Czech Pronunciation Guide

If you are struggling with that how to say the Czech names in the game, here is a small guide that should give you at least the basic insight about the Czech pronunciation.

(!!) Important information: Like Polish or Russian Czech is a Slavic language and that means that the words are written as they are pronounced.

Basic vowels
A = a/u (B u t, M u st, l u ck)
E = e/ea (M e n, S e t, D ea d)
I/Y = i (F i sh, Tw i ns)
U = oo/w (H oo k, Ho w)
O = o (H o t, P o t)
(!!) / Between the words means that they are pronounced exactly the same.

Long vowels – You just extend them.
Á = ah (F a rm, F a r, F a ther)
É = ai (Air, F ai ry)
Í/Ý = ee (Gr ee n, J ee p, F ea r)
Ú/ Ů = oo (F oo l, M oo n, P oo h, Y ou)
Ó = oo (M o re, D aw n)

English consonants with basicaly the same pronunciation in Czech
B, D, H, L, T, P, F, M, N, K, R

English consonants with different pronunciation in Czech
C = Ts (Ha ts, Robo ts)
G = G (Game, Get, Gothic, Gotham)
J = Y (Yes, You, Yet)
*Dž = J (John, Jeep, Jump, Jeremy)
Ch = Pronouced as ch in Lo ch. Similar to German Ch (Na ch t, I ch , Ma ch en)

Special Czech consonants
Š = Sh (She, Shakespeare, Ship)
Č = Cz/Ch (China, Czech, Check, Chat)
Ž = Zh (Ple asu re, Rou ge , Barra ge )
Ď = Dy (Dew – Dyoo)
Ň = Ny/French gn (Avi gn on, Lasa gn a, New - Nyoo)
Ť = Ty (Tune – Tyoon)

Only used in foreign words
Q, W, X

Super extra hard consonant
Ř - I have no idea how to explain this particular letter to you. :smiley: But I´ve found this video that might help you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhp2Von-KpY .

Edit: Part 2.

Ě
This letter cannot be spoken on his own. He must be attached to B, N, M, P, V, F or D.

  • Vě, Fě, Bě and Pě are written instead of Vje, Fje, Bje and Pje.
  • Tě, Ně and Dě are written instead of Ťe, Ňe and Ďe.
  • Mě is written instead of Mňe.

And here is a summary of the letters, including a my personal attempt to transcribe them into English.

Bě = Bje = Byeh
Ně = Ňe = Nyeh
Mě =Mňe = Mnyeh
Pě =Pje = Pyeh
Fě =Fje = Fyeh
Vě =Vje =Vyeh
Dě = Ďe =Dyeh

Some Practice

Try to say some of these Czech personal names that will most likely be in the game. Remember that the Czech words are always written as they are pronounced. :wink:

Jan
Libuše
Zbyšek
Jaromír
Matyáš
Matěj
Zdeněk
Eliška
Anežka
Magdaléna
Štěpán
Alžběta
Čeněk
Michaela

For a control put them in a Google translator and you have a big congratulations from my side if the pronunciation agrees. :wink:

So that´s it. I´m glad if this little article helped you :wink: and i´m sorry for my absolutely terrible English. :smiley:

11 Likes

Yes there is “U” in “How” but not on the place of “O”, but "W"
So it is pronounced /Hau/

Otherwise nice topic!

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Yes, I misclicked that. Thanks for response :wink:

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Wow, great job! Keep it up ;).

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Thanks a lot. :grinning: I´ve also finally finished and added to the guide a final second part that describes the letter Ě and adds some practice. Happy reading. :wink:

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Very useful, thank you :smiley:

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You’re welcome. :wink:

2 Likes