Editing Czech language (section)

==Varieties==
{{further|Czech–Slovak languages}}
[[File:Antonín Machek - Portrait of Josef Jungmann.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Josef Jungmann]], whose Czech–German dictionary laid the foundations for modern Standard Czech]] 
The modern literary standard and prestige variety, known as "Standard Czech" ({{lang|cs|spisovná čeština}}) is based on the standardization during the [[Czech National Revival]] in the 1830s, significantly influenced by [[Josef Jungmann]]'s Czech–German dictionary published during 1834–1839. Jungmann used vocabulary of the [[Bible of Kralice]] (1579–1613) period and of the language used by his contemporaries. He borrowed words not present in Czech from other Slavic languages or created neologisms.<ref name="Czech Literature">{{cite web|last=Naughton|first=James|title=CZECH LITERATURE, 1774 TO 1918|url=http://users.ox.ac.uk/~tayl0010/lit_to_1918.htm|publisher=Oxford University|access-date=25 October 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612013916/http://users.ox.ac.uk/~tayl0010/lit_to_1918.htm|archive-date=12 June 2012}}</ref> Standard Czech is the formal register of the language which is used in official documents, formal literature, newspaper articles, education and occasionally public speeches.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tahal|2010|p=245}}</ref> It is codified by the [[Czech Language Institute]], who publish occasional reforms to the codification. The most recent reform took place in 1993.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tahal|2010|p=252}}</ref> The term {{lang|cs|hovorová čeština}} ({{lit|Colloquial Czech}}) is sometimes used to refer to the spoken variety of standard Czech.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoffmanová |first1=Jana |title=HOVOROVÝ STYL |url=https://www.czechency.org/slovnik/HOVOROV%C3%9D%20STYL |website=Nový encyklopedický slovník češtiny |access-date=21 August 2019}}</ref>

The most widely spoken vernacular form of the language is called "Common Czech" ({{lang|cs|obecná čeština}}), an [[interdialect]] influenced by spoken Standard Czech and the Central Bohemian dialects of the [[Prague]] region. Other Bohemian regional dialects have become marginalized, while [[Moravian dialects]] remain more widespread and diverse, with a political movement for Moravian linguistic revival active since the 1990s.

These varieties of the language (Standard Czech, spoken/colloquial Standard Czech, Common Czech, and regional dialects) form a [[Style (sociolinguistics)|stylistic continuum]], in which contact between varieties of a similar prestige influences change within them.<ref>{{Harvnb|Koudela|1964|p=136}}</ref>

===Common Czech===
[[File:Dialects of the Czech language.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Dialects of Czech, [[Moravian dialects|Moravian]], [[Lach dialects|Lach]], and [[Cieszyn Silesian]] spoken in the Czech Republic. The border areas, where German was formerly spoken, are now mixed.]]
The main Czech vernacular, spoken primarily in [[Bohemia]] including the capital [[Prague]], is known as Common Czech (''obecná čeština''). This is an academic distinction; most Czechs are unaware of the term or associate it with deformed or "incorrect" Czech.<ref name="Wilson 2010 21">{{Harvnb|Wilson|2009|p=21}}</ref> Compared to Standard Czech, Common Czech is characterized by simpler inflection patterns and differences in sound distribution.<ref name="sciences">{{cite web|url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15079160|publisher=[[Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic]]|date=2003|title=The present-day situation of Czech|last=Daneš|first=František|access-date=August 10, 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Common Czech is distinguished from spoken/colloquial Standard Czech ({{lang|cs|hovorová čeština}}), which is a [[style (sociolinguistics)|stylistic variety]] within standard Czech.<ref name=:0>{{cite journal | language=pl| journal=Bohemistyka | issn=1642-9893 | year=2006 | number=1 | last=Balowska | first= Grażyna | location=Opole | url=http://www.bohemistyka.pl/artykuly/2006/ART_Balowska_01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505182653/http://www.bohemistyka.pl/artykuly/2006/ART_Balowska_01.pdf |archive-date=2019-05-05 |url-status=live | title=Problematyka czeszczyzny potocznej nieliterackiej (tzw. obecná čeština) na łamach czasopisma "Naše řeč" w latach dziewięćdziesiątych}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| journal=Bohemistyka | issn=1642-9893 | year=2015 | number=2 | last=Štěpán | first= Josef | location=Prague | url=http://bohemistyka.pl/artykuly/2015/Stepan.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510143346/http://bohemistyka.pl/artykuly/2015/Stepan.pdf |archive-date=2019-05-10 |url-status=live | title=Hovorová spisovná čeština | language=cs}}</ref> [[Tomasz Kamusella]] defines the spoken variety of Standard Czech as a compromise between Common Czech and the written standard,<ref>{{cite book|page=506|title=The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe|first=Tomasz|last=Kamusella|publisher=Springer|date=2008|isbn=9780230583474}}</ref> while [[Miroslav Komárek]] calls Common Czech an intersection of spoken Standard Czech and regional dialects.<ref name="kom117">{{Harvnb|Komárek|2012|p=117}}</ref>

Common Czech has become ubiquitous in most parts of the Czech Republic since the later 20th century. It is usually defined as an [[interdialect]] used in common speech in [[Bohemia]] and western parts of [[Moravia]] (by about two thirds of all inhabitants of the [[Czech Republic]]). Common Czech is not [[codification (linguistics)|codified]], but some of its elements have become adopted in the written standard. Since the second half of the 20th century, Common Czech elements have also been spreading to regions previously unaffected, as a consequence of media influence. Standard Czech is still the norm for politicians, businesspeople and other Czechs in formal situations, but Common Czech is gaining ground in journalism and the mass media.<ref name="sciences"/> The colloquial form of Standard Czech finds limited use in daily communication due to the expansion of the Common Czech interdialect.<ref name=:0/> It is sometimes defined as a theoretical construct rather than an actual tool of colloquial communication, since in casual contexts, the non-standard interdialect is preferred.<ref name=:0/>

Common Czech [[phonology]] is based on that of the Central Bohemian dialect group, which has a slightly different set of vowel phonemes to Standard Czech.<ref name="kom117" /> The phoneme /ɛː/ is peripheral and usually merges with /iː/, e.g. in ''mal'''ý''' město'' (small town), ''plam'''í'''nek'' (little flame) and ''l'''í'''tat'' (to fly), and a second native diphthong /ɛɪ̯/ occurs, usually in places where Standard Czech has /iː/, e.g. ''mal'''ej''' dům'' (small house), ''ml'''ej'''n'' (mill), ''pl'''ej'''tvat'' (to waste), ''b'''ej'''t'' (to be).<ref>{{Harvnb|Komárek|2012|p=116}}</ref> In addition, a prothetic ''v-'' is added to most words beginning ''o-'', such as '''''v'''otevřít '''v'''okno'' (to open the window).<ref name="tahal" />

Non-standard [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] features that are more or less common among all Common Czech speakers include:<ref name="tahal">{{Harvnb|Tahal|2010|pp=245–253}}</ref>
* unified [[plural]] [[Ending (linguistics)|ending]]s of [[adjective]]s: ''mal'''ý''' lidi'' (small people), ''mal'''ý''' ženy'' (small women), ''mal'''ý''' města'' (small towns) – standard: ''malí lidé, malé ženy, malá města;''
* unified [[instrumental case|instrumental]] [[Ending (linguistics)|ending]] ''-ma'' in [[plural]]: ''s tě'''ma''' dobrej'''ma''' lid'''ma''', žena'''ma''', chlapa'''ma''', města'''ma''''' (with the good people, women, guys, towns) – standard: ''s těmi dobrými lidmi, ženami, chlapy, městy.'' In essence, this form resembles the form of the [[Dual (grammatical number)|dual]], which was once a productive form, but now is almost extinct and retained in a lexically specific set of words. In Common Czech the ending became productive again around the 17th century, but used as a substitute for a regular plural form.<ref>{{Harvnb|Komárek|2012|pp=179–180}}</ref> 
* omission of the syllabic ''-l'' in the masculine ending of past tense verbs: ''řek'' (he said), ''moh'' (he could), ''pích'' (he pricked) – standard: ''řekl, mohl, píchl.''
* tendency of merging the locative singular masculine/neuter for adjectives with the instrumental by changing the locative ending ''-ém'' to ''-ým'' and then shortening the vowel: ''mladém'' (standard locative), ''mladým'' (standard instrumental) > ''mladým'' (Common Czech locative), ''mladym'' (Common Czech instrumental) > ''mladym'' (Common Czech locative/instrumental with shortening).<ref>{{cite journal|publisher=Slavica Publishers|date=2005|title=Literary Czech, Common Czech, and the Instrumental Plural|last=Cummins|first=George M.|journal = Journal of Slavic Linguistics|volume = 13|issue = 2|pages = 271–297|jstor = 24599659}}</ref>

Examples of declension (Standard Czech is added in italics for comparison):

{|class=wikitable
|-
!&nbsp;
!&nbsp;
!Masculine<br>animate
!Masculine<br>inanimate
!Feminine
!Neuter
|-
!rowspan="7"|Sg.
!Nominative
|mlad'''ej''' člověk<br />''mladý člověk''
|mlad'''ej''' stát<br />''mladý stát''
|mladá žena<br />''mladá žena''
|mlad'''ý''' zvíře<br />''mladé zvíře''
|-
!Genitive
|mlad'''ýho''' člověka<br />''mladého člověka''
|mlad'''ýho''' státu<br />''mladého státu''
|mlad'''ý''' ženy<br />''mladé ženy''
|mlad'''ýho''' zvířete<br />''mladého zvířete''
|-
!Dative
|mlad'''ýmu''' člověkovi<br />''mladému člověku''
|mlad'''ýmu''' státu<br />''mladému státu''
|mlad'''ý''' ženě<br />''mladé ženě''
|mlad'''ýmu''' zvířeti<br />''mladému zvířeti''
|-
!Accusative
|mlad'''ýho''' člověka<br />''mladého člověka''
|mlad'''ej''' stát<br />''mladý stát''
|mladou ženu<br />''mladou ženu''
|mlad'''ý''' zvíře<br />''mladé zvíře''
|-
!Vocative
|mlad'''ej''' člověče!<br />''mladý člověče!''
|mlad'''ej''' státe!<br />''mladý státe!''
|mladá ženo!<br />''mladá ženo!''
|mlad'''ý''' zvíře!<br />''mladé zvíře!''
|-
!Locative
|mlad'''ým''' člověkovi<br />''mladém člověkovi''
|mlad'''ým''' státě<br />''mladém státě''
|mlad'''ý''' ženě<br />''mladé ženě''
|mlad'''ým''' zvířeti<br />''mladém zvířeti''
|-
!Instrumental
|mlad'''ym''' člověkem<br />''mladým člověkem''
|mlad'''ym''' státem<br />''mladým státem''
|mladou ženou<br />''mladou ženou''
|mlad'''ym''' zvířetem<br />''mladým zvířetem''
|-
!rowspan="7"|Pl.
!Nominative
|mlad'''ý''' lidi<br />''mladí lidé''
|mlad'''ý''' státy<br />''mladé státy''
|mlad'''ý''' ženy<br />''mladé ženy''
|mlad'''ý''' zvířata<br />''mladá zvířata''
|-
!Genitive
|mlad'''ejch''' lidí<br />''mladých lidí''
|mlad'''ejch''' států<br />''mladých států''
|mlad'''ejch''' žen<br />''mladých žen''
|mlad'''ejch''' zvířat<br />''mladých zvířat''
|-
!Dative
|mlad'''ejm''' lidem<br />''mladým lidem''
|mlad'''ejm''' státům<br />''mladým státům''
|mlad'''ejm''' ženám<br />''mladým ženám''
|mlad'''ejm''' zvířatům<br />''mladým zvířatům''
|-
!Accusative
|mlad'''ý''' lidi<br />''mladé lidi''
|mlad'''ý''' státy<br />''mladé státy''
|mlad'''ý''' ženy<br />''mladé ženy''
|mlad'''ý''' zvířata<br />''mladá zvířata''
|-
!Vocative
|mlad'''ý''' lidi!<br />''mladí lidé!''
|mlad'''ý''' státy!<br />''mladé státy!''
|mlad'''ý''' ženy!<br />''mladé ženy!''
|mlad'''ý''' zvířata!<br />''mladá zvířata!''
|-
!Locative
|mlad'''ejch''' lidech<br />''mladých lidech''
|mlad'''ejch''' státech<br />''mladých státech''
|mlad'''ejch''' ženách<br />''mladých ženách''
|mlad'''ejch''' zvířatech<br />''mladých zvířatech''
|-
!Instrumental
|mlad'''ejma''' lidma<br />''mladými lidmi''
|mlad'''ejma''' státama<br />''mladými státy''
|mlad'''ejma''' ženama<br />''mladými ženami''
|mlad'''ejma''' zvířatama<br />''mladými zvířaty''
|}

''mladý člověk – young man/person, mladí lidé – young people, mladý stát – young state, mladá žena – young woman, mladé zvíře – young animal''

===Bohemian dialects===
[[File:Getrzich slatinskey.png|thumb|right|A headstone in [[Český Krumlov]] from 1591. The inscription features the distinctive Bohemian diphthong &nbsp; {{IPA|/ɛɪ̯/}}, spelled {{angle bracket|ey}}.]]
{{further|Chod dialect}}
Apart from the Common Czech vernacular, there remain a variety of other Bohemian dialects, mostly in marginal rural areas. Dialect use began to weaken in the second half of the 20th century, and by the early 1990s regional dialect use was stigmatized, associated with the shrinking lower class and used in literature or other media for comedic effect. Increased travel and media availability to dialect-speaking populations has encouraged them to shift to (or add to their own dialect) Standard Czech.<ref>{{Harvnb|Eckert|1993|pp=143–144}}</ref>

The [[Czech Statistical Office]] in 2003 recognized the following Bohemian dialects:<ref name="map">{{cite web|title=Map of Czech Dialects|url=http://www.osu.cz/fpd/kcd/dokumenty/cestinapositi/kuldanova/mapka_01.htm|date=2003|publisher=Český statistický úřad ([[Czech Statistical Office]])|access-date=July 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201000809/http://www.osu.cz/fpd/kcd/dokumenty/cestinapositi/kuldanova/mapka_01.htm|archive-date=December 1, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
*''Nářečí středočeská'' (Central Bohemian dialects)
*''Nářečí jihozápadočeská'' (Southwestern Bohemian dialects)
:*''Podskupina chodská'' ([[Chod dialect|Chod]] subgroup)
:*''Podskupina doudlebská'' ([[Doudleby]] subgroup)
*''Nářečí severovýchodočeská'' (Northeastern Bohemian dialects)
:*''Podskupina podkrknošská'' ([[Krkonoše]] subgroup)

===Moravian dialects===
{{main|Moravian dialects}}
{{see also|Lach dialects|Cieszyn Silesian dialect}}
[[File:Moravian dialects.png|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Traditional territory of the main dialect groups of Moravia and Czech Silesia. Green: Central Moravian, Red: East Moravian, Yellow: [[Lach dialects|Lach (Silesian)]], Pink: [[Cieszyn Silesian]], Orange: Bohemian–Moravian transitional dialects, Purple: Mixed areas]]
The Czech dialects spoken in [[Moravia]] and [[Silesia]] are known as [[Moravian dialects|Moravian]] (''moravština''). In the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]], "Bohemian-Moravian-Slovak" was a language citizens could register as speaking (with German, Polish and several others).<ref>{{Harvnb|Kortmann|van der Auwera|2011|p=714}}</ref> In the 2011 census, where respondents could optionally specify up to two first languages,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Zvoníček |first1=Jiří |title=Sčítání lidu a moravská národnost. Přihlásíte se k ní?  |url=https://kromerizsky.denik.cz/ctenar-reporter/scitani-lidu-a-moravska-narodnost-prihlasite-se-k-ni-20210330.html |newspaper=Kroměřížský Deník |date=30 March 2021 |access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref> 62,908 Czech citizens specified Moravian as their first language and 45,561 specified both Moravian and Czech.<ref name="obyvatelstvo">{{cite web|url=http://vdb.czso.cz/sldbvo/#!stranka=podle-tematu&tu=30629&th=&v=&vo=H4sIAAAAAAAAAFvzloG1uIhBMCuxLFGvtCQzR88jsTjDN7GAlf3WwcNiCReZGZjcGLhy8hNT3BKTS_KLPBk4SzKKUosz8nNSKgrsHRhAgKecA0gKADF3CQNnaLBrUIBjkKNvcSFDHQMDhhqGCqCiYA__cLCiEgZGvxIGdg9_Fz__EMeCEgY2b38XZ89gIIvLxTHEP8wx2NEFJM4ZHOIY5u_t7-MJ1OIP5IdEBkT5OwU5RgH5IUB9fo4ePq4uEPNYw1yDolzhPstJzEvX88wrSU1PLRJ6tGDJ98Z2CyYGRk8G1rLEnNLUiiIGAYQ6v9LcpNSitjVTZbmnPOhmArq34D8QlDDwAG10C_KFWcoe4ugU6uPtWMLA4eni6hcSEAZ0FYe_k3OQmaGJUwUA4lOtR1sBAAA.&vseuzemi=null&void=|publisher=Český statistický úřad (Czech Statistical Office)|date=March 26, 2011|access-date=July 26, 2014|title=Tab. 614b Obyvatelstvo podle věku, mateřského jazyka a pohlaví (Population by Age, Mother Tongue, and Gender)|language=cs}}</ref>

Beginning in the sixteenth century, some varieties of Czech resembled Slovak;<ref name="tuebingen"/> the southeastern Moravian dialects form a continuum between the Czech and Slovak languages,<ref name="Kortmann Auwera 516">{{Harvnb|Kortmann|van der Auwera|2011|p=516}}</ref> using the same declension patterns for nouns and pronouns and the same verb conjugations as Slovak.<ref name="tartu">{{cite web|last=Šustek|first=Zbyšek|title=Otázka kodifikace spisovného moravského jazyka (The question of codifying a written Moravian language)|publisher=[[University of Tartu]]|year=1998|url=http://www.britskelisty.cz/9809/19980914d.html|language=cs|access-date=July 21, 2014}}</ref>

A popular misconception holds that eastern Moravian dialects are closer to Slovak than Czech, but this is incorrect; in fact, the opposite is true, and certain dialects in far western Slovakia exhibit features more akin to standard Czech than to standard Slovak.<ref name="rejzek" />

The [[Czech Statistical Office]] in 2003 recognized the following Moravian dialects:<ref name="map"/>
*''Nářečí českomoravská'' (Bohemian–Moravian dialects)
*''Nářečí středomoravská'' (Central Moravian dialects)
:*''Podskupina tišnovská'' ([[Tišnov]] subgroup)
*''Nářečí východomoravská'' (Eastern Moravian dialects)
:*''Podskupina slovácká'' ([[Moravian Slovakia|Moravian Slovak]] subgroup)
:*''Podskupina valašská'' ([[Moravian Wallachia]]n subgroup)
*''Nářečí slezská'' (Silesian dialects)

===Sample===
In a 1964 textbook on Czech [[dialectology]], Břetislav Koudela used the following sentence to highlight phonetic differences between dialects:<ref>{{Harvnb|Koudela|1964|p=173}}</ref>

{|border="0"
|-
| Standard Czech: || ''D'''ej''' m'''ou'''k'''u''' z'''e''' m'''lý'''na na voz'''í'''k.''
|-
| Common Czech: || ''D'''ej''' m'''ou'''k'''u''' z'''e''' m'''lej'''na na voz'''ej'''k.''
|-
| Central Moravian: || ''D'''é''' m'''ó'''k'''o''' z'''e''' m'''lé'''na na voz'''é'''k.''
|-
| Eastern Moravian: || ''D'''aj''' m'''ú'''k'''u''' z'''e''' m'''łý'''na na voz'''í'''k.''
|-
| Silesian: || ''D'''aj''' m'''u'''k'''u''' z'''e''' m'''ły'''na na voz'''i'''k.''
|-
| Slovak: || ''D'''aj''' m'''ú'''k'''u''' z m'''ly'''na na voz'''í'''k.''
|-
| English: || Put the flour from the mill into the cart.
|}

===Mutual intelligibility with Slovak===
Czech and Slovak have been considered [[mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]]; speakers of either language can communicate with greater ease than those of any other pair of West Slavic languages.<ref name="Golubovic">{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1007/s11185-015-9150-9|title = Mutual intelligibility between West and South Slavic languages|journal = Russian Linguistics|volume = 39|issue = 3|pages = 351–373|year = 2015|last1 = Golubović|first1 = Jelena|last2 = Gooskens|first2 = Charlotte|doi-access = free|url = https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/25093608/golubovic_and_gooskens_2015.pdf}}</ref> Following the 1993 [[dissolution of Czechoslovakia]], mutual intelligibility declined for younger speakers, probably because Czech speakers began to experience less exposure to Slovak and vice versa.{{sfn|Short|2009|p=306}} A 2015 study involving participants with a mean age of around 23 nonetheless concluded that there remained a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages.<ref name="Golubovic" /> Grammatically, both languages share a common syntax.<ref name="tuebingen"/>

One study showed that Czech and Slovak [[lexicon]]s differed by 80 percent, but this high percentage was found to stem primarily from differing orthographies and slight inconsistencies in morphological formation;<ref>{{Harvnb|Esposito|2011|p=82}}</ref> Slovak morphology is more regular (when changing from the [[nominative case|nominative]] to the [[locative case]], ''[[Prague|Pra'''h'''a]]'' becomes ''Pra'''z'''e'' in Czech and ''Pra'''h'''e'' in Slovak). The two lexicons are generally considered similar, with most differences found in colloquial vocabulary and some scientific terminology. Slovak has slightly more borrowed words than Czech.<ref name="tuebingen"/>

The similarities between Czech and Slovak led to the languages being considered a single language by a group of 19th-century scholars who called themselves "Czechoslavs" (''Čechoslované''), believing that the peoples were connected in a way which excluded [[German Bohemians]] and (to a lesser extent) [[Hungarian people|Hungarians]] and other Slavs.<ref>{{Harvnb|Maxwell|2009|pp=101–105}}</ref> During the [[First Czechoslovak Republic]] (1918–1938), although "Czechoslovak" was designated as the republic's official language, both Czech and Slovak written standards were used. Standard written Slovak was partially modeled on literary Czech, and Czech was preferred for some official functions in the Slovak half of the republic. Czech influence on Slovak was protested by Slovak scholars, and when Slovakia broke off from Czechoslovakia in 1938 as the [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovak State]] (which then aligned with [[Nazi Germany]] in [[World War II]]), literary Slovak was deliberately distanced from Czech. When the [[Axis powers]] lost the war and Czechoslovakia reformed, Slovak developed somewhat on its own (with Czech influence); during the [[Prague Spring]] of 1968, Slovak gained independence from (and equality with) Czech,<ref name="tuebingen"/> due to the transformation of Czechoslovakia from a unitary state to a federation. Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, "Czechoslovak" has referred to improvised [[pidgin]]s of the languages which have arisen from the decrease in mutual intelligibility.<ref name="cscs">{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240751085|publisher=International Journal of the Sociology of Language|last=Nábělková|first=Mira|title=Closely-related languages in contact: Czech, Slovak, "Czechoslovak"|date=January 2007|access-date=August 18, 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref>