A Czech Phonetic Reader/Introduction

1. The object of this book is to record, as accurately as possible, one form of Czech pronunciation. Alternative pronunciations are shown by means of brackets. It is hoped that it will prove helpful to English readers who would like to acquaint themselves with the Czech language, literature, culture, and spirit.

2. The pronunciation recorded is that of the author, who is a native of eastern Bohemia, but who has lived a long time in Prague. Czech is a Slavonic language; its spelling is far more phonetic than English, but it has kept some historical peculiarities of old Czech which make it unphonetic. The inflections of the written language, too, show many archaisms, when compared with the simplified paradigms of popular speech.

3. Phonetic transcription is an adjunct to the study of phonetics. It is a special kind of writing based on the principle “one letter per phoneme”. Its object is to inform the reader what sequences of sounds are used in particular words and sentences.

4. Learners of the language must remember that, in order to benefit by the texts, it is essential that they ​should first be able to make the isolated Czech sounds. To do this with complete success requires a certain study of phonetic theory under the guidance of a teacher.