Czech

by

Laura A. Janda

and

Charles E. Townsend

ii

iiiTable of Contents

0. Socio- and geolinguistic situation .............................................................. 10.1 Location and number of speakers................................................................................... 10.2 Relation of Czech to other languages ............................................................................. 10.3 Dialectology................................................................................................................... 10.4 Diglossia........................................................................................................................ 4

1. Phonology................................................................................................................ 51.1 Phonemes and alphabet.................................................................................................. 5

Alphabet........................................................................................................................ 5Vowels.......................................................................................................................... 6The liquids r and l ......................................................................................................... 7Consonants ................................................................................................................... 7

1.2 Phonological rules.......................................................................................................... 8Stress ............................................................................................................................ 8Glottal stop.................................................................................................................... 9Voicing phenomena ................................................................................................... 10Consonant clusters...................................................................................................... 10Vowel epenthesis........................................................................................................ 11Phonology of Colloquial Czech .................................................................................. 11

2. Morphology.......................................................................................................... 132.1 Inflectional morphology............................................................................................... 132.1.0 Morphophonemic alternations in inflection............................................................... 13

Vowel-zero alternations ............................................................................................. 13Qualitative vowel alternations ..................................................................................... 13Quantitative vowel alternations ................................................................................... 13Type 1 (half-softening) consonant alternations........................................................ 14Type 2 (full-softening) consonant alternations......................................................... 14Isolated and suppletive types....................................................................................... 15

2.1.1 Noun morphology..................................................................................................... 152.1.1.1 Masculine paradigms ............................................................................................. 15

Hard stems.................................................................................................................. 15Inanimate: rozbor analysis ....................................................................................... 15Animate: bratr brother ............................................................................................. 15Animacy ..................................................................................................................... 16Soft stems ................................................................................................................... 17Inanimate: ko basket................................................................................................ 17Animate: mal painter.............................................................................................. 17Stems alternating between hard and soft ..................................................................... 17kotel cauldron ........................................................................................................... 17Special types ............................................................................................................... 17-a virile: pednosta chief, head................................................................................. 18-e virile: zachrnce savior ........................................................................................ 18

2.1.1.2 Neuter paradigms................................................................................................... 18Hard stems.................................................................................................................. 19msto city ................................................................................................................. 19

ivSoft stems ................................................................................................................... 19Special types ............................................................................................................... 19-t-/-at- type: sln baby elephant............................................................................. 19- type: nbe waterfont ......................................................................................... 20

2.1.1.3 Feminine paradigms............................................................................................... 20Hard stems.................................................................................................................. 20ena woman ............................................................................................................. 20Soft stems ................................................................................................................... 21re rose................................................................................................................... 21Feminine nouns ending in a consonant ....................................................................... 21Nsg in zero, -e/ type: dla palm of hand................................................................. 21Nsg in zero, -i type: kost bone.................................................................................. 21

2.1.1.4 Nouns of variable or indeterminate gender............................................................. 222.1.2 Adjectival morphology.............................................................................................. 222.1.2.1 Long form adjectives.............................................................................................. 22

Hard stems.................................................................................................................. 23druh second; other.................................................................................................. 23Soft stems ................................................................................................................... 23prvnfirst.................................................................................................................. 23

2.1.2.2 Short form adjectives and possessive adjectives .................................................... 23Short form adjectives .................................................................................................. 23nemocn ill ............................................................................................................... 23Possessive adjectives .................................................................................................. 23bratrv brothers...................................................................................................... 24

2.1.2.3 Comparatives and superlatives............................................................................... 24Comparative adjectives................................................................................................ 24Superlative adjectives.................................................................................................. 25

2.1.2.4 Deadjectival adverbs .............................................................................................. 25Adverbs formed from adjectives................................................................................. 25Comparative adverbs................................................................................................... 25Superlative adverbs..................................................................................................... 26

2.1.3 Pronominal morphology ........................................................................................... 26Personal, reflexive, and interrogative pronouns .......................................................... 26First person................................................................................................................. 26Second person............................................................................................................. 26Third person................................................................................................................ 27Reflexive pronoun....................................................................................................... 27Interrogative pronouns: kdo who and co what....................................................... 27Possessive pronouns................................................................................................... 27mj my (tvjthy, your has the same endings) ....................................................... 28n our (v your has the same declension) .......................................................... 28Demonstrative pronoun............................................................................................... 29ten this, that, the........................................................................................................ 29Relative and other pronouns........................................................................................ 29sm oneself .............................................................................................................. 29vechen all .................................................................................................................. 29

2.1.4 Numeral morphology................................................................................................ 30Cardinal numerals ....................................................................................................... 31jeden one .................................................................................................................. 31

vdva two..................................................................................................................... 31ti three and tyi four............................................................................................ 31Ordinal numerals......................................................................................................... 32Indefinite numerals ..................................................................................................... 32Other numerals ........................................................................................................... 32

2.1.5 Verbal morphology................................................................................................... 332.1.5.1 Conjugation classes................................................................................................ 34

TYPE I - SUFFIXED with 1sg -m........................................................................... 35TYPE II - SUFFIXED with 1sg -m .......................................................................... 35TYPE III - SUFFIXED with 1sg -u/-i........................................................................ 35TYPE III - NONSUFFIXED with 1sg -u/-i............................................................... 35Irregular verbs: ........................................................................................................... 36Imperative formation................................................................................................... 37Gerunds and active participles..................................................................................... 37

2.1.5.2 Negation................................................................................................................. 372.1.5.3 Aspectual derivation............................................................................................... 38

Formation of perfectives ............................................................................................. 38Formation of imperfectives ......................................................................................... 38

2.1.5.4 Motion verbs.......................................................................................................... 392.1.6 Uninflected parts of speech....................................................................................... 402.2 Derivational morphology ............................................................................................. 422.2.1 Derivational morphology of nouns, adjectives, and verbs......................................... 432.2.1.1 Prefixes for nouns, adjectives, and verbs............................................................... 432.2.1.2 Derivation of nouns ............................................................................................... 46

Derivation of nouns from nouns, adjectives, and verbs .............................................. 46Suffixes and Endings for Masculine Nouns ............................................................... 47Suffixes and Endings for Neuter Nouns..................................................................... 49Suffixes and Endings for Feminine Nouns................................................................. 51Derivation of nouns from adverbs, prepositional phrases, and numerals.................... 54Derivation of nouns via compounding........................................................................ 55Derivation of diminutive and augmentative nouns ...................................................... 56

2.2.1.3 Derivation of adjectives.......................................................................................... 57Derivation of diminutive, augmentative, and attenuative adjectives............................. 58Derivation of possessive adjectives............................................................................. 58Derivation of compound adjectives............................................................................. 58

2.2.1.4 Derivation of adverbs and pronouns...................................................................... 582.2.1.5 Derivation of verbs ................................................................................................ 59

Verbs derived with the reflexives se and si ................................................................. 59Factitives in -it............................................................................................................. 60Becoming and being verbs in -at, -it, -t, -nout .................................................... 60Diminutive verbs......................................................................................................... 61Foreign borrowings and neologisms with -ovat ......................................................... 61

2.3 Morphology of Colloquial Czech................................................................................. 612.3.1 Inflection of nouns.................................................................................................... 612.3.2 Inflection of adjectives and adverbs .......................................................................... 62

druhej second; other................................................................................................. 622.3.4 Inflection of pronouns............................................................................................... 632.3.5 Inflection of numerals ............................................................................................... 632.3.6 Inflection of verbs..................................................................................................... 63

vi

3 Syntax ....................................................................................................................... 653.1 Syntax of noun phrases................................................................................................ 653.1.1 The nominative case.................................................................................................. 653.1.1.1 Naming functions................................................................................................... 653.1.1.2 The subject of a clause ........................................................................................... 653.1.1.3 The predicate of copula sentences .......................................................................... 663.1.1.4 Comparison and apposition.................................................................................... 663.1.2 The genitive case....................................................................................................... 663.1.2.1 Source meanings involving from ..................................................................... 663.1.2.2 Goal meanings involving to ............................................................................. 67

Verbs that Require the Genitive .................................................................................. 67Verbs that Can Govern the Genitive or the Accusative............................................... 68

3.1.2.3 Whole meanings involving of, possession, and category membership............. 683.1.2.4 Reference meanings involving at with dates and other reference points........... 693.1.3 The dative case.......................................................................................................... 693.1.3.1 Experiencer meanings involving to and for ................................................... 70

Synonyms and Near-Synonyms of give................................................................... 70Synonyms and Near-Synonyms of take................................................................... 71Words Meaning give self to ..................................................................................... 72Words Meaning take self from................................................................................. 72Words Expressing the Giving of Messages, Money, Gifts......................................... 73Verbs Expressing Benefit ........................................................................................... 73Verbs Expressing Harm.............................................................................................. 74

3.1.3.2 Competitor meanings involving against and to.............................................. 75Words Expressing Matched Forces ............................................................................ 75Words Expressing Inclination, Submission ................................................................ 76Words Expressing Domination................................................................................... 76

3.1.4 The accusative case ................................................................................................... 763.1.4.1 Destination meanings involving to, for and the direct object............................ 773.1.4.2 Dimension meanings involving through, during ............................................. 783.1.5 The vocative case ..................................................................................................... 793.1.6 The locative case and place meanings involving in, on, at ................................... 793.1.7 The instrumental case................................................................................................ 803.1.7.1 Means meanings involving through, by........................................................... 813.1.7.2 Label meanings involving like, as .................................................................... 823.1.7.3 Accompaniment meanings involving with ....................................................... 823.1.7.4 Proximal landmark meanings involving before, behind, above, under, between833.2 Numeral syntax............................................................................................................ 843.2.1 The syntax of cardinal numerals................................................................................ 843.2.2 The syntax of telling time.......................................................................................... 853.3 Intraclausal syntax........................................................................................................ 863.3.1 Word order in declarative clauses.............................................................................. 863.3.2 Negative clauses........................................................................................................ 863.3.3 Interrogative clauses.................................................................................................. 873.3.4 Commands, requests, and hopes............................................................................... 873.3.5 Passives, reflexives, reciprocals, intensives, and causatives...................................... 883.4 Interclausal syntax........................................................................................................ 89

vii3.4.1 Coordination ............................................................................................................. 893.4.2 Subordination............................................................................................................ 893.4.3 Relative clauses......................................................................................................... 913.5 Syntax of Colloquial Czech.......................................................................................... 92

4 Texts........................................................................................................................... 95Literary Czech Text............................................................................................................ 95Colloquial Czech Text...................................................................................................... 100

Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... 105

Bibliography ........................................................................................................... 105

10. Socio- and geolinguistic situation

0.1 Location and number of speakersCzech is the official language of the Czech Republic, which is bordered by Austria, Germany,Poland, and Slovakia (see map in 0.3). In 1996 the population of the Czech Republic numberedover 10.3 million, and there are significant emigre populations abroad, particularly in the USA,Canada, and Australia. The Czech Republic began its independent existence in 1993 when itsseparation from Slovakia broke up the former Czechoslovakia.

0.2 Relation of Czech to other languagesGenetically, Czech is a West Slavic language (West Slavic includes Czech, Slovak, Sorbian, andPolish; East Slavic includes Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian; South Slavic includes Slovene,Macedonian, Bulgarian, and the language traditionally known as Serbo-Croatian). The people ofMoravia were the first Slavs to achieve literacy in their own tongue when, in 862, twoByzantine missionaries, St. Cyril and St. Methodius, arrived to baptize them and translate forthem liturgical texts into what we now know as Old Church Slav(on)ic, a South Slavic languagecomprehensible to all Slavs at the time. The saints mission was short-lived and Moravia,increasingly under Frankish control and the jurisdiction of the Pope of Rome, soon establishedthe use of Latin and the Latin alphabet. The introduction of diacritical marks to make the Latinalphabet more versatile (s and sh could now be distinguished by s versus ), is associated withthe early 15th century theologian Jan Hus. In 1526, the crowning of Ferdinand I as King ofBohemia marked the beginning of the control of the Czech lands by the Habsburg dynasty, andthe pressure to enforce the use of German at the expense of Czech mounted over the followingcentury until, after the defeat at White Mountain in 1620, the Czech language went into a periodof two hundred years of decline and disuse. Not until the National Revival beginning in theearly 19th century did Czech begin to reassert itself as a literary and official language.

The long period of domination by German-speaking authorities, during which Czech waseclipsed from the public arena, and the fact that much more than half of the perimeter of thenation borders on German-speaking lands, resulted in a pronounced German influence on Czechwhich, though particularly apparent in slang and colloquial lexicon and also manifest in calquesand syntactic loan-translations, has also had a pronounced influence on the languages grammarand syntax.

Czechs closest genetic relative is Slovak, and until the 18th century Czech served as theliterary language for both nations. Since 1918, up until the Velvet Divorce of 1993, Czech andSlovak were fairly equally represented in the Czechoslovak media, so that Czechs and Slovakscould acquire at least a passive knowledge of each others languages. Still, Slovak was certainlyinfluenced more by Czech than Czech by Slovak, though the former did adopt a few wordsfrom the latters lexicon.

Between 1948 and 1989 the political dominance of the Soviet Union and years ofcompulsory Russian classes in Czech schools brought Russian words into Czech despiteconsiderable resistance to this influence. At the present time, though, English is by far thelargest source of borrowings into Czech.

0.3 DialectologyAs will be noted from the map, most of the peripheral zones of the Czech Republic belong to nospecific dialect group. These border areas (the so-called Sudeten lands; gray areas on map) wereformerly inhabited by German speakers ousted at the end of World War II and then resettled byCzech speakers from various other parts of the country. Although there are many other featuresin the dialectal differentiation, the two largest dialect groups can be classified according to their

2differing treatment of certain etymologically long vowels (length is indicated by acute accentmark) as Bohemian (the central and western dialects upon which the standard language is based)and Hank Moravian (the eastern dialects). Both dialect groups have raised original long midvowels, but whereas Hank Moravian has also lowered original long high vowels, Bohemianhas diphthongized these vowels:

Bohemian: > ej > / > ou >

vs.

Hank Moravian: > > / > >

These two dialects can be seen as two stages in the development of high and mid vowels, wherethe Moravian dialects show the more complete evolution:

Diphthongizations in Czech(dotted lines indicate changes completed in Hank dialects)

The Lachian Silesian and mixed Polish-Czech dialects of the northeast serve as a transition toPolish, characterized as they are by loss of vowel length, penultimate stress and consonantismsimilar to Polish. The Moravian-Slovak dialects of the southeast serve as a transition to Slovak,characterized by retention of and of back vowels after palatal consonants.

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40.4 DiglossiaAfter the protracted domination of Czech by German in the 17th-18th centuries, Czechs wentback to their Kralice bible of the 16th century as a model for constructing their modern literarylanguage in the 19th century. Vernacular Czech had, of course, continued to evolve in theintervening two centuries, and there is, hence, a pronounced gap between the spoken and literarylanguages in all aspects of the language: phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon. Incomparison with the vowel shifts experienced in the Bohemian dialects, for example, only >() has been fully realized in the literary language; > ou is almost entirely restricted to non-initial positions, > / is not realized in most phonological and morphological environments,and > ej is entirely absent. Recent orthographic manuals have suggested acceptance of certainphonological and morphological colloquial features in written texts, and a number of previouslysamizdat dictionaries of slang and colloquialisms have been published addressing lexicalissues, but the gap between the two codes remains considerable. This grammar of Czech willfocus primarily on Literary Czech (LCz), but will note some of the most important deviationscommon in Colloquial Czech (CCz).

51. Phonology

1.1 Phonemes and alphabetAlphabetThe following table compares the forty-two Latin graphemes in the Czech alphabet with the IPAsymbols that designate their sounds:

a [a] g [g] o [o] u [U] [a] h [h] [o] [u]b [b] ch [x] p [p] [u]c [ts] i [I] qu [k],[kv] v [v] [tS] [i] r [r] w [v]d [d] j [j] [rZ] x [ks]d, d, d [] k [k] s [s] y [I]e [e] l [l] [S] [i] [e] m [m] t [t] z [z] [e] n [n] t, t, t [c] [Z]f [f] , n []

When length is present in foreign words it is not consistently indicated in the orthography,especially when it involves [o] and [u]: telefon [telefon]\[telefon] telephone, kultura[kUltura]\[kUltUra] culture.

The graphemes i, and y, both represent /I, i/, the result of a historic merger of two once-distinct phonemes; these letters do, however, serve as diacritics for the consonant graphemes t,d, and n. Sequences of ti, di, ni indicate /cI /, /I /, /I /, in which the corresponding palatalreplaces the dental, and this is true for syllables with long vowels as well. When y follows theseconsonant graphemes, the expected dentals are pronounced. Compare the following examples:

ty [tI] you N ti [cI] you Ddl [dil] longer CCz dl [il] partpny [panI] men Apl pni [paI] menNpl

When i appears after t, d, and n in foreign words, the shift to palatals does not take place:direktor [dIrektor] director. In combination with other consonant letters i vs. y does notindicate any phonological distinctions:

pyl [pIl] pollen pil [pIl] he dranksrov [sirovi] cheese adj. srov [sirovi] sulphur adj.bl [bili] white

Nsgmascbl [bili] white

Nplanim

The vowel letters i and are not spelled after h, ch, k, and r; and y and are not spelled after c, ,j, , , and .

The grapheme serves a similar diacritic purpose, but it is restricted only to short syllables,and in addition to signalling the substitution of a palatal for a dental, after the labial graphemes itsignals the insertion of [j] (after b, p, v, and f) and [] (after m). Compare the following uses ofe and :

6tele [tele] calf tle [cele] body Lsgpoklade [poklade] treasure Vsg poklad [poklae] treasure Lsgtdne [tidne] week Gsg tdn [tide] weeklyhrabe [hrabe] digs hrab [hrabje] countfez [fez] fez harf [harfje] harp DLsgkape [kape] drips kp [kapje] hoodvenit [ventSIt] take out vnit [vjentSIt] crownmech [mex] moss mch [mex] bellows

The graphemes t, t , d, d, and are used to indicate [c], [] and [] when they appearbefore a back vowel, before a consonant, or in word-final position. t and t are just twodifferent ways of representing the same letter, depending upon what sort of font or typewriter isavailable; the same is true for d and d.

before a back vowel before consonant or word-finaltpat ortpat

[capat] toddle zaplatmeorzaplatme

[zaplacme] lets pay!

tukat ortukat

[cUkat] tap zaplatorzaplat

[zaplac] pay!

dbel ordbel

[abel] devil zaidmeorzai dme

[zarZIme] letsorganize!

Whereas the presence or absence of a diacritic is ignored in alphabetizing vowel letters (forinstance e, , and are all alphabetized as if they were a single grapheme), the presence of adiacritic gives a consonant letter its own distinct place in the alphabet, directly after the sameconsonant letter without the diacritic. Thus is alphabetized after c, is alphabetized after r, isalphabetized after s, and is alphabetized after z. However t, t , d, d, and constitute anexception to this rule, and they are alphabetized like t, d and n.

The grapheme ch is considered for all practical purposes (alphabetization, crosswordpuzzles, etc.) a single letter.

The graphemes g, q, w, and x appear only in foreign words.

Vowels (foreign elements are in parentheses)

short vowels long vowelsi u ,

e o ()a

diphthongsij ej aj oj uj j (eu) (au) ou

Czech has a classic five-vowel system, consisting of short a, e, i/y, o, u and long , , /, , /.Length is phonemic and in most instances indicated by an acute accent. Long / can be written in initial position or after a prefix (zk narrow, zatovat calculate), but elsewhere (dmhouse Nsg, domhouse Gpl, where it continues Late Common Slavic o). Long occurs inforeign borrowings (prza prose) and sometimes in emphatic usage (me lots CCz vs.moe sea). The primary (phonemic) distinction between the two vowel subsystems is one ofquantity, but in the case of the high vowels short i/y vs. long / and short u vs. long / there isa perceptible phonetic difference as well. Czech generally does not tolerate vowel chains; thereare no vowel chains in native roots, and where two vowels meet at a morpheme boundary

7(when a prefix ending in a vowel is added to a stem beginning with one), a glottal stop isusually inserted to separate them: neomyln [ne?omIle] without error. The diphthong ou is anative sequence (nhodou by chance), and foreign borrowings have introduced au (autoautomobile) and eu (leukmie leukemia). Since the back glide [u`] is restricted to diphthongs,its existence is non-distinctive and therefore sub-phonemic, acting as an allophone of u; it doesnot enjoy the status of the front glide j. Czech has six diphthongs ending in j, two of which arerelatively rare, aj (hraj play!) and j (mj my), plus the widespread ej (dlej do!), ij (ijsew!), oj (dojmov emotional), and uj (miluj love!). In foreign words presenting vowelchains containing i, if the chain begins with i, Czech pronunciation inserts a non-orthographic j:materil [materIjal] material, biologie [bIjologIje] biology Nsg, biologii [bIjologIjI]biology Asg; if the chain ends with i followed by a consonant, it is pronounced as j: detail[detajl] detail, pleistocn [plejstotsen] pleistocene.

The liquids r and lThe liquids r and l can participate in both syllable peaks (as vowels) and slopes (as consonants).As vowels, they are only short (length is not phonemic) and occur only between non-vocalicelements (after a consonant and before another consonant or word boundary: krk neck, neslhe brought, hence there are no initial syllabic liquids). Vocalic m is possible in two words:sedm seven and osm eight, but the usual pronunciation is [sedUm], [osUm].

Consonants

labials dentals palatals velars laryngealsobstruents: stops p b t d t d k g h fricatives f v s z ch affricates c trill+fricative sonorants: glide j nasal m n lateral l trill r

Stops are not aspirated.The most pervasive type of assimilation is certainly voiced vs. voiceless (described below

in 1.2). These assimilations produce voiced allophones for unpaired obstruents in the chart: [dz]for c (leckdo [ledzgdo] anyone), [dZ] for (lba [ledZba] cure), and voiceless [r9S] for (ke [ker9S] bush. The remaining two unpaired obstruents, ch and h, to some extent serve aspartners, despite their disparate places of articulation. But while the devoicing of h is commonand regularly produces ch [x] (Bh [bux] God), the voicing of ch is both less frequent andless clear in its result. It appears that the assimilative voicing of ch can, particularly after i, yield[V] (abych byl[abIVbIl] so that I would) as well as [h]; alternatively there may be no voicing atall. There are two more sounds which should be added to the inventory of consonants, but areclearly subphonemic: [N], which is purely a positional variant of n before a velar (tank [taNk]tank), and the glottal stop [/] which is recommended but not obligatory before word-intialvowels and between vowels at the prefix boundary, and is not indicated in the orthography.

(moe [morZe] sea), along with its voiceless allophone [r9S] (kou [kour9S] smoke) is anunusual item, and Czech is the only European language to have this sound. It is a unit phoneme,

8which means that it is simultaneously a dental and a palatal. is usually the last sound acquiredby Czech children and its mispronunciation constitutes over 50% of their speech defects(Palkov 1994: 347, 350). Also rather unusual in languages and very difficult for foreigners topronounce are the palatal stops d and t.

F is similar to [dz] and [dZ], in that it exists in Slavic words almost entirely as a voicingpartner of v and is phonemic only in foreign borrowings. It does, though, appear in at least onenative root (etymologically derived from a consonant cluster), doufat hope, and the number ofnon-native and nativized stems (as in telefonovat telephone, trefit hit) with f is vastly largerthan that of [dz] and [dZ]. In the past few centuries initial f has also figured in a number of nativeonomatopoetic creations, such as foukat blow, fret buzz, and funt snort. The situation ofg (as a voiced variant of k and a sound found in many foreign words, such as gl goal insports) is similar, and this sound is also found in borrowings involving an intervocalic k in thesource language, as in plakt [plagat] or [plakat] poster. S is likewise sometimes rendered[z] in borrowings, as in disertace [dIzertatse] dissertation (optionally spelled dizertace). Thespelling of z for borrowed intervocalic s has been codified in spelling reforms for words likeuniverzita university and filozofie philosophy.

1.2 Phonological rulesStress

Stress is not phonemic and always falls on the first syllable of a phonological word.However, a variety of types of clitics makes the identification of a phonological word fairlycomplex, and there are also some exceptions to the rule, particularly when unstressed procliticsare attached to a word (e.g., the unstressed proclitic to that in the single phonological wordformed by To 'vm I know that, which is stressed on vm).

For the purposes of stress, a phonological word consists of a stress-bearing word, plusadjacent stressless words or particles. The stress-bearing words are nouns, adjectives, verbs(except auxiliaries), most adverbs, prepositions of two or more syllables, numerals, non-cliticpronouns, and some conjunctions; these words can and normally do bear stress. There are threetypes of stressless words which participate with the stess-bearing words in the formation ofphonological words:

a) most conjunctions, the word pan Mr. (e.g., pan 'Novk Mr. Novk), some adverbs(depending on context) and some possessives and forms of the demonstrative and indefinitepronouns ten, vechen (when followed immediately by the word modified, as in vechen 'chlball the bread) are stressless and form a phonological word with the following stressed wordand whatever enclitics follow it, but remain stressless (unlike the pre-posed items in b);

b) monosyllabic prepositions and the pre-posed negative particle ne- are not intrinsicallystress-bearing, but, when present, take over the stress of the following intrinsically stressedelement, e.g., 'Znm ho I know him when negated becomes 'Neznm ho I dont know him,and 'tvrtek Thursday in the presence of a preposition becomes 've tvrtek on Thursday;

c) enclitic pronouns, conditional and past tense auxiliary forms follow the first stress-bearing word in a clause; these act as additional unstressed syllables in the phonological wordand are totally dependent (cannot appear in initial position). There are also semi-dependentenclitics, primarily to that, prepositional phrases and some other elements (including certainadverbs) that may attach to the first stressed phonological word in a clause; the stress of theseitems varies (to is usually unstressed, the remaining semi-dependent enclitics frequently beartheir own stress).

9Thus a phonological word contains the following maximal structure:

{ a)-type stressless proclitic +b)-type stressless word receiving stress +stress-bearing word, stressed on first syllable in absence of b) +c)-type stressless enclitics }

The following phonological words illustrate the various possible combinations:

a) + b) + stress-bearing word + c)a 'nedala jsi mu hoand not-gave AUX him itand you didnt give it to him

a) + b) + stress-bearing worda 'nevdland not-knewand he didnt know

a) + stress-bearing word + c)pan 'Star byMr. Star AUXMr. Star would

a) + stress-bearing wordta 'knihathat bookthat book

b) + stress-bearing word + c)'do koly bychto school AUXto school I would

b) + stress-bearing word'na parkovition parking-lotat the parking-lot

stress-bearing word + c)'Dal by ti togave AUX you itHe would give it to you

The placement of the c)-type enclitics is governed by both phonology and syntax/semantics. Thedefault position is immediately following the first stress-bearing word in a clause, but this rule isoverridden whenever it would involve inserting an enclitic between the constituents of asyntactic/semantic unit. Thus the enclitic auxiliary jsem appears only after the fourth stress-bearing word in the following sentence:

Tu 'knihu 'o apkov 'ivot a 'tvorb jsem 'neetl.that book about apeks life and work AUX not-readI havent read that book about apeks life and work.

Glottal stopThe glottal stop [/] marks morpheme boundaries at the beginning of words and morphemescommencing with a vowel. Though not obligatory, it can serve a distinctive function (enhancingthe distinction between a diphthong and a vowel chain), as in:

proud proud[prou`i] vs. [pro/Ui]root proud + ending prefix pro + root ud + ending (s/he/it) gushes (s/he/it) will smoke through

(adapted from Palkov 1994: 192)

10Word-internally, the glottal stop appears primarily after prefixes ending in a vowel (as in theabove example) or j. Word-initially, the glottal stop will devoice a voiced obstruent: v Americe[f/amerItse] in America, od Aleny [/ot/alenI] from Alena. Even speakers who do not usethe glottal stop devoice these obstruents.

For speakers who use the glottal stop consistently as prescribed, all syllables have the shapeof CV or CVC (where C can stand for a consonant, including the glottal stop or a consonantcluster).

Voicing phenomenaVoiced-voiceless assimilations constitute the most consistent and widespread phonotacticphenomenon in Czech, yet are not reflected in the orthography. Only obstruents participate invoicing phenomena; sonorants neither participate nor condition these assimilations (contrast:smna [smena] shift vs. zmna [zmena] change). The exceptional obstruent phoneme vparticipates (can be devoiced: plavky [plafkI] swimsuit), but cannot condition voicing (svoje[svoje] own, not *[zvoje]). Voicing phenomena create positional allophones also forobstruents unpaired for voicing; e.g., h and ch act as voicing partners (cf. snh [six], snhu[sehU] snow Nsg, GDLsg), although the latter may be realized as [V], as mentioned above in1.1.

Regressive voicing takes place word-internally and across prefix/preposition boundarieswhen the last consonant in a cluster of obstruents is voiced: kdo [gdo] who, lba [ledZba]cure, sbalit (prefix s + root bal) [zbalIt] pack, s bratrem [zbratrem] with brother, k dtem[getem]to the children.

Devoicing takes place word-finally, and devoicing is regressive word-internally and acrossprefix/preposition boundaries when the last consonant in a cluster of obstruents is voiceless:sjezd [sjest] conference, tv [tvar9S] cheek, podstatn (prefix pod + root stat) [potstatni]essential, nad sochou [natsoxou`] above the statue.

Progressive devoicing involves only the following initial consonant clusters: sh- ch-, k-,sk-, p-, sp-, t-, st-. Devoicing is regular for after word-initial voiceless obstruents (initialclusters of c- and - do not exist): step [str9Sep] shard, k [kr9SiS] cross. Althoughprogressive devoicing is the norm for sh- (shnt [sxaet] seek), there are several commonwords that observe the usual regressive voicing rule (shora [zhora] from upstairs).

Consonant clustersIn contrast to its avoidance of vowel strings, Czech has a remarkable tolerance for consonantclusters, permitting strings of four and even five distinct consonants: nad hbetem[nadhrZbetem] over the back, s ptrosem [spStrosem] with the ostrich.

Regular assimilation in place of articulation occurs in the word-internal backing of n to [N]before velars: spnku [spaNkU] sleep Gsg. Note also the combination of assimilation andsimplification of consonant clusters that occur across the prefix-root boundary, such as rozit[roSirZIt] spread.

The remaining assimilations or simplifications are limited to more specific environments orlexical items, and some of these modifications (particularly the latter ones) are consideredcolloquial: the initial j- in consonant clusters is omitted (jsem [sem] I am, jdeme [deme] weare going, jmno [meno] name; - dissimilates to [S] in the word tyi [StIrZI] four; vzp-simplifies to [sp-] in vzpomenout [spomenou`t] recall; jablko apple is pronounced [japko];etc.

There is a tendency to simplify geminate consonants; this tendency is stronger root-internally and weaker across morphological boundaries: panna [pana] virgin, but

11poddstojnk [poddustojik] sergeant. This tendency is often observed in the spelling offoreign borrowings: tenis [tenIs] tennis, komunismus [komUnIsmUs] communism.

Vowel epenthesisAn epenthetic e can be inserted between a prefix or preposition ending in -C and a followingmorpheme beginning in C-, however there is no good rule for predicting this, since similar andsometimes even the same environment will show forms both with and without the vowel:

vejt vs. vjetprefix v + walk prefix v + rideenter (on foot) enter (by conveyance)sebhnout vs. sbhnoutprefix s + run prefix s + runrun down run down

Epenthesis is regular only before the oblique forms of the 1sg personal pronoun, and somewhatless regular before forms of vechen all: nade mnou above me, but nade vm / nad vmabove all.

The presence of the same consonant or a voiced/voiceless counterpart makes epenthesismandatory: ve front in line, beze slov without words, ze zpadu from the west. Epenthesisis optional when the prepositions s and z are followed by the similar consonants and : sekolou or s kolou with the school, se enou or s enou with the wife.

The preposition k toward can have u as its epenthetic vowel in certain set expressions withnouns in initial p-: ku podivu to (ones) surprise; otherwise the normal e appears: ke stolu or kstolu to the table, ke mn to me. The regular morphophonemic alternation of e with a zero inmorphemes is discussed in Chapter 2.

Phonology of Colloquial CzechThe primary phonological difference between literary and colloquial Czech is that the former hasmore fully realized the vowel changes of the Bohemian dialects presented in 0.3, producing amore balanced system for long vowels and diphthongs. Whereas Literary Czech has shiftedonly its long back vowels ( > / and > ou), Colloquial Czech has carried out thecorresponding changes in its long front vowels as well, producing > / and > ej. Since bothetymological and figure as essential components in the inflectional (and to a lesser extentderivational) morphology of Czech, these vowel changes also play a prominent role indifferentiating the morphologies of the two registers of Czech. The following is an inventory ofthese and other significant phonological features of the spoken language. For more details, thereader is referred to Townsend 1990: 23-47 and Sgall&Hronek 1992: 30-37.

1) > /. The result is usually spelled after velars and r (see spelling rules above) andafter t, d, n (since it does not condition the shift to palatals), but i, elsewhere (though spellingsvary after l). This change is quite consistent, regardless of position: LCz mlko : CCz mlkomilk; LCz nst : CCz nst carry; LCz dobr : CCz dobr good Nsgn. This vowel change isresisted in foreign borrowings and also a few native roots, which retain even in the spokenlanguage: malr misfortune (cf. French malheur), lk medicine.

2) > ej. Although the vast majority of examples involve as the etymological source, afterc, l, s, z, and this change can include > ej: LCz ctit : CCz cejtit feel; LCz ztra : CCz zejtratomorrow; LCz sto : CCz sejto sieve. This change is also reasonably consistent: LCz mdlo: CCz mejdlo soap; LCz mal : CCz malej small, although it is resisted in most nounsprefixed in v- and some others: vbr choice, dka dagger. Recent borrowings such as rmacold, k kitsch do not reflect > ej, but older ones often do, as in LCz brle : CCz brejle

12glasses (cf. German Brille) and LCz re : CCz reje rice(cf. older German ris, modernGerman Reis); however, the paucity of examples makes it hard to state this as a rule.

3) > ou in initial position. Whereas literary Czech avoids this change in initial position, itis occasionally implemented in the spoken language: LCz ad : CCz ouad office; LCz zk :CCz ouzk narrow. This change, however, is stylistically marked, inconsistently realized, andis gradually dying out.

4) V-prothesis before initial o-. Initial o- tends to develop a prothetic back glide in thespoken language, maximally realized as v, although this is sometimes avoided when a v followsthe initial o: LCz ocas : CCz vocas tail, but only ovoce fruit and ovem of course (and notealso the LCz word otec father which is replaced in CCz by tatnek or tta rather than receivingprothetic v-). Although not entirely consistent, v-prothesis is very common and can even includesome foreign words: LCz olej : CCz volej oil. It can also occur at the preposition/prefixboundary: LCz do o : CCz do vo into eyes, LCz poodejt : CCz povodejt step aside. Incontrast, the (etymologically) prothetic j in initial je is dropped in colloquial Czech in the LCzword jet : CCz et still, but this is an isolated example.

5) Length adjustments. The spoken register can both shorten vowels that are long in literaryCzech, and lengthen vowels that are short. Shortening of long vowels is fairly common when itinvolves > i and > u in desinences: LCz prosm : CCz prosim I ask; please, LCz stol :CCz stolu tables Gpl; however shortening of other vowels and outside of desinences issporadic and optional: LCz kat : CCz kat/ikatsay, LCz spolhat : CCz spolhat/spolehat.Note that shortening can also take place after > /, producing i/y: LCz novm: CCznovm/novym new Lsgm/n. Vowel lengthening is less common and largely restricted toparticular words and expressive contexts: LCz dvee: CCz dve door, LCz nahoe : CCznahe upstairs.

6) Consonant adjustments. Consonants in certain clusters tend to be deleted both word-initially and word-internally, particularly in high-frequency words: LCz kdy : CCz dy when;if, LCz dbn: CCz bn pitcher, LCz kter : CCz kerej which, LCz vezmu : CCz vemu Itake, LCz zvltn : CCz zvln or zltn peculiar. On occasion more drastic truncations areobserved: LCz njak : CCz kej some, LCz lovk : CCz k person. Word-finally spokenCzech regularly drops the final lin masculine past forms: LCz vedl : CCz ved [vet] he led.Initial s followed by a stop may appear as in foreign words: LCz student : CCz tudent. Otherconsonantal adjustments are restricted to specific lexical items: LCz ensk : CCzenckfemale, LCz sahat : CCz ahat touch. The status of most of these consonantadjustments is less a reflection of the norms of CCz than a result of the dynamics of rapid andrepeated pronunciation.

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2. Morphology

2.1 Inflectional morphologyInflectional morphology is expressed in terms of synthetic terminal desinences which are addedto the stems of inflected parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, verbs, and most pronouns.Inflectional desinences conflate all relevant categories (gender, number, and case for nouns andadjectives; person and number for non-past conjugations; and gender, person, and number forpast conjugations) and consist of from zero to three morphemes. All native autosemantic stemsare inflected, as are the vast majority of foreign borrowings, sometimes with the help of a nativesuffix which gives them a stem characteristic of the part of speech they belong to. Uninflectedborrowings, some of which are cited below, are rare.

2.1.0 Morphophonemic alternations in inflectionVowel-zero alternationsRoots, suffixes, and (as mentioned in 1.2) prefixes and prepositions can all produce alternationsof e with a zero; this alternation, particularly in roots and suffixes, is identified with specificmorphemes: beru I take: brt take (infinitive), pes dog Nsg : psi dogs Npl, otec fatherNsg : otce father Gsg, deska board Nsg : desek boards Gpl. On rare occasions there maybe two vowel-zero alternations operative in consecutive syllables: vec cobbler Nsg : evcecobbler Gsg.

Qualitative vowel alternationsThese alternations are evident in comparison of historically hard-stem (ending in b, d, f, g, h,ch, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, z) and soft-stem (ending in b, c, , d/d, j, l, m, n/, p, , s, , t/t, v, z,) paradigms (note that b, d, m, l, s, t, v, z appear on both lists and are associated with both hardand soft stems). This distinction is active in all classes of inflected words. Where the hard-stemand soft-stem paradigms differ, the hard stems will combine with desinences starting with aback vowel, whereas the soft stems will combine with desinences commencing in acorresponding front vowel . Despite the fact that they are phonologically indistinguishable, y/counts as a back vowel, and i/ as a front vowel. Hard stems can combine with both e and e/(note that e/ is spelled after b, d, f, m, n, p, t, v, but e elsewhere):

a vs. e/ moucha fly Nsg vs. prcework Nsgnesa carrying pres gerund vs. dkuje thanking pres gerundta that Nsgf vs. nae Nsgf

vs. druh second Nsgf vs. prvn first Nsgfe/ vs. i moue fly DLsg vs. prci work DLsgo vs. e/ moucho fly Vsg vs. prce work Vsgu vs. i nesu I carry vs. dkujiI thank

mouchu fly Asg vs. prci work Asgtu that Asgf vs. nai our Asgf

ou vs. mouchou fly Isg vs. prac work Isgyvs. i vbory committee Ipl vs. koi basket Ipl

stoly tables Npl vs. psi dogs Nplvs. druh second Nsgm vs. prvn first Nsgm

Quantitative vowel alternationsDue to historical factors, some of these alternations also involve qualitative shifts. The last twoalternations are rare in inflection, limited primarily to stem shortening in imperatives:

vs. a prce vs. prac work Nsg vs. Isg

14 vs. e nst carry vs. nesu I carry vs. e/ snh vs. snhu snow Nsg vs. Gsg vs. o hl vs. hole cane Nsg vs. Gsgou vs. u koupit buy vs. kup buy! vs. y mlit se err vs. myl se err! vs. i navtvit visit vs. navtiv visit! vs. u rozplit splitvs. rozpulsplit!

Type 1 (half-softening) consonant alternationsType 1 alternations are characteristic of declension and appear primarily in the Nplanim ofnouns and adjectives, the Dsg, Lsg, and Lpl of nouns, and the formation of adverbs andcomparatives from adjectives. They are also encountered in past passive participles of verbs init and in imperatives. In this alternation, labials add j or , dentals shift to palatals, and velarsshift to dentals or palatals:

p vs. pj hloup stupid vs. hloup stupidlyb vs. bj skladba vs. skladb composition Nsg vs. DLsgf vs. fj harfa vs. harfharp Nsg vs. DLsgv vs. vj krva vs. krv cow Nsg vs. DLsgm vs. m strm steep vs. strmj steepert vs. t studenty vs. studenti student Apl vs. Npld vs. d hrd proud vs. hrd proudlyn vs. krlovna vs. krlovnqueen Nsg vs. DLsgr vs. sestra vs. seste sister Nsg vs. DLsgk vs. c kluk vs. kluci, klucch boy Nsg vs. Npl, Lplh vs. z drah dear vs. draze dearlyg vs. z Olga vs. Olze OlgaNsg vs. DLsgch vs. tich quiet vs. tie quietlysk vs. t rusk vs. rut Russian Nsgm vs. Nplanimck vs. t anglick vs. anglit English Nsgm vs. Nplanim

Type 2 (full-softening) consonant alternationsIn Type 2, the dental/palatal stops lenite partially (t/t vs. c) or fully (d/d vs. z), whereas allothers shift toward palatals. These alternations are typically found in the Vsg of masculinenouns, passive participles (and associated deverbal nouns), possessive adjectives, comparativeadjectives, and the non-past conjugation of certain verbs.

t/t vs. c platit pay vs. placen paidd/d vs. z hodit throw vs. hozen throwns vs. vysok high vs. vy higherz vs. mazat smear vs. mau I smearn vs. Hana Hana vs. Hanin Hanas Nsgmr vs. mistr vs. miste master Nsg vs. Vsgsl vs. l poslat sendvs. polu I send (rare)st/st vs. t istit clean vs. itn cleanedzd/zd vs. d jezdit ride vs. jedn ridingk vs. hezk pretty vs. hez prettierc vs. chlapec vs. chlapeboy Nsg vs. Vsgh vs. lhtlie vs. lu I lieg vs. Olga Olga vs. OlinOlgas Nsgmch vs. such dry vs. su drier

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Isolated and suppletive typesSome more drastic morphophonemic alternations exhibiting vowel-zero or consonantalternations or both involve small classes of words or single lexical items; these are much morefrequent among verbs than nouns.

vec vs. evce cobbler Nsg vs. Gsg est vs. ctihonorNAsg vs. GDLsgpst write vs. pu I write hnt chase vs. enu I chasevzt take vs. vezmu I take vs. vzal took

krt cover vs. kryji I cover vs. kryl covered

t live vs. ijiI live vs. il lived zat begin vs. zanuI begin vs. zaalbegan

moci be able vs. mohl could vs. me you can

pci bake vs. pekl baked vs. pee you bake

mst sweep vs. metu I sweep jst eat vs. jm I eat vs. jedl ate

2.1.1 Noun morphologyAll nouns have grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), and with very fewexceptions (a handful of undeclinable borrowed words) all are declined for both number(singular, plural; though some words occur only in one of the numbers, e.g., nky scissors,which is plural only) and case (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, locative, andinstrumental). Each gender has its own set of characteristic paradigms, including hard-stemtypes, soft-stem types, and special types. Masculine paradigms in addition regularly signalanimacy. The vocative is formally distinct only in the singular. Below we discuss the paradigmsfor masculine, neuter, and feminine adding notes on case/number endings which requirecommentary. The paradigms below are intended to be representative, but there is considerablevariation in many paradigms, and it is often hard to establish a definitive norm.

2.1.1.1 Masculine paradigms

Hard stemsInanimate: rozbor analysissg pl

N rozbor rozboryG rozboru rozborD rozboru rozbormA rozbor rozboryV rozboreL rozboru rozborechI rozborem rozbory

Animate: bratr brothersg pl

N bratr bratiG bratra bratrD bratrovi/-u bratrmA bratra bratryV brateL bratrovi/-u bratrechI bratrem bratry

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AnimacyMasculine paradigms distinguish animate from inanimate in the singular through nominative-accusative syncretism for inanimates, as opposed to genitive-accusative syncretism for animates,and in the plural through special Npl endings (-i, -, -ov) for animate nouns. Variant endings inthe Gsg, Dsg, and Lsg also contribute to readings of animacy vs. inanimacy, although theimplementation of these endings does not always follow the exact parameters of the distinctionand may involve other factors. Simply stated, the class of animates includes all male (orgrammatically masculine) living creatures capable of motion (i.e., non-vegetable). In the case ofvery small creatures, such as bacil bacillus, mikrob microbe animacy is open tointerpretation. There are additionally several classes of facultative animates, nouns which refer toinanimate objects but display animate endings. Animal names used to refer to inanimatesregularly produce this phenomenon: konek little horse; hobby is animate in both meanings.Most other facultative animates show some close connection to human males, in terms ofappearance (snhulk snowman, masek puppet), existence of homonyms referring to malehumans (talin Italian; Italian sausage, which motivates facultative animacy for other sausages,such as vut wurst), and stereotypes of male-pattern behavior (drinking of alcohol: pankshot; smoking of cigarettes: moud drag from a cigarette; card-playing: ferbl name of a cardgame; sports: kraul crawl (swimming); and mathematics: nsobenec multiplicand).Facultative animacy primarily involves the GAsg and to a lesser extent the Npl, but does notalways extend to the DLsg.

Gsg: about 97% of inanimate masculine hard stem nouns have -u, 2% have -a, and 1%permit both endings (Janda 1996: 128). Nouns with -a include, obviously, all facultativeanimates, plus an assortment of common everyday words (zkon law, obd lunch),including, particularly, those designating buildings (kostel church), locations (Jin, Tachov),time periods (dneek today, leden January), and shapes (trojhelnk triangle).

DLsg: most animate nouns in this paradigm admit both endings. -ovi tends to be favored forviriles (male human referents), with rare but notable exceptions (lovk, lovku person, Bh,Bohu God), and can be used for most animals. In concatenations of titles and names, the lastword will have -ovi, but all others will have -u: panu doktoru Janu Novkovi Mr. Dr. JanNovk.

Lsg: 90% of inanimate masculine hard stem nouns have -u, less than 1% have -e/, andabout 9% permit both endings (Janda 1996: 148-9). Where -e/ appears it conditions Type 1alternations for velars and r, but stems ending in these consonants strongly prefer -u. More thanhalf of the stems that permit both desinences end in -s, and others end in -z, -k, -l, -r, -ch, or -n.According to Bermel (1993), among nouns that permit both desinences -e/ is typical in theexpression of familiar, predictable concrete locations, whereas -u is the default for all other uses.

Vsg: the -edesinence conditions the Type 2 alternation for stems ending in tr and c: mistr,miste! master, otec, ote! father. Velar stems have -u instead (kluk, kluku! boy), thusavoiding Type 2 alternation (but note: Bh, Boe! God; lovk, love! person).

Npl: -i is by far the most common ending for animates and conditions the Type 1alternation: student, studenti student; Polk, Polci Pole. The endings - -ov are usedprimarily with certain viriles: soused, soused neighbor; syn, synov son.

Lpl: in addition to -ech, the Lpl has the variants -ch (used with some stems ending invelars, labials, -s, -z, and -l) and -ch (used with some stems ending in velars). With velars -chconditions the Type 1 alternation, although the tendency is to replace -ch with -ch, whichobviates alternation. Compare the following Nsg and Lpl forms: prh, prazch threshold; les,lesch forest; hotel, hotelch hotel; plech, plechch metal plate.

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Soft stemsInanimate: ko basket

sg plN ko koeG koe koD koi komA ko koeV koiL koi kochI koem koi

Animate: mal paintersg pl

N mal maliG male malD malovi/-i malmA male maleV maliL malovi/-i malchI malem mali

DLsg: the distribution of -ovi vs. -i is similar to that of -ovi vs. -u in the animate hard stems,although -i is somewhat more frequent in the soft paradigm than -u is in the hard paradigm.

Lpl: some nouns in this paradigm have the desinence -ech: cl, clech goal.

Stems alternating between hard and softkotel cauldron

sg plN kotel kotle/-yG kotlu/-e kotlD kotlu/-i kotlmA kotel kotle/-yV kotliL kotlu/-i kotlech/-chI kotlem kotli/-y

Nearly all stems of this type end in l or n (emen strap, pramen source, kmen stone);one ends in t (loket elbow).

Special typesThere are two masculine paradigms with a vocalic desinence in the Nsg: the hard -a paradigmand the soft -e paradigm. Both are exclusively virile (designate male humans) and thereforeanimate.

18-a virile: pednosta chief, head

sg plN pednosta pednostovG pednosty pednostD pednostovi pednostmA pednostu pednostyV pednostoL pednostovi pednostechI pednostou pednosty

Aside from the masculine DLsg -ovi, this paradigm has feminine endings in the singular,but masculine endings in the plural.

Gsg, Apl, and Ipl: some stems in this paradigm end in consonant letters that do not combinewith y; these forms are then spelled with i, as in nicknames such as Ma, Mi Mike.

Npl: although most nouns in this paradigm use -ov, those ending in -ita and -ista use -(husita, husit Hussite, houslista, houslist violinist).

Lpl: stems ending in a velar will have -ch and the concomitant Type 1 alternation: sluha,sluzch servant.

-e virile: zachrnce saviorsg pl

N zachrnce zachrnciG zachrnce zachrncD zachrncovi/-i zachrncmA zachrnce zachrnceV zachrnceL zachrncovi/-i zachrncchI zachrncem zachrnci

DLsg: variation here parallels that of soft stem animate nouns.Npl: some nouns also admit -ov (soudce, soudci/-ov judge).

Although a few borrowings are indeclinable (ata attach, zebu zebu, tangenstangent), most foreign words decline even if their stems are incongruous with the stem shapeof native masculine nouns. Nouns ending in a vowel other than i/y will drop that vowel in allforms other than the Nsg (and Asg for inanimates) and treat the preceding consonant as stemfinal; maestro thus has a stem of maestr- to which desinences are added: GAsg maestra, DLsgmaestrovi, Vsg maestro, Isg maestrem, Npl maestrov, Gpl maestr, Dpl maestrm, AIplmaestry, Lpl maestrech. Following a similar strategy, foreign nouns ending in -us, -es, and -osusually drop those segments for all other forms in the paradigm (NAsg komunismus, GDLsgkomunismu, Vsg komunisme, Isg komunismem; NAsg hdes, GDLsg hdu, Isg hdem; NAsgkosmos, GDLsg kosmu, Isg kosmem). Foreign nouns and names ending in i/y (kuli coolie,pony pony, Billy) have a mixed declension, with adjective type endings (with short vowels) inthe singular (GAsg kuliho, Dsg kulimu, LIsg kulim), but primarily noun-type endings in theplural (Npl kuliov, Gpl kuli, Dpl kulim, Apl kulie, Lpl kuliech/-ch/-ch, Ipl kulii/-mi).

2.1.1.2 Neuter paradigmsAside from the nominative and accusative forms, the neuter paradigms have the same endings asmasculine paradigms.

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Hard stemsmsto city

sg plN msto mstaG msta mstD mstu mstmA msto mstaV mstoL mst/-u mstechI mstem msty

Nsg: a few nouns with stems ending in -en have a bookish variant Nsg form with anabbreviated stem: bemeno/bm burden; these nouns also have alternate endings Gsgbemeno/bemene, Dsg bemenu/bemeni, and Lsg bemenu/bemeni/bemen (similar to themasculine kotel type above).

Lsg: many nouns use only -e/(which conditions Type 1 alternations): okno, oknwindow; some only -u (stems ending in velars always use -u): stedisko, stedisku center.

Lpl: as in masculine nouns, -ch can appear after velars (with Type 1 alternations), and isfrequently replaced by -ch.

Nouns referring to paired body parts, such as rameno/rm shoulder, koleno knee, andprsa chest, breasts have GLpl forms ramenou/ramen, kolenou/kolen, and prsou.

ltko calf (leg) and bedrohip and some plural-only nouns (vrtka gate) admit bothneuter and feminine forms in the plural.

Soft stemsThere are two types of neuter soft stems. One type involves a very small number of nouns witha paradigm of: NGAVsg/NApl moe sea, DLsg/Ipl moi, Isg moem, Gpl mo, Dpl mom,Lpl moch. The other type involves a large number of nouns all of which are derived with -itand designate places, such as: NGAVsg/NApl letit airport, DLsg/Ipl letiti, Isg letitm, Gplletit, Dpl letitm, Lpl letitch.

Special types-t-/-at- type: sln baby elephant

sg plN sln slataG slnte slatD slnti slatmA sln slataV slnL slnti slatechI slntem slaty

The -t-/-at- type is primarily associated with names of offspring (tn puppy, nemluvninfant), although this paradigm is used for some inanimates (kot broom) and at least onevirile (kne prince).

20- type: nbe waterfontsg pl

N nbe nbeG nbe nbeD nbe nbemA nbe nbeV nbeL nbe nbechI nbem nbemi

The - type paradigm includes many deverbal nouns (placen paying) and is otherwise oftenassociated with collectives (kov bushes) and nouns with abstract meaning (zdrav health); aparticularly common source of neuter - nouns are prepositional phrases (the head noun here,nbe is derived from the prepositional phrase na behu on the bank).

Latin and Greek borrowings into the Czech neuter continue some aspects of their originaldeclensions in Czech. Nouns ending in -o, -on, and -um drop those final segments in all formsbut the NAsg and follow the standard hard declension (but those with a new stem ending in avowel have soft endings in the plural oblique cases): NAVsg enklitikon, Gsg/NApl enklitika,DLsg enklitiku, Isg enklitikem, Gpl enklitik, Dpl enklitikm, Lpl enklitikch, Ipl enklitiky; NAVsgrdio, Gsg/NApl rdia, DLsg rdiu, Isg rdiem, Gpl rdi, Dpl rdim, Lpl rdich, Ipl rdii;NAVsg muzeum, Gsg/NApl muzea, DLsg muzeu, Isg muzeem, Gpl muze, Dpl muzem, Lplmuzech, Ipl muzei. Neuter nouns ending in -ma add t to form their stem: NAVsg drama,GDLsg dramatu, Isg dramatem, NApl dramata, Gpl dramat, Dpl dramatm, Lpl dramatech,Ipl dramaty. Some neuter borrowings do not decline: kli, taxi, tabu.

2.1.1.3 Feminine paradigmsHard stems

ena womansg pl

N ena enyG eny enD en enmA enu enyV enoL en enchI enou enami

DLsg: the -e/ ending conditions the Type 1 alternation.ruka arm/hand has deviant NApl ruce and shares with noha leg special oblique plural

forms: GLpl rukou, nohou (but note also variants Gpl noh and Lpl rukch, nohch); Iplrukama, nohama.

21Soft stems

re rosesg pl

N re reG re rD ri rmA ri reV reL ri rchI r remi

Gpl: as a rule, stems ending in -ic have a zero ending instead of -: ulice, ulicstreet.Variation between zero and -is not uncommon, particularly among nouns in -yn; ptelkyngirlfriend admits both Gpl forms: ptelky/ptelkyn.

Feminine nouns ending in a consonantThere are two paradigms of feminine nouns with a zero ending in the Nsg; all such nouns end ina historically soft consonant.

Nsg in zero, -e/ type: dla palm of handsg pl

N dla dlanG dlan dlanD dlani dlanmA dla dlanV dlaniL dlani dlanchI dlan dlanmi

Nsg in zero, -i type: kost bonesg pl

N kost kostiG kosti kostD kosti kostemA kost kostiV kostiL kosti kostechI kost kostmi

The -e/ type and -i type paradigms are converging, resulting in frequent variations forwords of both paradigms in the desinences that do not match, cf. lod boat, which admits allof the following forms Gsg lodi/-, NApl lodi/-, Ipl lodmi/lodmi.

pan Mrs. is indeclinable in the singular and has the following plural forms: NGApl pan,Dpl panm, Lpl panch, Ipl panmi.

Borrowed words ending in a vowel or j + a follow a mixed hard/soft declension, e.g.: Nsgidea, Gsg idey/-je, DLsg ideji, Asg ideu, Vsg ideo, Isg ideou/-j, NApl idey/-je, Gpl idej, Dplidem/-jm, Lpl idech-jch, Ipl iedeami/-jemi. There are a few borrowed feminine indeclinablenouns: whisky, party.

222.1.1.4 Nouns of variable or indeterminate genderThree neuter nouns do not have neuter endings in the plural:

dt child: NAVsg dt, Gsg dtte, DLsg dtti, Isg dttem, NApl dti, Gpl dt, Dpldtem, Lpl dtech, Ipl dtmi

oko eye and ucho ear: both have a neuter hard stem singular (with Lsg -u) and thefollowing plural: NApl oi ui, Gpl o u, Dpl om um, Ipl oima uima.

Three pluralia tantum nouns naming holiday seasons, letnice Whitsunday, vnoceChristmas, and velikonoceEaster, are listed in dictionaries as feminine pluralia tantum,although they have Dpl -m, which is characteristic of masculine and neuter paradigms: NAplvnoce, Gpl vnoc, Dpl vnocm, Lpl vnocch, Ipl vnocemi.

Although the vast majority of names for people and animals have separate feminine andmasculine forms, there are some words that vary in gender and paradigm depending upon thegiven referent: chot spouse declines as a soft stem masculine animate when referring to ahusband, but as a feminine type ending in a consonant when referring to a wife; neika clumsyperson is an -a virile in reference to a male, but a hard stem feminine in reference to a female.Most other common gender words, such as lovk person (masculine hard stem animate) andosoba person (hard stem feminine) retain their paradigm and syntactic gender no matter whomthey refer to. Rukojm hostage can be a substantivized adjective or an - type neuter (Gsgrukojmho/-). A few inanimate nouns have more than one paradigm: potato exists as bothbrambor (hard stem masculine) and brambora (hard stem feminine), and esej essay can bedeclined as either masculine or feminine.

2.1.2 Adjectival morphologyAdjectives are declined to match the gender, case, and number of the nouns they modify.Participles are declined like adjectives. The vast majority of adjectives occur only long, althoughshort forms do exist for a few common adjectives and are the norm for predicative past passiveparticiples. Adjectives can be qualitative (describing a quality, like chytr smart, tvrd hard)or relational (describing a relationship to something, like Prask Prague, as in Prask hradPrague Castle, or mstn local, as in mstn sprva local government). Comparative andsuperlative forms and adverbs can be formed from adjectival stems; qualitative adjectives aremore likely to have these forms than are relational adjectives.

2.1.2.1 Long form adjectivesLike nouns, adjectives have both hard and soft stem paradigms. Soft stem adjectives areprimarily relational adjectives in -n (veern evening), where softness is imposed by thesuffix. Unlike nouns, adjectives do not have vocative case forms; when an adjective appearswith a noun in the vocative, the adjective is in the nominative. In combination with the Ipl offeminine and variable gender nouns having a nominal desinence in -ma, the ending fordemonstratives and adjectives is also -ma rather than the customary-mi: tma pinavmarukama with those dirty hands. There are a few foreign borrowings that do not decline, suchas fajn fine, but these are considered colloquial, and can have nativized declinable variants,such as fajnov fine.

23Hard stems

druh second; othersingular plural

masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuterN(anim:)

druh druh druh druhdruz

druh druh

G druhho druh druhho druhchD druhmu druh druhmu druhmA(anim:)

druhdruhho

druhou druh druh druh druh

L druhm druh druhm druhchI druhm druhou druhm druhmi

The Nplmasc animate conditions Type 1 alternations.

Soft stemsprvnfirst

singular pluralmasculine & neuter feminine (all genders)

N prvn prvn prvnG prvnho prvn prvnchD prvnmu prvn prvnmA(anim:)

prvnprvnho

prvn prvn

L prvnm prvn prvnchI prvnm prvn prvnmi

Possessive-relational adjectives are formed from nouns designating animals and God, and all aresoft stem adjectives: Bh God, Bo Gods; ryba fish, ryb a fishs.

2.1.2.2 Short form adjectives and possessive adjectivesShort form adjectivesShort form adjectives are built from the same stems as long form adjectives but have nominalinstead of adjectival endings. Any short forms that do exist in Czech are used only predicatively.There is only one adjective with only short forms: rd glad. Only a few other adjectives permitshort forms and these are used only predicatively in the nominative. For passive participles, asstated above, short forms are the norm in the predicate: dopis byl napsn the letter was writtenvs. napsan dopis the written letter.

nemocn illsingular short forms plural short forms

masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuterN(anim:)

nemocen nemocna nemocno nemocnynemocni

nemocny nemocna

As with long form adjectives, the Npl masculine animate ending triggers the Type 1 alternation.

Possessive adjectivesPossessive adjectives formed from names of human males (with suffix -v) and females (withsuffix -in) have a distinct paradigm that mixes short and long types:

24bratrv brothers

singular pluralmasculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter

N(anim:)

bratrv bratrova bratrovo bratrovybratrovi

bratrovy bratrova

G bratrova bratrovy bratrova bratrovchD bratrovu bratrov bratrovu bratrovmA(anim:)

bratrvbratrova

bratrovu bratrovo bratrovy bratrovy bratrova

L bratrov/-u

bratrov bratrov/ -u

bratrovch

I bratrovm bratrovou bratrovm bratrovmi

2.1.2.3 Comparatives and superlativesComparative adjectivesAll comparative adjectives end in - and, hence, decline like soft stem adjectives. The regularformant for deriving comparatives from adjectival stems is -j/-ej, which conditions the Type2 alternation for velars, but the Type 1 alternation of all other stem final consonants:

adjective gloss comparative adjective gloss comparativechytr clever chytej divok wild divoejlogick logical logitj jist certain jistjblb stupid blbj inteligentn intelligent inteligentnj

Two adjectives have a vowel alternation in the stem: bl white blej, svat holy svtj.Some adjectives form the comparative with the formant -, which often (though not

always) conditions Type 2 alternations; some adjectives can employ both -j/-ej and -.Adjectives with stems ending in -k or -ok typically drop those segments, and occasionally stem-final -n is lost as well. Stem vowels in the comparatives are always short regardless of length inthe positive form:

adjective gloss comparative adjective gloss comparativesnadn easy snaz/

snadnjmlad young mlad

such dry su ist clean ist(j)krotk tame krot/

krotejkrtk short krat

hlubok deep hlub blzk near bli

Some stems ending in -k drop the final consonant and use the formant -:

adjective gloss comparative adjective gloss comparativekehk fragile keh/

kehejhebk supple heb/

hebej

A number of common adjectives have irregular or suppletive comparative forms:

adjective gloss comparative adjective gloss comparativedalek far dal next dlouh long del

25dobr good lep patn bad horvel(i)k big vt mal small men

Adjectives that do not commonly form comparatives (particularly relational adjectives)frequently resort to an analytic paraphrase using vce more: devn wooden would thusyield the comparative vce devn.

Superlative adjectivesAll superlative adjectives are created by adding the prefix nej- to the comparative form:nejchytej cleverest, nejsnaz / nejsnadnjeasiest, nejkeh / nejkehej most fragile,nejhor worst, nejvce devn most wooden. An alternative superlative prefix sebe- is lessfrequent and more emphatic: sebelep best, sebemensmallest.

2.1.2.4 Deadjectival adverbsAdverbs formed from adjectivesDeadjectival adverbs can be formed from most qualitative adjectives and most of these adverbsadmit comparative forms as well.

Adjectives ending in -sk, -ck, and -zk form the adverb in -y: -sky and -cky can be usedwith adjectives naming languages to describe language use: esk Czech yields esky in aCzech way, as in Mluvm esky I speak Czech.

The majority of adverbs formed from adjectives are formed with -e/ (which conditionsType 1 alternations): divok wild yields divoce, blb stupid, yields blb, and dlouh longyields dlouze, as in Tato samohlska se vyslovuje dlouze That vowel is pronounced long.

Comparative adverbsOnly adverbs formed from adjectives have comparative forms, and most of these are createdwith the -eji/-jiformant. In the case of adjectival stems ending in a velar, this produces Type 2alternations; for other stems the Type 1 alternation triggered in the -e/ adverbial form remains:

adjective gloss adverb comparativedivok wild divoce divoejilogick logical logicky logitjisuch dry sue suejiblb stupid blb blbji

Alternative comparative endings are -e(conditioning Type 2 alternations) and zero; someadverbs admit all three formants, and many admit two. Note that in comparative adverbs in -ethe stem vowel is always long, regardless of the length in the base adjective.

adjective gloss adverb comparativessnadn easy snadn/snadno snadnji, snze,

snzhlubok deep hluboce hloubji, hloubzk narrow zce e, ejidrah dear draze dre, dr

The irregular comparative adverbs correspond to the adjectives with irregular comparativeformations:

26adjective gloss adverbs comparativesdalek far dalece, daleko dle, dldlouh long dlouze, dlouho dledobr good dobe lpe, lppatn bad patn he, hvel(i)k big velice, mnoho vce, vcmal small mlo mn, m

Superlative adverbsLike adjectives, adverbs form the superlative degree by prefixing comparative forms with nej-and occasionally sebe-: nejlogitji most logically, nejblbji most stupidly,nejhloubji/nejhloubmost deeply, nejlpe/nejlp, sebelpe best, nejmnleast. Adverbs thatdo not form comparatives and superlatives can achieve these degrees by means of paraphrasewith vce more and nejvce most or mn less and nejmn least.

2.1.3 Pronominal morphologyRather than constituting an independent declensional type, Czech pronouns use endings fromboth noun and adjective pardigms, and often can be said to have a mixed declensional type.

Personal, reflexive, and interrogative pronounsAll pronouns are inflected for case. Personal pronouns distinguish person and number and, inthe third person, gender as well. Personal and reflexive pronouns can occur as enclitics, and thesingular and reflexive pronouns have for the genitive, dative, and accusative cases two forms, along one restricted to non-enclitic uses, and a short stressless enclitic one.

First personsingular plural

long non-enclitic short encliticN j myG mne m nsD mn mi nmA mne m nsL mn nsI mnou nmi

Second personsingular plural

long non-enclitic short encliticN ty vyG tebe t vsD tob ti vmA tebe t vsL tob vsI tebou vmi

Ty and its forms are used only in addressing a single intimate friend, relation, or a child; vy isused both for singular as well as for plural formal address.

27Third person

singular pluralmasculine neuter feminine

long short long shortN on ono ona oni, ony, onaG jeho ho jeho ho j jichD jemu mu jemu mu j jimA jeho, jej jej, ho, - je ji jeL nm nm n nichI jm jm j jimi

The initial j- of the genitive, dative, accusative, and instrumental is replaced by n- ([])whenever a pronoun is preceded by a preposition; because the locative case appears only withprepositions, pronouns are cited only in their n- forms. Masculine accusative jej can serve inboth enclitic and non-enclitic roles; - is uncommon and restricted only to position afterprepositions ending in a vowel: na onto him/it. In the plural, gender is distinguished only inthe nominative case: oni masculine animate, ony masculine inanimate + feminine, ona neuter.

Reflexive pronounlong short

G sebe sebeD sob siA sebe seL sob sobI sebou sebou

Because the reflexive pronoun typically refers to a nominative subject, it does not have anominative (or vocative) form.

Interrogative pronouns: kdo who and co whatN kdo coG koho ehoD komu emuA koho co, -L kom emI km m

Like -, - appears only after prepositions ending in a vowel: Nen za Dont mention it (lit:Not for what). Syntactically kdo is always masculine animate singular and co is neuter singular,regardless of the gender and number of actual referents.

Possessive pronounsPossessives exist for all persons, numbers, and genders represented by personal pronouns andthe personal interrogative. Mj my and tvjthy, your share one declension type, and nour and v your share another declension type. Jeho his/its and jejich their areindeclinable. Jej her and whose decline like soft stem adjectives.

28mj my (tvjthy, your has the same endings)

singular pluralmasculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter

N(anim:)

mj m, moje m, moje m, mojem, moji

m, moje m, moje

G mho m mho mchD mmu m mmu mmA(anim:)

mjmho

mou, moji m, moje m, moje m, moje m, moje

L mm m mm mchI mm mou mm mmi

In the nominative and accusative cases for feminine and neuter in the singular and all genders inthe plural, there are variant contracted (consisting of a single long vowel) and uncontracted(consisting of oj + short vowel) forms; these forms are in free variation, although the contractedforms are more frequent in writing and uncontracted ones are encountered more often in speech.Note the length of the root vowel in the masculine singular mj, tvj, which is short o in allother uncontracted forms.

n our (v your has the same declension)singular plural

masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuterN(anim:)

n nae nae naenai

nae nae

G naeho na naeho naichD naemu na naemu naimA(anim:)

nnaeho

nai nae nae

L naem na naem naichI nam na nam naimi

Note that n, v as well as the following demonstrative and other pronouns (and numeralsjeden one and vechen all) show a mixed declensional type, with both short (for direct cases)and long (for oblique cases) endings. This type has nominal endings for the nominative andaccusative cases (with the exception of the masculine animate Asg, which follows the genitive),and adjectival endings for the remaining cases. Additionally it is characteristic that endings formasculine/neuter singular NGDAL, feminine singular NA, and all plural cases use shortvowels; but endings for masculine/neuter singular I and feminine singular GDLI follow thelong adjectival pattern. Note also the length of the root vowel in masculine singular N n, v,which is short in all other forms (sm oneself, presented below, shows the same shortening).

29Demonstrative pronoun

ten this, that, thesingular plural

masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuterN(anim:)

ten ta to tyti

ty ta

G toho t toho tchD tomu t tomu tmA(anim:)

tentoho

tu to ty ty ta

L tom t tom tchI tm tou tm tmi

Ten participates in various compounds with affixed -to here, tam- there, -hle look(emphatic), in which ten is declined as expected, among them: tento this (...here), tamten that(...there), tenhle this/that , tamhleten that (there emphatic). Ten can also be reduplicated (inwhich case it is declined in both positions), as in tenhleten this/that (emphatic).

Relative and other pronounsJen is a bookish relative pronoun which is declined like n with the final - appearing after thedesinences. The adjective kter which, that, who is usually used in place of jen. Sm oneselfis declined as a hard stem adjective (with a stem of sam-) in all oblique cases and has thefollowing endings in the nominative and accusative:

singular pluralmasculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter

N(anim:)

sm sama samo samysami

samy sama

A(anim:)

smsama/-ho

samu samo samy samy sama

Vechen all has a larger and unique paradigm (note the e > i vowel shift in the Nplmascanimate):

singular pluralmasculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter

N(anim:)

vechen vechna vechno/ve

vechnyvichni

vechny vechna

G veho v veho vechD vemu v vemu vemA vechen vechnu/