Czech phonetic trancription describes the methods of graphic recording of spoken languages which are used in the Czechlinguistic literature. The use of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is limited. It is applied especially in comparative phonetics and phonology.
Traditionally, the almost-perfectly phonetic Czech alphabet is used by Czech linguists. The IPA is adopted for sounds which have no letters in the Czech alphabet, or some other letters are used.
The following table shows the list of sounds that occur in standard Czech pronunciation. It compares the IPA characters with the characters used in the traditional Czech transcription. Where more possibilities are given, the first letter is used in scientific literature, the other occurs in older essays or in handbooks for lay users.
IPA
Czech transcription
Short vowels
a
e
i
o
u
Long vowels
a:, á
e:, é
i:, í
o:, ó
u:, ú
Diphthongs
??
au?, au
eu?, eu
ou?, ou
Nasals
m
?, ?
n
?
?
Plosives
p
b
t
d
?
?
k
g
?, ?
Affricates
1
c
1
?, dz
1
?
1
??, d?
Fricatives
f
v
s
z
?
?
x, ch
?
h
Trills
r
2
?
??, ?
Approximants
j
l
Syllabic consonants
r?
l?
m?
1Unofficial ligatures are sometimes used for affricates: . The actual IPA version supports using of two separate letters which can be joined by a tiebar.
2The "long-leg R" is sometimes used to record voiced <?> (unofficially). This character was withdrawn from the IPA and replaced by the "lower-case R" with the "up-tack" diacritic mark, which denotes "raised alveolar trill".
The graphemes <y> or <ý> are not used for the trancription of Czech. However, [dy], [dý], [ty], [dý], [ny] and [ný] are used in some dictionaries and handbooks to point out the fact that written <d>, <t> and <n> are not softened in foreign words:
diktát [dy-] ? read [d?kta?t], not [??kta?t]
Phonetic transcription of the English language
The following table shows the list of letters commonly used in English-Czech dictionaries. This transcription is traditional, but the IPA is also used in some dictionares and textbooks in the recent years.
IPA
Czech transcription
Short vowels
a
ć
e
i
o
u
?
Long vowels
a:
?:
i:
o:
u:
Diphthongs
au
ou
ai
ei
oi
i?
e?
u?
Nasals
m
n
?
Plosives
p
b
t
d
k
g
Affricates
?
d?
Fricatives
f
v
?
đ
s
z
?
?
h
Approximants
w
j
r
l
References
?i?ka Z. Fonetika a fonologie. Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2. vyd., Olomouc 2005. ISBN 80-244-1044-3.
Dub?da T. Jazyky a jejich zvuky. Univerzálie a typologie ve fonetice a fonologii. Karolinum, Praha 2005. ISBN 80-246-1073-6.
Karlík P., Nekula M., Pleskalová J. (ed.). Encyklopedický slovník ?e?tiny. Nakl. Lidové noviny. Praha 2002. ISBN 80-7106-484-X.
Karlík P., Nekula M., Rusínová Z. (eds.) P?íru?ní mluvnice ?e?tiny. Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, Praha 1995. ISBN 80-7106-134-4.
Fronek J. Velký anglicko-?eský slovník. Leda, Praha 2006. ISBN 80-7335-022-X.
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