Czech

Basics

• Czech phrasebook -- pronouncing basic letters + various short phrases
• Basic Czech phrases

Pronunciation guide

(fully copied from the Phrasebook on Wikitravel)

Pronunciation is very simple, since words are pronounced the same way as they are written. You only need to know, how to pronounce each letter.

Stress

The accent doesn't mean a vowel is stressed. It means it's long. Czech is basically an unstressed language (all syllables given equal stress), but the (light) stress is always on the first syllable.

Short Vowels

a 

like 'u' in "cup" [uh]

e 

like 'e' in "red" [eh]

i 

like 'i' in "bit" [ih]

o 

like 'o' in "bore" [oh]

u 

like 'u' in "put" [oo]

y 

same as 'i' [ih]

Long Vowels

á 

like 'a' in "far" [aa]

é 

like 'e' in "bled" [ehh]

í 

like 'ee' in "spleen" [ee]

ó 

like 'o' in "for" [ohh]

ú/ů 

like 'oo' in "pool" [ooh] ('ú' is used in the beginning of a word - "úsek" - and in loanwords - "fúze", while 'ů' is used in the middle of a word - "dům")

ý 

like 'ee' in "speed" [ee]like russian "ы" (and exactly the same pronounciation as í)

The Vowel Ěě

The Czech vowel "ě" is pronounced in one of three ways, depending on the preceding letter.

dě, tě, ně 

pronounced as though they were written ďe, ťe, ňe — the preceding consonant is softened and the e is pronounced [eh]

mě 

pronounced as though it was written mňe — a soft n, like the Spanish ñ, is inserted and the e is pronounced [eh]

in all other cases 

ě is pronounced 'ye' as in "yet" but in a middle of a word 'ie' in "miedo"

Consonants

b 

like 'b' in "bed"

c 

like 'ts' in "tsunami"

č 

like 'ch' in "child"

d 

like 'd' in "dog"

ď 

like 'd' in "duty"

f 

like 'f' in "for"

g 

like 'g' in "go"

h 

like 'h' in "help"

ch 

like 'ch' in the Scottish word "Loch"

j 

like 'y' in "yell"

k 

like 'k' in "king"

l 

like 'l' in "love"

m 

like 'm' in "mother"

n 

like 'n' in "nice"

ň 

like 'ñ' in Spanish "señor"

p 

like 'p' in "pig"

q 

like 'q' in "quest" (very rare)

r 

like Scottish 'r' (a.k.a. rolling 'r')

ř 

like 'rzh'; is like the trilled 'r' and the 'su' in " pleasure " together, the tip of your tongue should vibrate loosely. Like "diversion". (This sound is very difficult for foreigners: even young Czechs and Slovaks have trouble pronouncing it.)

s 

like 's' in "his"

š 

like 'sh' in "cash"

t 

like 't' in "top"

ť 

like 'ti' in "Tatiana"

v 

like 'v' in "victory"

w 

like 'v' in "victor" (rarely used in Czech words, however used in German-originated proper nouns - so basically German pronunciation of 'w' - or words of Polish origin)

x 

like 'cks' in "kicks"

z 

like 'z' in "zebra"

ž 

like 's' in "measure" or 'j' in French "Jacques"

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are sounds that consist of two vowels within the same syllable (like in the English word "meow").

au 

like 'ow' in "cow"

eu 

like 'eu' in Spanish "Europa"

ou 

like 'o' in "go"

The vowel groups ia, ie, ii, io, and iu in foreign words are not regarded as diphthongs, they are pronounced with Czech "j" between the vowels - 'ija, ije, iji, ijo, iju'.

Nondigraphs

sh 

is not digraph, but two separate consonats, not like the "sh" in "ship" but rather 's' followed by 'h' as in glass house.