Language/Czech/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation
The Czech alphabet has many letters that might be a bit strange and even hard to say but don't worry, you can learn it! :)
Vowels – samohlásky
Vowel letters a, e, i/y, o, u represent sounds which are quite close to the English vowel sounds in ‘tuck, tech, tick, tock, took’ respectively. There’s no difference in sound between i and y, but the spelling affects the pronunciation of preceding d, t, n – see below. With acute signs added (á, é, í/p, ó, ú) these vowels are pronounced with longer duration: roughly like English ‘ah, eh, ee, aw, oo’. The long vowel ú is normally spelt r (with a kroufek ‘little circle’) except as the first letter in a word. Word stress is on the first vowel (long or short).
- A, Á: ano, ale, dal, dál, málo, malá
- E, É: ne, den, nese, krém, malé, milé
- I, Í/Y, O: byl/bil, syn, sýr, bílý, milý, malý
- O, Ó: ona, slovo, doma, gól, móda, haló
- U, Ú/Q: ruka, ruku, domu, dRm, úloha, domR
There are also three diphthongs (diftongy, sequences of two vowels within a single syllable) in which the first vowel, pronounced as above, moves into a very short u or w sound.
The commonest is OU:
- OU: bouda, malou, náhodou, nesou
The other two diphthongs appear in loanwords:
- AU: auto car, automobile, autobus ‘bus’, restaurace ‘restaurant’
- EU: pneumatika ‘(pneumatic) tyre’, neutralita ‘neutrality’
Other vowel letter sequences are pronounced as two syllables:
- IE: Anglie ‘England’, as if spelt -ije (for J see below)
- IO: rádio ‘radio’, as if spelt -ijo
- AO: ‘a-o’ e.g. kakao ‘cocoa’
Consonants – souhlásky
Consonant letters b, d, f, g (as in ‘good’), h, k, l, m, n, p, s (as in ‘sun’), t (as in ‘stop’), x and z are pronounced much the same as in English.
However:
K, P, and T lack the typical English ‘post-aspiration’, a slight puff of air following them, unless they come at the end of a word:
kilo, ruka, pil, koupil, ten, to, ta
but are post-aspirated in final position in words like: buk, lup, mít.
H is pronounced further back, more deeply, hollowly, than the English equivalent:
holit, haló, mnoho, nahý
CH must be distinguished from H, and is pronounced like Scottish ‘loch’ (not like a regular English CH):
chudý, chyba, ucho, chladno
R is briefly trilled, like a Scottish R, and pronounced in all positions:
rád, ruka, Karel, hora, pár, sestra, horko
Both R and L can act like vowels, creating syllables of their own:
krk, bratr, plný, nesl
One silly Czech tongue-twister suggests (misleadingly) that the language lacks vowels. The saying literally means ‘stick (your) finger through (your) neck/throat’:
Strč prst skrz krk.
QU and W turn up in occasional loanwords with retained foreign spelling. western [vestern], WC [vétsé], quasi- (pronounced and more often spelt kvazi- ).
S is pronounced [z] in words for ‘-isms’ ending in -ismus and in a few other loanwords and names:
Josef [Jozef], feminismus [feminizmus] (now also spelt -izmus)
The letter X occurs in loanwords, where it is mostly pronounced [ks], e.g. extra ‘extra’, except in words beginning in ex- plus a vowel, if the ex- is not perceived as a tacked-on prefix. Here it is pronounced [gz], e.g. existovat ‘to exist’, exil ‘exile’, exotickp ‘exotic’.
Z is as in English ‘zebra’, e.g. zebra, zima ‘winter’
Alphabet and Pronunciation
| Letter | Name | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| A a | á | /a/ |
| Á á | dlouhé á | /aː/ |
| B b | bé | /b/ |
| C c | cé | /ts/ |
| Č č | čé | /tʃ/ |
| D d | dé | /d/ |
| Ď ď | ďé | /ɟ/ |
| E e | é | /ɛː/ |
| É é | dlouhé é | /ɛː/ |
| Ě ě | ije,
é s háčkem |
/ɛ/, /jɛ/ |
| F f | ef | /f/ |
| G g | gé | /ɡ/ |
| H h | há | /ɦ/ |
| CH ch | chá | /x/ |
| I i | í,
měkké i |
/ɪ/ |
| Í í | dlouhé í,
dlouhé měkké í |
/iː/ |
| J j | jé | /j/ |
| K k | ká | /k/ |
| L l | el | /l/ |
| M m | em | /m/ |
| N n | en | /n/ |
| Ň ň | eň | /ɲ/ |
| O o | ó | /o/ |
| Ó ó | dlouhé ó | /oː/ |
| P p | pé | /p/ |
| Q q | kvé | /r̝/ |
| R r | er | /r/ |
| Ř ř | eř | /r̝/ |
| S s | es | /s/ |
| Š š | eš | /ʃ/ |
| T t | té | /t/ |
| Ť ť | ťé | /c/ |
| U u | ú | /v/ |
| Ů ů | dlouhé ú,
ú s čárkou |
/uː/ |
| Ů ů | ů s kroužkem | /uː/ |
| V v | vé | /v/ |
| W w | dvojité vé | /v/ |
| X x | iks | /ks/ |
| Y y | ypsilon,
krátké tvrdé í |
/ɪ/ |
| Ý ý | dlouhé ypsilon,
dlouhé tvrdé í |
/iː/ |
| Z z | zet | /z/ |
| Ž ž | žet | /ʒ/ |
- a, á (longer pronounced a)
- b
- c, č (like in -ch-alk)
- d, ď (check pronunciation)
- e, ě (you pronounce it like -ya-y - pronouncing the a as e), é (longer e)
- f
- g (pronounced always as in -g-oose)
- h (pronounced as in haha)
- ch (check the google translate)
- i, í (longer i)
- j (always pronounced as in -y-ay)
- k, l, m
- n, ň (sound as in -n-ew)
- o, ó (longer o)
- p, q
- r, ř (check some videos with pronunciation, this should be the hardest letter to pronounce for you)
- s, š (as -sh-ade)
- t, ť (check google translate or videos)
- u (the last sound of kn-ew-), ú (longer u), ů (longer u)
- v, w, x
- y, ý (longer y)
- z, ž (check pronunciation)
Pronunciation in several languages
| Letra / Letter | Pronúncia no Português | Pronunciation in English |
|---|---|---|
| A | como a em amor | as a in Albert |
| C | como ts em tissá | as t`s in let`s |
| Č | como tch em tcheco | as ch in chicken |
| Ě | como iê em Imbariê | as ye in yellow |
| CH | como r em rato | as h in hit |
| J | como i em igual | as i in ink |
| Ň | como nh em ninho | as nih yah |
| Ř | como r + j (juntos) | as r + zh (together) |
| Š | como ch em chá | as sh in shop |
| Ů | como uu | as oo in look |
| Ž | como j em janela | as the word je (French) |
| Á | como aa | as the letter a in bar |
| É | como ee | as the letter e in Edward |
| Ó | como oo | as oo in door |
| Ú | como uu | as oo in look |
Video
Czech Online Virtual Keyboard
Sources
http://utkl.ff.cuni.cz/~rosen/public/GGG/Czech_essent_grammar.pdf