DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Even Greener Pastures
HTML https://evengreener.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Questions about the Use of Language
*****************************************************
#Post#: 9064--------------------------------------------------
Standard vs Common Czech
By: Nikola Date: November 10, 2018, 7:46 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I've been asked by no one less than the Global Moderator herself
to shed some light on this because in my italki profile, I say
that I teach both Standard and Common Czech. So what's the
difference?
Standard Czech is the codified, "proper" language used in media,
formal documents, non-fiction literature etc. It was
standardised and codified during the Czech National Revival in
the late 18th - early 19th century. It's called National Revival
because we were so heavily Germanised at the time and the Czech
language had been almost entirely eradicated from state
administration, schools, literature etc.
Common Czech (sometimes erroneously referred to as Colloquial
Czech) is not just a set of colloquialisms. It is an actual
dialect (interdialect really) that is spoken in Bohemia, the
western half of the Czech Republic, including the capital,
Prague. It is not codified but its "rules" or tendencies have
been described in literature and are fairly consistent. It is
how people speak absolutely everywhere within the area, unless
in a very formal situation. If Standard Czech were used in an
informal setting, say at a pub in Prague, it would be considered
awkward or inappropriate. The difference between Standard and
Common Czech is quite big, and is mostly of morphological or
phonological nature. Certain letters are added or omitted and
certain suffixes (word endings) change, depending on gender,
number and grammatical case. Standard Czech: "s mladými lidmi"
changes to "s mladejma lidma" ("with young people"). The real
colloquial language can affect whole words ("dům" vs
"barák" = a house).
The problem is that the eastern part of the country happens to
really like Standard Czech - they still have dialects there but
very different to Common Czech and I'd say more subtle - and
often really dislike Common Czech. They use Standard Czech even
in informal settings without it sounding awkward. Teachers who
come from those areas will automatically teach their students
Standard Czech which is fine if their students visit the same
town they live in. If they go to Prague without any knowledge of
Common Czech, they will be lost. Not only will they sound
awkward, they will not understand what others are saying. That's
why I explain this to my students and let them decide, whether
they want Standard Czech only or both. It usually depends on
whether they're actually planning on visiting the country or
not. Those who already live here, usually ask for "Prague" Czech
automatically.
It's a very unique situation and it cannot be compared to how
countries with multiple small dialects function. Having one
"Common" language that half (possibly even more) of the
population speak 90% of the time is something worth mentioning
to potential students, in my opinion.
#Post#: 9065--------------------------------------------------
Re: Standard vs Common Czech
By: Allie Date: November 10, 2018, 8:12 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Diploma in mischief, likes Sarcasm and wine…
I wouldn’t have noticed anything else after that, had the
Common/Standard Czech not been brought to my attention.
I love this kind of things. I may even give Czech a try.
Thanks for the explanation, Nikola.
A toast to you!
#Post#: 9071--------------------------------------------------
Re: Standard vs Common Czech
By: Aliph Date: November 10, 2018, 1:18 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Nikola, is common Czech also a written language?
In which language do contemporary authors write?
What about Milan Kundera before he started to write in French?
Was it standard Czech for the Unbearable Lightness of Being?
And sorry for my ignorance, is Slovak a completely different
language ?
#Post#: 9073--------------------------------------------------
Re: Standard vs Common Czech
By: Alharacas Date: November 10, 2018, 2:48 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Fascinating, Nikola! Thank you so much for the answer. :)
By the way, is there a book about the history of the Kingdom of
Bohemia/Czechia you can recommend?
Trying to look up the history of your country on wikipedia made
me (once again) aware of the gaping holes in what I know about
the history of Europe - I remember being taught at school that
the Defenestration of Prague caused the 30 Years' War and being
quite puzzled by this: why Prague of all places? So, it's high
time to try and close at least one of these gaps a little, I
think.
#Post#: 9077--------------------------------------------------
Re: Standard vs Common Czech
By: Nikola Date: November 10, 2018, 4:26 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
@Sofia
It depends on what you mean by written. It can be written
because Czech is phonetically consistent and it's very clear how
to write any kind of word. Most people prefer making the extra
effort when writing text messages, by using Standard Czech
because it looks better. I'm a rebel and I write the way I speak
when I message my friends. I know quite a few people who do the
same.
Another thing worth mentioning is that it's more like a
spectrum/scale. When I explain it to my students, I draw a line
with a book on one end and a beer glass on the other,
representing the two extremes, and explain that words can be
anywhere along that line and many are neutral and therefore will
never sound inappropriate.
I just checked and the Unbearable Lightness of Being seems to be
written entirely in Standard Czech, including direct speech.
Even though Standard Czech remains the main language in
literature, contemporary authors use Common Czech a lot. You can
find it in poetry, plays and direct speech in fiction. If the
main character is also the narrator, it is not unusual for the
whole novel to be written in Common Czech.
And yes, Slovak is a completely different language, not
dissimilar, but it shares many features with other Slavic
languages such as Russian that Czech doesn't. Before we became
Czechoslovakia, we didn't actually have that much in common with
Slovakia (so my Slovakian student reminded me recently, LOL -
this is someone outside italki so we discuss politics and
religion as we please).
#Post#: 9078--------------------------------------------------
Re: Standard vs Common Czech
By: Nikola Date: November 10, 2018, 5:10 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
@Alharacas
I will need to look into it because I don't know what books
there are in English or German. I'll let you know.
#Post#: 9091--------------------------------------------------
Re: Standard vs Common Czech
By: Aliph Date: November 11, 2018, 11:15 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Nikola, that is really interesting and unique. In Switzerland we
have Swiss German dialects that are spoken in every day life but
the written language learned at school is Hochdeutsch, the
standard German. Newspapers, literature use the standard German.
The exact same phenomenon is present in the whole Arabic world.
So it is quite unique to have two versions of the same language
spoken and written in such a relative small territory.
I thought that Slovak and Czech were similar. I realize I have
still many things to learn.
#Post#: 9095--------------------------------------------------
Re: Standard vs Common Czech
By: Nikola Date: November 11, 2018, 2:30 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Hochdeutsch is the equivalent of Standard Czech and Common Czech
is as if half of the people in the country spoke the same
dialect. But don't get me wrong, teachers at school will still
correct you if you try using it, and writing an essay in it is a
no go. So the rules are similar, it's just that people do it
anyway :)
#Post#: 9099--------------------------------------------------
Re: Standard vs Common Czech
By: Aliph Date: November 12, 2018, 4:29 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Nikola link=topic=600.msg9095#msg9095
date=1541968237]
Hochdeutsch is the equivalent of Standard Czech and Common Czech
is as if half of the people in the country spoke the same
dialect. But don't get me wrong, teachers at school will still
correct you if you try using it, and writing an essay in it is a
no go. So the rules are similar, it's just that people do it
anyway :)
[/quote]
I can imagine that it must be some kind of act of resistance.
Probably the Swiss German didn’t do it due to the diversity of
their dialects and the wish to be culturally integrated in a
bigger germanophone context.
*****************************************************