Czechoslovak Stories/Appendix A

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3125774Czechoslovak Stories — Appendix A1920Šárka 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.”

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.


The longest-living author of this work died in 1948, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 75 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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