A Guide to Czech Pronunciation

Notes:  * indicates the character has a hacek (such as č )  but my keyboard will not produce the character with the hacek.  The čárka, (such as á) in Czech is an indication of length, not accent.

A     a      as in father but shorter

Á     á      same as a but longer

B     b       as in bank

C     c       as ts in hats

Č     č       as ch in church

D    d         as in dime 

Ď    d*    as in duel (British Pronunciation:  "dyuel")

E     e         as in  net

É     é         as e but longer

F     f          as in fame

G    g         as in glory

  h         as in hand; unlike English h --the vocal cords vibrate

Ch  ch       as in Bach

I      i          as in it

Í      í          as in  it but longer

J      j          as in yes

K    k          as in Karla

L    l            as in let

M   m         as in man

N   n           as in n

N*   ň          as in onion

O    o          as in yodel

Ó    ó          same as o but longer

P    p          as in pear

R    r           rolled r

Ř    ř           no English equivalent, say ź and at the same time pronounce a                              rolled r; a rare and difficult sound

S    s           as in sang

Š    š           as in shoot

T    t           as in tame

T*  t*          as in tune (British pronunciation:  "tyune")

U   u          as in do

Ú   ú          as in room

V   v          as in vain

Y    y         same as i

Ý    ý         same as in í

Z    z         as in zenith

Ź    ź         same as in measure

Pronunciation guide excerpted from the book Krásná Amerika"  A Study of the Texas Czechs,  1851 -1939: by Clinton Machann and James W. Mendl and published by Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, in 1983.

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