| Czech alphabet | |
| Native Name: | Czech: Česká abeceda |
| Type: | Alphabet |
| Languages: | Czech |
| Time: | Since Jan Hus' Orthographia bohemica (early 15th century – present) |
| Fam5: | Old Italic scripts |
| Fam6: | Latin alphabet |
| Children: | Slovak alphabet Gaj's Latin alphabet Latvian alphabet Lithuanian alphabet |
| Unicode: | Subset of Latin |
Czech orthography is a system of rules for proper formal writing (orthography) in Czech. The earliest form of separate Latin script specifically designed to suit Czech was devised by Czech theologian and church reformist Jan Hus, the namesake of the Hussite movement, in one of his seminal works, De orthographia bohemica (On Bohemian orthography).
The modern Czech orthographic system is diacritic, having evolved from an earlier system which used many digraphs (although one digraph has been kept - ch). The caron is added to standard Latin letters to express sounds which are foreign to Latin. The acute accent is used for long vowels.
The Czech orthography is considered the model for many other Balto-Slavic languages using the Latin alphabet; Slovak orthography being its direct revised descendant, while the Serbo-Croatian Gaj's Latin alphabet and its Slovene descendant system are largely based on it. The Baltic languages, such as Latvian and Lithuanian, are also largely based on it. All of them make use of similar diacritics and also have a similar, usually interchangeable, relationship between the letters and the sounds they are meant to represent.[1]
The Czech alphabet consists of 42 letters.
| - | 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 | - ! colspan="21" | Minuscule forms (lowercase/small letters) | - | 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 |
| Name ! colspan="2" | Letter ! | Name | - ! Uppercase | Lowercase | Uppercase | Lowercase | - | A | a | á | Ň | ň | eň | - | Á | á | dlouhé á; á s čárkou | O | o | ó | - | B | b | bé | Ó | ó | dlouhé ó; ó s čárkou | - | C | c | cé | P | p | pé | - | Č | č | čé | Q | q | kvé | - | D | d | dé | R | r | er | - | Ď | ď | ďé | Ř | ř | eř | - | E | e | é | S | s | es | - | É | é | dlouhé é; é s čárkou | Š | š | eš | - | Ě | ě | ije; é s háčkem | T | t | té | - | F | f | ef | Ť | ť | ťé | - | G | g | gé | U | u | ú | - | H | h | há | Ú | ú | dlouhé ú; ú s čárkou | - | Ch | ch | chá | Ů | ů | ů s kroužkem | - | I | i | í; měkké i | V | v | vé | - | Í | í | dlouhé í; dlouhé měkké í; í s čárkou; měkké í s čárkou | W | w | dvojité vé | - | J | j | jé | X | x | iks | - | K | k | ká | Y | y | ypsilon; krátké tvrdé ý | - | L | l | el | Ý | ý | dlouhé ypsilon; dlouhé tvrdé ý; ypsilon s čárkou; tvrdé ý s čárkou | - | M | m | em | Z | z | zet | - | N | n | en | Ž | ž | žet |
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The letters Q, W, and X are used exclusively in foreign words, and the former two are respectively replaced with KV and V once the word becomes "naturalized" (assimilated into Czech); the digraphs dz and dž are also used mostly for foreign words and are not considered to be distinct letters in the Czech alphabet.
Czech orthography is primarily phonemic (rather than phonetic) because an individual grapheme usually corresponds to an individual phoneme (rather than a sound). However, some graphemes and letter groups are remnants of historical phonemes which were used in the past but have since merged with other phonemes. Some changes in the phonology have not been reflected in the orthography.
| Grapheme | IPA value | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| á | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| e | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| é | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ě | pronounced as /link/, pronounced as //ʲɛ// | Marks palatalization of preceding consonant; see usage rules below | |
| i | pronounced as /link/ | Palatalizes preceding (d), (t), or (n); see usage rules below | |
| í | pronounced as /link/ | Palatalizes preceding (d), (t), or (n); see usage rules below | |
| o | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ó | pronounced as /link/ | Occurs mostly in words of foreign origin. | |
| u | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ú | pronounced as /link/ | See usage rules below | |
| ů | pronounced as /link/ | See usage rules below | |
| y | pronounced as /link/ | See usage rules below | |
| ý | pronounced as /link/ | See usage rules below |
| Grapheme | IPA value | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| c | pronounced as /link/ [2] | ||
| č | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| d | pronounced as /link/ | Represents pronounced as /link/ before (i í ě); see below | |
| ď | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| f | pronounced as /link/ | Occurs mostly in words of foreign origin. | |
| g | pronounced as /link/ | Occurs mostly in words of foreign origin. | |
| h | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ch | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| j | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| k | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| l | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| m | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| n | pronounced as /link/ | Represents pronounced as /link/ before (i í ě); see below | |
| ň | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| p | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| r | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ř | pronounced as /link/ [3] | ||
| s | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| š | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| t | pronounced as /link/ | Represents pronounced as /link/ before (i í ě); see below | |
| ť | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| v | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| x | pronounced as //ks/, /ɡz// | Occurs only in words of foreign origin; pronounced pronounced as //ɡz// in words with the prefix 'ex-' before vowels or voiced consonants. | |
| z | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| ž | pronounced as /link/ |
All the obstruent consonants are subject to voicing (before voiced obstruents except (v)) or devoicing (before voiceless consonants and at the end of words); spelling in these cases is morphophonemic (i.e. the morpheme has the same spelling as before a vowel). An exception is the cluster (sh), in which the pronounced as //s// is voiced to pronounced as //z// only in Moravian dialects, while in Bohemia the pronounced as //ɦ// is devoiced to pronounced as //x// instead (e.g. shodit pronounced as //sxoɟɪt//, in Moravia pronounced as //zɦoɟɪt//). Devoicing pronounced as //ɦ// changes its articulation place: it becomes pronounced as /[x]/. After unvoiced consonants (ř) is devoiced: for instance, in 'three', which is pronounced . Written voiced or voiceless counterparts are kept according to the etymology of the word, e.g. odpadnout pronounced as /[ˈo'''t'''padnoʊ̯t]/ (to fall away) - od- is a prefix; written pronounced as //d// is devoiced here because of the following voiceless pronounced as //p//.
For historical reasons, the consonant pronounced as /[ɡ]/ is written k in Czech words like kde ('where', < Proto-Slavic *kъdě) or kdo ('who', < Proto-Slavic *kъto). This is because the letter g was historically used for the consonant pronounced as /[j]/. The original Slavic phoneme pronounced as //ɡ// changed into pronounced as //h// in the Old-Czech period. Thus, pronounced as //ɡ// is not a separate phoneme (with a corresponding grapheme) in words of domestic origin; it occurs only in foreign words (e.g. graf, gram, etc.).
Unlike in English but like German and Russian, voiced consonants are pronounced voicelessly in the final position in words. In declension, they are voiced in cases where the words take on endings.
Compare:
led pronounced as /[ˈlɛ'''t''']/ – ledy pronounced as /[ˈlɛ'''d'''ɪ]/ (ice – ices)
let pronounced as /[ˈlɛ'''t''']/ – lety pronounced as /[ˈlɛ'''t'''ɪ]/ (flight – flights)
The letters and are both pronounced pronounced as /[ɪ]/, while and are both pronounced pronounced as /[iː]/. was originally pronounced pronounced as /[ɨ]/ as in contemporary Polish. However, in the 14th century, this difference in standard pronunciation disappeared, though it has been preserved in some Moravian dialects.[4] In words of native origin "soft" and cannot follow "hard" consonants, while "hard" and cannot follow "soft" consonants; "neutral" consonants can be followed by either vowel:
| Soft | ž, š, č, ř, c, j, ď, ť, ň | |
|---|---|---|
| Neutral | b, f, l, m, p, s, v, z | |
| Hard | h, ch, k, r, d, t, n, g |
When or is written after in native words, these consonants are soft, as if they were written . That is, the sounds pronounced as /[ɟɪ, ɟiː, cɪ, ciː, ɲɪ, ɲiː]/ are written instead of, e.g. in čeština in Czech pronounced as /ˈt͡ʃɛʃcɪna/. The sounds pronounced as /[dɪ, diː, tɪ, tiː, nɪ, niː]/ are denoted, respectively, by . In words of foreign origin, are pronounced pronounced as /[dɪ, tɪ, nɪ]/; that is, as if they were written, e.g. in diktát, dictation.
Historically the letter was hard, but this changed in the 19th century. However, in some words it is still followed by the letter : tác (plate) – tácy (plates).
Because neutral consonants can be followed by either or, in some cases they distinguish homophones, e.g. být (to be) vs. bít (to beat), mýt (to wash) vs. mít (to have). At school pupils must memorize word roots and prefixes where is written; is written in other cases. Writing or in endings is dependent on the declension patterns.
The letter is a vestige of Old Czech palatalization. The originally palatalizing phoneme /ě/ pronounced as /[ʲɛ]/ became extinct, changing to pronounced as /[ɛ]/ or pronounced as /[jɛ]/, but it is preserved as a grapheme which can never appear in the initial position.
There are two ways in Czech to write long pronounced as /[uː]/: and . cannot occur in an initial position, while occurs almost exclusively in the initial position or at the beginning of a word root in a compound.
Historically, long changed into the diphthong pronounced as /[ou̯]/ (as also happened in the English Great Vowel Shift with words such as "house"), though not in word-initial position in the prestige form. In 1848 at the beginning of word-roots was changed into in words like to reflect this. Thus, the letter is written at the beginning of word-roots only: úhel (angle), trojúhelník (triangle), except in loanwords: skútr (scooter).
Meanwhile, historical long pronounced as /[oː]/ changed into the diphthong pronounced as /[ʊo]/. As was common with scribal abbreviations, the letter in the diphthong was sometimes written as a ring above the letter, producing, e.g. kóň > kuoň > kůň (horse), like the origin of the German umlaut. Later, the pronunciation changed into pronounced as /[uː]/, but the grapheme has remained. It never occurs at the beginning of words: dům (house), domů (home, homeward).
The letter now has the same pronunciation as the letter (long pronounced as /[uː]/), but alternates with a short when a word is inflected (e.g. nom. kůň → gen. koně, nom. dům → gen. domu), thus showing the historical evolution of the language.
The predicate must be always in accordance with the subject in the sentence - in number and person (personal pronouns), and with past and passive participles also in gender. This grammatical principle affects the orthography (see also "Soft" I and "Hard" Y) – it is especially important for the correct choice and writing of plural endings of the participles.
Examples:
| Gender | Sg. | Pl. | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine animate | pes byl koupen | psi byli koupeni | a dog was bought/dogs were bought | |
| masculine inanimate | hrad byl koupen | hrady byly koupeny | a castle was bought/castles were bought | |
| feminine | kočka byla koupena | kočky byly koupeny | a cat was bought/cats were bought | |
| neuter | město bylo koupeno | města byla koupena | a town was bought/towns were bought |
The mentioned example shows both past (byl, byla ...) and passive (koupen, koupena ...) participles. The accordance in gender takes effect in the past tense and the passive voice, not in the present and future tenses in active voice.
If the complex subject is a combination of nouns of different genders, masculine animate gender is prior to others and the masculine inanimate and feminine genders are prior to the neuter gender.
Examples:
muži a ženy byli - men and women were
kočky a koťata byly - cats and kittens were
my jsme byli (my = we all/men) vs. my jsme byly (my = we women) - we were
Priority of genders:
masculine animate > masculine inanimate & feminine > neuter
The use of the full stop (.), the colon (:), the semicolon (;), the question mark (?) and the exclamation mark (!) is similar to their use in other European languages. The full stop is placed after a number if it stands for ordinal numerals (as in German), e.g. 1. den (= první den) – the 1st day.
The comma is used to separate individual parts in complex-compound sentences, lists, isolated parts of sentences, etc. Its use in Czech is different from English. Subordinate (dependent) clauses must be always separated from their principal (independent) clauses, for instance. A comma is not placed before a (and), i (as well as), ani (nor) and nebo (or) when they connect parts of sentences or clauses in copulative conjunctions (on a same level). It must be placed in non-copulative conjunctions (consequence, emphasis, exclusion, etc.). A comma can, however, occur in front of the word a (and) if the former is part of comma-delimited parenthesis: Jakub, můj mladší bratr, a jeho učitel Filip byli příliš zabráni do rozhovoru. Probírali látku, která bude u zkoušky, a též, kdo na ní bude. A comma also separates subordinate conjunctions introduced by composite conjunctions a proto (and therefore) and a tak (and so).
Examples:
Quotation marks. The first one preceding the quoted text is placed to the bottom line:
Other types of quotation marks: ‚‘ »«
Apostrophes are used rarely in Czech. They can denote a missing sound in non-standard speech, but it is optional, e.g. řek or řek (= řekl, he said).
The first word of every sentence and all proper names are capitalized. Special cases are:
In the 9th century, the Glagolitic script was used, during the 11th century it was replaced by Latin script.There are five periods in the development of the Czech Latin-based orthographic system:
In computing, several different coding standards have existed for this alphabet, among them: