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Czechia Languages

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Description

The Czech language (divided into three dialects in Bohemia, four dialects in Moravia, and two dialects in Czech Silesia) is the official language of Czechia.
There is also the transitional Cieszyn Silesian dialect as well as the Polish language in Cieszyn Silesia, both spoken in Czech Silesia.
Various Sudeten German dialects are currently practically extinct: present Czech Germans speak mainly Czech or Standard German.
Czech Sign Language is the language of most of the deaf community. As of 2022 there are 14 officially recognized minorities which enjoy the right to use their language in communication with authorities and in courts of law. They are (alphabetically): [1]

Additional Record Search Help

Word List(s)

For word lists and help researching in Czech records, see:

Czech

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Czech

Czech Grammar Help

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Czech

Dictionaries in Czech Language:

  • Pařez, Jan. Česko-anglický příruční slovník genealogický. Prague: Scriptorium, 2016. Available at: WorldCat. (This dictionary is a must for the Czech researchers when records and documents are written in Czech. It includes occupations, causes of death etc. Supplements include Czech alphabet, a dictionary of personal names and a dictionary of supreme land and court offices.)
  • Lutonský, Boleslav. Lexikon genealoga. Praha: B. Lutonský, 2003. Available at: WorldCat. (Genealogical vocabulary that includes not only old-fashioned expressions that the researcher may encounter in their work, but also terms used in archival material (such as old documents, land tablets, urbarium, estate records etc.), overview of guilds, and important crafts. It also includes a chapter on measurements, a chapter on currency and a list of frequently used abbreviations.)
  • Lutonský, Boleslav and Jaroslav Černý. Latinsko-německo-český slovník nemocí, úrazů a příčin smrti a výrazů s nimi souvisejících (nejen) pro genealogy. Praha: Ringier ČR, 1995. Available at: WorldCat. (Latin-German-Czech dictionary of diseases, injuries and causes of death: and terms related to them (not only) for genealogists)
Handy Czech-English Genealogical Dictionary
Lexikon

Additional Resources

Record Research Help

Most of the people in the Czech Republic speak the Czech language. Czech is a Slavic language related to Slovak, Polish and Russian. However, Czech was not recognized as an official language until 1877 in Bohemia and 1905 in Moravia. It was seldom used as a written language until the late 1800s. Except for modern records of the 1900s, records in the Czech Republic were written mostly in Latin and German. Other languages sometimes used in Czech records include Old Church Slavonic, Polish, Hebrew, and Yiddish.

1930--1945 Linguistic Map: After World War II, the German population left the Czech Republic.

1930 linguistic map.png

Czech Grammar
Czech language is highly inflective, words may have different endings depending on usage.

  • Josef, syn Antonína Ryby a Anny roz. Novákové = Josef, son of Antonín Ryba and Anna Novaková
  • Manželství mezi Michalem Dostalíkem a Anežkou Marii Seidlerovou = Marriage between Michal Dostalík and Anežka Marie Seidlerová

Česká abeceda/The Czech Alphabet

A, a, Á, á B, b C, c, Č, č D, d, Ď, ď E, e, É, é, ě F, f G, g H, h Ch, ch I, i, Í, í J, j K, k L, l M, m N, n, Ň, ň O, o, Ó, ó P, p Q, q R, r, Ř, ř S, s, Š, š T, t, Ť, ť U, u, Ú, ú, ů V, v W, w X, x Y, y, Ý, ý Z, z, Ž, ž

The Czech alphabet uses several letters in addition to the 26 letters used in the English alphabet. These are á, č, ď, é, ě, í, ň, ó, ř, š, ť, ú, ů, ý, ž. The letter combination ch is also considered a single letter and is alphabetized after h. Letters q, w, x are used only in words of foreign origin.

Czech dictionaries and indexes use the following alphabetical order:

a,á b c,č d,ď e,é,ě f g h ch i,í j k l m n,ň o,ó p (q) r,ř s,š t,ť u,ú,ů v (w) (x) y,ý z,ž

Pronunciation

A
a
:
o

sound in on

Á
á
:
a

sound in father

B
b
:
b

sound in back

C
c
:
ts

sound in bits

Č
č
:
ch

sound in chat

D
d
:
d

sound in dog

Ď
ď
:
g

sound in ginger

E
e
:
e

sound in led

É
é
:
ea

sound in wear

Ě
ě
:
ye

sound in yes

F
f
:
f

sound in fast

G
g
:
g

sound in gas

H
h
:
h

sound in help

CH
ch
:
ch

sound in loch (aspirated)

I
i
:
i

sound in sit

Í
í
:
ee

sound in bee

J
j
:
y

sound in youth

K
k
:
k

sound in kiss

L
l
:
l

sound in land

M
m
:
m

sound in man

N
n
:
n

sound in new

Ň
ň
:
ny

sound in canyon

O
o
:
o

sound in home

Ó
ó
:
oa

sound in boat

P
p
:
p

sound in peak

R
r
:
r

sound in ran (often rolled)

Ř
ř
:
rsh

sound like 's' in marsh

S
s
:
s

sound in sun

Š
š
:
sh

sound in shoe

T
t
:
t

sound in top

Ť
ť
:
ty

sound like 't' in tune

U
u
:
u

sound in put

Ú
ú
:
oo

sound in pool

Ů
ů
:
oo

sound in pool

V
v
:
v

sound in van

Y
y
:
i

sound in bit

Ý
ý
:
ee

sound in bee

Z
z
:
z

sound in zoo

Ž
ž
:
zh

sound like 's' in measure

Qq, Ww, Xx

are used in foreign words only

NOTE: the letter combination “CH" is treated as a single character and is alphabetized after the letter “H”

Reading Old Texts

Here are some letter combinations you may encounter in the old texts and their modern equivalents:

cz read as c or č
cž/čz read as č
rz/rž read as ř
ss read as š
g read as j
y read as y or j
j read as í
v read as u (at the beginning of words)
ie read as ě
au read as ou
w read as v

References

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Demographics of the Czech Republic," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Czech_Republic#Officially_recognized_minorities, accessed 22 May 2023.
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