Origins

One of the Western Slavonic languages, Czech derives from the larger family of Slavonic languages, included in the Indo-European linguistic family. It was strongly influenced by German languages due to both geographical and historical reasons. It inherited grammatical and phonetic features from both Slavonic and German – such as cases, the three genders (masculine, feminine and neutral), etc. Its closest relative in the family is the Slovak language.

Official Language

The Czech language is official in the Czech Republic. It’s also spoken by Czech minorities in Slovakia, Canada, United States, Germany, etc. Considering recent historic realities, Czech was closely related to Slovak in the joint state of Czechoslovakia. After the announcement of the independent Czech and Slovak Republics, which followed the collapse of the Communist regime, Czech remained the only official language when it comes to state, legal and other deeds and documents, while Slovak is also officially used as a second language in financial documents.

Varieties

'Common Czech' – this is the most popular variety of the language, mainly spoken in the area of Bohemia. Other linguistic varieties are similarly based on geographical criteria. The second biggest dialect is largely spoken in the regions of Moravia and Silesia. The region of Cieszyn Silesia has its own dialect – a very specific variety known as 'Cieszyn Silesian' and spoken mainly by the Polish minority there. 'Pilsen' is another dialect, spoken in parts of Western Bohemia. Though some other dialects also exist on the territory of the Czech Republic, some of them are considered dialects of Slovak instead of Czech.

Brief History

Czech is a Slavonic language belonging to the Western Slavonic family. It has a history dating one millennium back. During its development, it suffered strong influences from German languages, which is most visible in the alphabet, as well as in some major grammatical features, differentiating it from its Eastern relatives.

The establishment of the united state of Czechoslovakia was a hallmark in the development of the language. For the entire period of coexistence, both languages – Czech and Slovak, were officially used and they inevitably influenced each other. Today, older generations still use both languages fluently, while younger ones have more and more difficulty in understanding.

Did you know?

The Czech language is one of the EU’s official tongues. It’s quite similar to Slovak and to a smaller degree, Polish and German.

The biggest communities of Czech immigrants are found in Germany, Canada and the United States.

The etymology of the name 'Czech' is quite unclear. The most popular theory is based on a legend – about the Forefather who led the tribe of the Czechs to their land.