Czechia Languages

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Czechia

Languages

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.

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

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”

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

Language of the Records

A basic knowledge of a few languages is required to read Czech records. Obtain a copy of the various genealogical lists available at the FamilySearch Library or click on the links below.

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

Language Aids

See the examples of the Czech Script Alphabet at a to m n to ž

Dictionaries

Handy Czech-English Genealogical Dictionary

Lexikon

Helpful publications at the FamilySearch Library are:

Pařez, Jan. Česko-anglický příruční slovník genealogický = Handy Czech-English genealogical dictionary. Praha: Scriptorium, 1999. (FS Library INTL Book 491.86321 P216c 1999).
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. (Lexikon of genealogist). Praha: B. Lutonský, c2003. (FS Library INTL Book 943.71 D26L).
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. Text in Czech.

Lutonský, Boleslav/Černý, Jaroslav. Latinsko-německo-český slovník nemocí, úrazů a příčin smrti: a výrazů s nimi souvisejících (nejen) pro genealogy. (Latin-German-Czech dictionary of diseases, injuries and causes of death: and terms related to them (not only) for genealogists). Praha: Ringier ČR, 1995. (FS Library INTL Book 929.103 L977L ).
Causes of death as recorded in the death registers in Latin, German and Czech with their Czech translations.