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Languages > Czech
Most Popular Czech Language Product Types
Children's Books
Goldilocks & the Three Bears in Czech & English (PB)
Classroom/Schools
Talk Now Learn Czech Intermediate Level 2 (World Talk)
Dictionary
Czech (Hippocrene Handy Extra Dictionary) (Paperback)
Handheld Dictionary
Electronic Dictionary Sencor SDN 440T - Czech-German-Slovak-English
Keyboard Stickers
Keyboard Stickers for Czech (blue)
Learn
Harrap's Czech Phrasebook (Paperback)
Movies/Videos
Closely Watched Trains (VHS)
Travel
Rough Guide to Czech
Word to Word Dictionary
Word to Word Czech / English Dictionary
All Czech language product types


Language Information


Czech is the offical language of the Czech Republic, spoken by virtually the entire population of 10 million people. It is closely related to Slovak, spoken in Slovakia, the two languages in fact being mutually intelligible.

Czech is a Slavic language written in the Roman script. The foundations of the alphabet were laid by the great religious reformer Jan Hus, in the early 15th century. The letters q, w, and x are missing, while c is pronounced ts (e.g., cena—price), ch as in German (kachna—duck), and j as y (jazyk—language). Acute accents lengthen the vowels (kámen—stone), while a circle over the u produces a long oo sound (dum—house). The chevron over c, s, and z produces ch, sh, and zh respectively (cislo—number, kos—basket, zivot—life). But n is pro-nounced ny as in "canyon" (dan—tax), e is pronounced ye (mesto—city), and r is pronounced rzh, as in the name Dvorak. The letter r serves as a vowel, producing such strange-looking words as krk (neck), smrt (death), and (ivri (quarter). The stress is always on the first syllable.


Czech is spoken/used in the following countries:
Czech Republic, United States of America.

Language Family
Family: Indo-European
Subgroup: Slavic
Branch: Western


Copyright © Kenneth Katzner, The Languages of the World, Published by Routledge.


Writing Sample


Writing Sample

Translation


I know that romantic in me, it was my mother. Mother used to sing, mother lost herself in daydreams, mother had had some secret unknown life; and how beautiful she was when she offered the dragoon a drink, so beautiful that in my little childish heart stood still. They always said that I took after her. Then I wanted to be like my father, strong like him, big, and reliable like daddy. Perhaps I haven't turned out well. It isn't after him, that poet, that romantic, and who knows what else.

KAREL CAPEK, An Ordinary Life


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