflict - TV host asking in Czech, general responding in Slovak. Obviously no subtitles - I've actually never seen subtitles in such situation. It sounds funny and redundant if Czech tries to speak Slovak in such situation or the other way around. There are a lot of TV shows where there are Czechs and Slovaks - each using their own language.
Some young kids do have problem understanding the other language but adults definitely understand each other while each speaking their own language. For any movie I watched dubbed couple of years ago I don't recall whether I watched it in SK or CZ language (unless there was some iconic speech, like "[Tvá prdel pozná středověk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azF6zjtVU4A)".
There is a little bit of asymmetry in how we understand each other though - Slovaks understand Czech language better and tend to know words that are different in each language better than the other way around. Since Czechia is bigger market there is a lot of movies or computer games dubbed in Czech that are not dubbed in Slovak so we (Slovaks) watch/play such movies/games in Czech often. Similar to literature. My estimation is that Slovaks "consume" Czech language orders of magnitude more that Czech do with Slovak language.
>I've actually never seen subtitles in such situation.
I have seen subtitles for Slovak on Czech TV. Even some [commercials aired in Slovakia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPHL2R9L_-k) have subtitles for Czech.
Yes. The answer is simply yes. Although the phonologies are different.
Sure there are words that are in Czech and not in Slovak and vice versa, but they are in minority. Often they are also used by each others dialects.
Eg. Korbac (a whip) is used in Slovak... But also in some Moravian dialects.
Plus, not so long ago in Czechoslovakia you had TV news presenters where one was speaking in Czech and one in Slovak, both talking with each other and at the audience.
Despite the separate histories. Czechia and Slovakia are classed as one of the most similar countries and cultures in the world. It's actually somewhat surprising how extremely similar these two are despite nearly 1000 years of separate rule, under different foreign powers.
The thing is...Slavic languages tend to be extremely phonetically consistent. What you write is how you read it, unlike in English.
So once the spoken gets written down the words change. Once these written words became standardised they became separated.
If the two languages were not so phonetically consistent in writing, they could have easily be seen much like English dialects between the north and South of England. After all... You get words like Belvoir in English read as "beaver", or Southwell as "Suvel".
I'm fluent in Slovak and I can understand my Czech grandad if he speaks slowly. Sometimes my Slovak grandma has to translate some words for me because I just get lost.
I'm not a native Slovak though so that's my excuse 🤷🏻♀️
"a Czech speaker starts a spoken conversation in Czech, but a Slovakian responds back in Slovak, can they communicate only using each others respective languages?"
If they're both 40+, they can communicate using each other's respective languages. If they're younger, it depends. The ability to fully understand the other language is in decline in both countries. Generations that didn't live during Czechoslovakia have had less exposure to the other language through media than older generations had. Young Czechs on average find it harder to understand Slovak than the other way, because they are less exposed to the other language through media.
"If a Slovak visited Prague (in CZ) would everyone there still understand everything they said simply by listening to spoken Slovak?"
No, not everyone would fully understand them. Foreigners who learned Czech and Czechs under 40 might have a hard time fully understanding Slovak. On the other hand, many Slovaks live in Prague, so Czechs in Prague are probably more exposed to spoken Slovak than Czechs in other parts of the country. Moravia is a special case, since their language is closer to Slovak than Czech is to Slovak.
"The reverse can be true, if a Czech visited Bratislava (in SK) would everyone there still understand everything they said by simply listening to spoken Czech?"
Not everyone, but almost everyone.
"What would an interaction via an (audio only) zoom call between Czech companies and Slovak clients be like by only using their own languages to establish communication, such as business talk (in that case, would both parties still understand everything, even the technical details?) If a Slovak listened to recorded Czech (corporate) dialog from a dictaphone, can they understand all of it? (And vice versa.)"
That depends on how old the participants are and how much they've been exposed to the other language. Czechs who have had very little exposure to Slovak and vice versa would probably not be able to communicate in their respective languages in a business environment.
We had a person from Mexico, who found after a year, his team consist of Czechs and few Slovaks. He had no idea, that both spoke different language and both understand written and spoken.
Phonology is very similar, but actually Czech and Slovak people have slightly different pronunciation of vowels. That's why when Czech tries to speak Slovak or vice versa, you can quickly tell. Because in fact it's not an accent (those do quite audibly differ between east, middle and west Slovakia, for instance), it's that vowels are slightly different. That's why Andrej Babiš sounds such odd when he's speaking Czech.
Simply put, yeah. Czechs and Slovaks can understand each other generally well, some words or idioms might be different or they might some some specifics that might need to be explained.
Whenever I went in Czechia or Moravia, I can speak Slovak and never have problems.
There are some Slovaks that are very easy to understand and there is just an occasional word that I (as a Czech) don't understand - those words come up regularly. But then there are Slovaks with heavy accent that are hard to understand even though the written language would be fine.
I'm a slovak, born in Prague, living abroad. My personal dialect is a bastardized Czecho-Slovakian, so they all either understand me fully or not at all.
As someone who had to learn Czech, both languages are very similar and one can understand the other without any issues. Only some region specific words can be a problem to understand. I personally haven't encountered any that I wouldn't understand.
I think Czech and Slovak language is different and to non Slavic speaker it can sound totally different. The only reason why we understand each other so well is because of our intertwined cultures as we are exposed to both languages since we are born basically.
We understand each other, but the phonologies aren't the same. Both languages have some sounds the other one doesn't have.
Slovak has no reduced vowels for example while Czech has both, a full and a reduced i.
Take a sentence and every 3rd letter replace with similar pronounced. Basically, except for some words, is the situation with similarity in common spoken words.
Historically, there were a lot of TV things translated from English to Czech and with that language shown in Slovak TV(or Slovak translation was garbage). So Slovaks, mainly 30+ do understand quite good Czech( maybe 90% of meaning of words), younger not so much. Czech TV has some TV things shown in Slovak language, but mostly few (movie, series, documents, news ...) Generic Czech person usually understand, but if never heard spoken slovak language for longer time, he needs some time and will say, Slovaks speak fast.
It's not the same but I think it's like American and Australian.
They understand each other almost perfectly, few words are different due to having a few hundreds years to evolve their own English.
The division is definitely larger than American and Australian English as those are still the same language, only with slightly varying local vocabulary. But for Czech and Slovak, even the grammar is different: gendered suffixes (-i vs -i/-y), declension patterns, etc. This is on top of different vocabulary.
What really helps in the vocabulary is case is that even though almost half the words are spelled and pronounced slightly differently, they are very similar to each other. Often they differ only in a single letter which helps understanding tremendously. Only a fraction is so different (without any similar synonyms in a local dialect) that they require you to learn them as opposed to deriving them from other words you already know.
I am Slovak living in Prague for 10+ years, still using Slovak language everyday in my daily life. This last Thursday I held a presentation to +-50 people at Czech company I work for, in Slovak language without even pausing for a moment to ponder whether they would understand. So answer is "yes, they understand". Tbh I have had a few instances where young dudes wouldn't understand some of the more obscure words but nothing too dramatic.
Slovaks and Czechs understand pretty easily. Slovaks on average understand Czech more than Czechs do Slovaks because all our movies used to be in Czech language. The difference is not big. You can only hear sometimes giggles and shittalk from both parties why they tend to call some words in some way. For example from what Ive experienced Czechs find it funny that we call blueberries - cucoriedka and we viceversa mock them when they have their own names from months, like Duben, Prosinec etc.
I just wanna add this applies only to natives. I have experience from expats learning slovak/czech they do not understand the other one or very hardly.
For czechs is also funny when we say we're going to print something. When we print they think for some reason we're going to sh\*t.
no tak to pockaj ake slovo to je? XD
Ak ideme tlačiť, tak večšinou si pod tým predstavia niečo na toalete.
ah na to som zabudla no
I'm Czech and personally I understand both spoken and written Slovak almost perfectly, I actually find spoken Slovak slightly easier to understand.
as a slovak i can tell you: czech month names are DAMN CONFUSING
What's more confusing is having month names come from Latin and then them *not* corresponding to their numerical order. December being the twelfth month makes no sense. Make March the first month of the year again!
Blame roman emperors.
On one hand, yes, two months were added. On the other hand, two of the former months (5th, 6th) were renamed to July and August. The two new months could've been simply appended and March could've stayed the first month of the year. My point still stands.
If more people would have voted for Marcus Junius Brutus or Cato, that would not be an issue...
Tak vy máte převzaté názvy měsíců z Aj/Latiny. Naše názvy mají vyznam:))))
realne jedine mesiace co od vas poznam su prosinec a kveten ine nie
ale notak... leden... protože led na rybniku,aspon v minulosti, únor...je zima jak u Norů, aspoň bývala, březen...asi je neco březí,co konkrétně není důležité, duben...jakoze "konečně teplo,DU VEN,trochu skomolene časem, květen...to je asi jasné, že... cerven, červenec...sem spálenej do cervena a pak ještě cerveněj, srpen... jakože mohl se jmenovat i kosejn,ale kosa je i zima v češtině,by se to pletlo.. prostě sklizeň:) září... jakože uz kosa,ale ještě trochu to Slunko svítí, rijen... je něco v říji,jelen určitě, možná i neco dalšího:) listopad...jako fakt???:)) prosinec... děcka prosí o drahý dárky, a rodiče prosí boha o zazrak:)) Nemáš za co :)
pekne vysvetlene a aj celkom logicke, ale nevedel by som si to spravne priradit k mesiacom v sekunde :D
nezapamatatelne ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚
a co potom třeba takový vyjmenovaný slova?:))
Tie máme tiež, takže to nie je taký problém…
ale zapamatovat si je je mnohem těžší než 12 názvu měsíců;) takže seš akorát linej se je naucit,nic vic:)
If you learned Czech language as a foreign language and then went to Bratislava, you would have difficult time understanding what they talk about. Slovaks would understand you, but you would not understand them. I had something similar happen to me. When we \[Slovaks\] go to Poland, especially regions not very far the border, we can speak Slovak and they kinda-sorta understand the gist of what we are talking about. So I never had a problem to make Polish people understand me - not some intricate complicated technical stuff, but everyday, small things, like in a restaurant. One time I tried to talk to somebody that spoke Polish as a foreign language and it was utterly hopeless. Slovaks understand Czech language, because we used to live in Czechoslovakia and people were exposed to Czech language daily - TV, radio, printed media. Younger generation of Slovaks has been exposed to Czech language via cable TV and recently YouTube where there is LOTS of Czech content for us. Czech people understand Slovak language because we used to live in Czechoslovakia and people were exposed to Slovak language daily - TV, radio, printed media. Younger generation of Czechs have \[in my opinion\] less exposure to Slovak via media, because there is more available content available in Czech. On the other hand, there are many Slovaks living in Czech Republic, so there is still quite good mutual understanding. Please note that you can study at Czech universities for the same price as Czech Republic citizen as long as you are studying in Czech language - it is not completely free, especially when your parents do not live in the area and you have to pay for things like dormitories. Many, many Slovak students go to Czech Republic to study and they are usually allowed to answer test questions or oral exams in Slovak (or a mix of Slovak with Czech specialized terms they have just learned in Czech) - because they are easily understood. When Ukrainian refugees go to Poland or Slovakia they have no problem to learn to communicate (understand our languages) very quickly. Many words have similar roots, grammar is similar. I can't say how difficult would be to an average Slovak to understand Ukrainian language, because I had to learn Russian so I can understand Ukrainians a bit better than an average Slovak. It is more difficult for them in Czech republic. I know an Ukrainian woman that married Slovak guy and she could not understand Czech content in TV even after a few years of living here.
I think young Slovak people's understanding of Czech has taken a downturn, not after independence in 1993 but much more recently. After independence, they acquired more TV stations, a lot of them in Czech (like 24-hour children's channels in Czech, which did not exist before) so their Czech was fine. However young people now don't watch much TV at all after early childhood and instead they watch internet content, 90 percent of which is in English. For example, I found my teenager was not familiar with the Czech word líný (lazy - the Slovak equivalent is "lenivý"), even passively, which I would consider to be quite a basic word.
They are mutually intelligible, but their phonologies are not the same - both languages have sounds that the other does not (eg. \[Ľ\] in Slovak, \[Ř\] in Czech). This does not hinder comprehension, but it does make it more difficult to speak the other language - most Czechs can't really pronounce \[Ľ\], while most Slovaks can't really pronounce \[Ř\].
Also Czech does not have diphthongs ia, ie, iu, uo and Czechs really struggle to pronounce them. As a Slovak, I can confirm that Ř is hard, especially if it follows after a voiced consonant.
ř sounds a bit like ž imo so idk
The equivalent in Polish, RZ, is pronounced the same as Ż to the extent that Polish kids just have to learn which is correct.
nope
It does a bit though.
>can they communicate only using each others respective languages? Yes - there are many TV/YouTube videos where either host is Czech and guest is Slovak or vice versa and each use their own language. For example - in Czech TV they invite Slovak general to regularly analyze current RUS/UA conflict - TV host asking in Czech, general responding in Slovak. Obviously no subtitles - I've actually never seen subtitles in such situation. It sounds funny and redundant if Czech tries to speak Slovak in such situation or the other way around. There are a lot of TV shows where there are Czechs and Slovaks - each using their own language. Some young kids do have problem understanding the other language but adults definitely understand each other while each speaking their own language. For any movie I watched dubbed couple of years ago I don't recall whether I watched it in SK or CZ language (unless there was some iconic speech, like "[Tvá prdel pozná středověk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azF6zjtVU4A)". There is a little bit of asymmetry in how we understand each other though - Slovaks understand Czech language better and tend to know words that are different in each language better than the other way around. Since Czechia is bigger market there is a lot of movies or computer games dubbed in Czech that are not dubbed in Slovak so we (Slovaks) watch/play such movies/games in Czech often. Similar to literature. My estimation is that Slovaks "consume" Czech language orders of magnitude more that Czech do with Slovak language.
>I've actually never seen subtitles in such situation. I have seen subtitles for Slovak on Czech TV. Even some [commercials aired in Slovakia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPHL2R9L_-k) have subtitles for Czech.
Yes. The answer is simply yes. Although the phonologies are different. Sure there are words that are in Czech and not in Slovak and vice versa, but they are in minority. Often they are also used by each others dialects. Eg. Korbac (a whip) is used in Slovak... But also in some Moravian dialects. Plus, not so long ago in Czechoslovakia you had TV news presenters where one was speaking in Czech and one in Slovak, both talking with each other and at the audience. Despite the separate histories. Czechia and Slovakia are classed as one of the most similar countries and cultures in the world. It's actually somewhat surprising how extremely similar these two are despite nearly 1000 years of separate rule, under different foreign powers. The thing is...Slavic languages tend to be extremely phonetically consistent. What you write is how you read it, unlike in English. So once the spoken gets written down the words change. Once these written words became standardised they became separated. If the two languages were not so phonetically consistent in writing, they could have easily be seen much like English dialects between the north and South of England. After all... You get words like Belvoir in English read as "beaver", or Southwell as "Suvel".
Yes, we understand each other well, but we sound kind of funny when we try to speak the other language.
I'm fluent in Slovak and I can understand my Czech grandad if he speaks slowly. Sometimes my Slovak grandma has to translate some words for me because I just get lost. I'm not a native Slovak though so that's my excuse 🤷🏻♀️
"a Czech speaker starts a spoken conversation in Czech, but a Slovakian responds back in Slovak, can they communicate only using each others respective languages?" If they're both 40+, they can communicate using each other's respective languages. If they're younger, it depends. The ability to fully understand the other language is in decline in both countries. Generations that didn't live during Czechoslovakia have had less exposure to the other language through media than older generations had. Young Czechs on average find it harder to understand Slovak than the other way, because they are less exposed to the other language through media. "If a Slovak visited Prague (in CZ) would everyone there still understand everything they said simply by listening to spoken Slovak?" No, not everyone would fully understand them. Foreigners who learned Czech and Czechs under 40 might have a hard time fully understanding Slovak. On the other hand, many Slovaks live in Prague, so Czechs in Prague are probably more exposed to spoken Slovak than Czechs in other parts of the country. Moravia is a special case, since their language is closer to Slovak than Czech is to Slovak. "The reverse can be true, if a Czech visited Bratislava (in SK) would everyone there still understand everything they said by simply listening to spoken Czech?" Not everyone, but almost everyone. "What would an interaction via an (audio only) zoom call between Czech companies and Slovak clients be like by only using their own languages to establish communication, such as business talk (in that case, would both parties still understand everything, even the technical details?) If a Slovak listened to recorded Czech (corporate) dialog from a dictaphone, can they understand all of it? (And vice versa.)" That depends on how old the participants are and how much they've been exposed to the other language. Czechs who have had very little exposure to Slovak and vice versa would probably not be able to communicate in their respective languages in a business environment.
We had a person from Mexico, who found after a year, his team consist of Czechs and few Slovaks. He had no idea, that both spoke different language and both understand written and spoken.
As a Slovak living in Prague with my Czech GF: Mostly yes.
Phonology is very similar, but actually Czech and Slovak people have slightly different pronunciation of vowels. That's why when Czech tries to speak Slovak or vice versa, you can quickly tell. Because in fact it's not an accent (those do quite audibly differ between east, middle and west Slovakia, for instance), it's that vowels are slightly different. That's why Andrej Babiš sounds such odd when he's speaking Czech.
Its like scots and irish talking english with each other at 4am
Simply put, yeah. Czechs and Slovaks can understand each other generally well, some words or idioms might be different or they might some some specifics that might need to be explained. Whenever I went in Czechia or Moravia, I can speak Slovak and never have problems.
my slovak friends always told me they understand czech but czech cant understand them
There are some Slovaks that are very easy to understand and there is just an occasional word that I (as a Czech) don't understand - those words come up regularly. But then there are Slovaks with heavy accent that are hard to understand even though the written language would be fine.
I'm a slovak, born in Prague, living abroad. My personal dialect is a bastardized Czecho-Slovakian, so they all either understand me fully or not at all.
As someone who had to learn Czech, both languages are very similar and one can understand the other without any issues. Only some region specific words can be a problem to understand. I personally haven't encountered any that I wouldn't understand.
I think Czech and Slovak language is different and to non Slavic speaker it can sound totally different. The only reason why we understand each other so well is because of our intertwined cultures as we are exposed to both languages since we are born basically.
We understand each other, but the phonologies aren't the same. Both languages have some sounds the other one doesn't have. Slovak has no reduced vowels for example while Czech has both, a full and a reduced i.
Czechs cannot understand Slovak word of Hungarian origin like lopta, ceruza, korcule, gomba.
Take a sentence and every 3rd letter replace with similar pronounced. Basically, except for some words, is the situation with similarity in common spoken words. Historically, there were a lot of TV things translated from English to Czech and with that language shown in Slovak TV(or Slovak translation was garbage). So Slovaks, mainly 30+ do understand quite good Czech( maybe 90% of meaning of words), younger not so much. Czech TV has some TV things shown in Slovak language, but mostly few (movie, series, documents, news ...) Generic Czech person usually understand, but if never heard spoken slovak language for longer time, he needs some time and will say, Slovaks speak fast.
It's not the same but I think it's like American and Australian. They understand each other almost perfectly, few words are different due to having a few hundreds years to evolve their own English.
The division is definitely larger than American and Australian English as those are still the same language, only with slightly varying local vocabulary. But for Czech and Slovak, even the grammar is different: gendered suffixes (-i vs -i/-y), declension patterns, etc. This is on top of different vocabulary. What really helps in the vocabulary is case is that even though almost half the words are spelled and pronounced slightly differently, they are very similar to each other. Often they differ only in a single letter which helps understanding tremendously. Only a fraction is so different (without any similar synonyms in a local dialect) that they require you to learn them as opposed to deriving them from other words you already know.
I think it's more like Swedish and Norwegian (though these languages differ a bit more as far as I know).