Čeština
Czech
Slavic
Czech (Čeština) is a West Slavic language with ~10.7M speakers — sole official language of the Czech Republic. Sister to Slovak (mutually intelligible at conversational level) and Polish (West Slavic). Distinguished by syllabic consonants (vlk "wolf", smrt "death" — words without vowels), 7-case system, and complex aspect system (perfective/imperfective verb pairs). Latin orthography with diacritic háček (č, š, ž, ř, etc.) — Jan Hus 1410 reform replaced earlier digraphs. The unique consonant /r̝/ written ř is famously difficult for non-native speakers.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Czech
Water
voda
/ˈvoda/
Fire
oheň
/ˈoɦɛɲ/
Sun
slunce
/ˈslunt͡sɛ/
Moon
měsíc
/ˈmɲɛsiːt͡s/
Mother
matka
/ˈmatka/
Father
otec
/ˈotɛt͡s/
Eat
jíst
/jiːst/
Drink
pít
/piːt/
Love
láska
/ˈlaːska/
Heart
srdce
/ˈsr̩t͡sɛ/
Tree
strom
/strom/
House
dům
/duːm/
Dog
pes
/pɛs/
Cat
kočka
/ˈkot͡ʃka/
Hand
ruka
/ˈruka/
Eye
oko
/ˈoko/
Hello
ahoj
/ˈaɦoj/
Thank you
děkuji
/ˈɟɛkuji/
One
jeden
/ˈjɛdɛn/
Good
dobrý
/ˈdobriː/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Slavic languages
| Meaning | Czech | Slovak | Bosnian | Croatian | Rusyn | Serbian | Upper Sorbian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | voda /ˈvoda/ | voda /ˈvoda/ | voda /ˈvoda/ | voda /ˈʋoda/ | вода /ˈvoda/ | вода /ˈʋoda/ | woda /ˈvɔda/ |
| Fire | oheň /ˈoɦɛɲ/ | oheň /ˈoɦeɲ/ | vatra /ˈvatra/ | vatra /ˈʋatra/ | огень /ˈohenʲ/ | ватра /ˈʋatra/ | woheń /ˈvɔhɛɲ/ |
| Sun | slunce /ˈslunt͡sɛ/ | slnko /ˈsl̩nko/ | sunce /ˈsunt͡se/ | sunce /ˈsuːnt͡se/ | сонце /ˈsont͡se/ | сунце /ˈsunt͡se/ | słónco /ˈswʊnt͡sɔ/ |
| Moon | měsíc /ˈmɲɛsiːt͡s/ | mesiac /ˈmɛsɪat͡s/ | mjesec /ˈmjɛset͡s/ | mjesec /ˈmjeseːt͡s/ | місяць /ˈmʲisʲat͡sʲ/ | месец /ˈmɛsɛt͡s/ | měsac /ˈmʲɛsat͡s/ |
| Mother | matka /ˈmatka/ | matka /ˈmatka/ | majka /ˈmajka/ | majka /ˈmaːjka/ | мати /ˈmati/ | мајка /ˈmajka/ | mać /mat͡ɕ/ |
| Father | otec /ˈotɛt͡s/ | otec /ˈotɛt͡s/ | otac /ˈotat͡s/ | otac /ˈotat͡s/ | отець /ˈotet͡sʲ/ | отац /ˈotat͡s/ | nan /nan/ |
| Eat | jíst /jiːst/ | jesť /jɛsc/ | jesti /ˈjɛsti/ | jesti /ˈjɛsti/ | їсти /ˈjisti/ | јести /ˈjɛsti/ | jěsć /jɛst͡ɕ/ |
| Drink | pít /piːt/ | piť /pɪc/ | piti /ˈpiti/ | piti /ˈpiːti/ | пити /ˈpiti/ | пити /ˈpiti/ | pić /pit͡ɕ/ |
| Love | láska /ˈlaːska/ | láska /ˈlaːska/ | ljubav /ˈʎubav/ | ljubav /ˈʎuːbaʋ/ | любов /lʲuˈbov/ | љубав /ˈʎubaʋ/ | lubosć /ˈlubɔst͡ɕ/ |
| Heart | srdce /ˈsr̩t͡sɛ/ | srdce /ˈsr̩t͡sɛ/ | srce /ˈsr̩t͡se/ | srce /ˈsr̩t͡se/ | сердце /ˈserd͡ze/ | срце /ˈsr̩t͡sɛ/ | wutroba /ˈvutrɔba/ |
| Tree | strom /strom/ | strom /strom/ | drvo /ˈdr̩vo/ | drvo /ˈdr̩ʋo/ | древо /ˈdrevo/ | дрво /ˈdr̩ʋo/ | štom /ʃtɔm/ |
| House | dům /duːm/ | dom /dom/ | kuća /ˈkut͡ɕa/ | kuća /ˈkuːt͡ɕa/ | хыжа /ˈxɨʒa/ | кућа /ˈkut͡ɕa/ | dom /dom/ |
| Dog | pes /pɛs/ | pes /pɛs/ | pas /pas/ | pas /pas/ | пес /pes/ | пас /pas/ | pos /pɔs/ |
| Cat | kočka /ˈkot͡ʃka/ | mačka /ˈmat͡ʃka/ | mačka /ˈmat͡ʃka/ | mačka /ˈmaːt͡ʃka/ | мачка /ˈmat͡ʃka/ | мачка /ˈmat͡ʃka/ | kóčka /ˈkʊt͡ʃka/ |
| Hand | ruka /ˈruka/ | ruka /ˈruka/ | ruka /ˈruka/ | ruka /ˈruːka/ | рука /ˈruka/ | рука /ˈruka/ | ruka /ˈruka/ |
| Eye | oko /ˈoko/ | oko /ˈoko/ | oko /ˈoko/ | oko /ˈoːko/ | око /ˈoko/ | око /ˈɔkɔ/ | woko /ˈvɔkɔ/ |
| Hello | ahoj /ˈaɦoj/ | ahoj /ˈaɦoj/ | zdravo /ˈzdravo/ | bok /bok/ | Здраво /ˈzdravo/ | здраво /ˈzdraʋo/ | witaj /ˈvitaj/ |
| Thank you | děkuji /ˈɟɛkuji/ | ďakujem /ˈɟakujɛm/ | hvala /ˈxvala/ | hvala /ˈxʋaːla/ | дякую /ˈdʲakuju/ | хвала /ˈxʋala/ | dźakuju so /ˈd͡ʑakuju sɔ/ |
| One | jeden /ˈjɛdɛn/ | jeden /ˈjɛdɛn/ | jedan /ˈjɛdan/ | jedan /ˈjɛdan/ | єден /ˈjeden/ | један /ˈjɛdan/ | jedyn /ˈjɛdɨn/ |
| Good | dobrý /ˈdobriː/ | dobrý /ˈdobriː/ | dobar /ˈdobar/ | dobar /ˈdobar/ | добрый /ˈdobrɨj/ | добар /ˈdɔbar/ | dobry /ˈdɔbrɨ/ |
Word order compared
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