Czech is the official language of the Czech Republic. There are also Czech speakers in Israel, Slovakia, Romania, Austria, Canada, the United States, Poland, Bulgaria and Ukraine.The Linguist List: The Czech Language
Common Words and Phrases
- Welcome: Vitej
- How are you?: Jak se mate?
- What's your name?: Jak se jmenujes?
- My name is ...: Jmenuji se ...
- Good morning: Dobre rano
- Good Evening: Dobry vecer
- Good night: Dobrou noc
- Good bye: Na shledanou
- I don't understand: Nerozumim
- How much is this?: Kolik je to?
- Can you help me?: Muzes mi pomoci?
- Excuse Me: Prominte
History
At the beginning of the 15th century religious reformer Jan Hus devised a diacritical writing system , to differentiate the Czech alphabet from Latin. By placing diacritical marks over some of the Latin letters, he was able to distinguish the Czech palatal consonants and long vowels. The palatal consonants were created by placing a grapheme over the letters d and t, and a hacek (an upside down circumflex) over the letters c, n, r, s and z. The palatal long vowels were created by placing an acute accent above the letters a, e, i, o, u and y. The Czech Language: Origin And History Horne Translations: Accents And Other Diacritical Marks In English
