Czechoslovak Stories/Appendix A

by Šárka B. Hrbková

APPENDIX A

 

THE PRONUNCIATION OF CZECH WORDS

 

a	(unmarked)		like	u	in	hut.
o	“		“	o	“	obey.
u	“		“	oo	“	took.
y	“		“	y	“	tryst.
á	(marked)		“	a	“	palm.
í or ý		“	“	i	“	machine.
ú or ů		“	“	oo	“	cool.
ě	“		“	ye	“	yet.
aj	(semidiphtong) like y in my.
c	(unmarked)		like	ts	in	its.
č	(marked)		“	ch	“	charm.
̌d	“		“	d	“	verdure.
ň	“		“	n	“	canyon.
š	“		“	sh	“	she.
ť	“		“	t	“	future.
ž	“		“	z	“	azure.
ř	“		rolled r plus z as in azure.
j	(unmarked)		like	y	in	yes.
aj	is a guttural as in Scotch “loch”.

 

The suffix -ek gives a diminutive meaning to masculine names, as “Joseph”, Joseph, but “Josífek,” little Joe; Matýs, Matthew, Matýsek, little Matthew. In the same way, -“ka” is a feminine suffix, as in “Barka.”

The primary accent always falls on the first syllable in Czech words.

The suffix “-ova” is added to masculine proper names to indicate female members of the family. Thus, Božena Němcová signifies that Božena is of the family or house of Němec.

In “Czech,” the English spelling of Čech (Bohemian), the “cz” is pronounced like “ch” in “chair” and the final “ch” like “ch” in the Scotch “loch.”