Enabling a Keyboard for Czech Characters

For Personal Computers running a Windows Operating System--

From the Start Menu select Settings and then Control Panel

From Control Panel select Keyboard.

From Keyboard select Language.

Double click on Add, Select Czech from the drop down menu.

Apply the change and your keyboard should be enabled.

A small blue box with “EN” should appear in the lower right corner of your screen.

Click on the blue box and you should receive two prompts “EN” for English and “CS” for Czech. This is how you turn on and off the Czech fonts.

Locating and Creating Czech Alphabet Characters

Once you "enable" your keyboard and then change the language from English to Czech, you just have to learn what key produce what diacritic.

For example, the "number line" across the top of the keyboard in English types out, "1234567890-=" If I use change the language to Czech, the top line reads out, "+ěščřžýáíé=" In Cap Lock in English it is: "1234567890-=" In Czech, Cap Lock types out "+ĚŠČŘŽÝÁÍÉ= ´"

When you hit the "+=" key, you will not produce a character when set for the Czech language. That key is important though because if you hit it first and then another alpha key that second alpha key will be created with a čárka (the accent mark) over the that letter. For example, if one first hits the "+=" key and the "c" key, the following character is produced "ć".

Although I am not well educated in this area, I have generally found that the keyboard when set for the Czech language will produce most all diacritics that are grammatically correct. We Texas Czechs have been noted for reversing the use of the čárka and the háček, the keyboard serves as a reminder for me to "Czech" my spelling (smile).

There is another diacritic used in the Czech language but not as frequently as the čárka and the háček. It is the kroužek (small circle) used to mark a long "u" sound. To produce this character, in the Czech language mode, simply hit the ":;" key to create a "ů" This diacritic comes up in some place names such as one of my villages of origin "Jablůnka."

The most frustrating thing for me about using the Czech language setting is that the "y" and "z" keys are reversed. If you don't remember this, you wind up with some really weird looking words!

Oh yes, for those of us who are just learning, we wonder why there are these diacritic marks. They really indicate how an alphabet character is pronounced. A čárka applied to a vowel lengthens the sound of that vowel and the háček (when applied to a "s" "z" "c" "r") changes where the tongue is placed on the roof of the mouth and the air flow and thus the sound of that character. A háček is also used over the letter "e" when combined with letters "d" "t" and "n." Also, a čárka is also used over those three consonants "d" "t" and "n."

You also need to use a font which has the Czech characters. Times New Roman, should work. For sending messages to Europe, you will need to work with a Unicode.

Susan Rektorik Henley

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	How to Enable a Keyboard to Produce Czech Language Characters

	For Personal Computers running a Windows Operating System-- From the Start Menu select Settings and then Control Panel From Control Panel select Keyboard. From Keyboard select Language. Double click on Add, Select Czech from the drop down menu. Apply the change and your keyboard should be enabled. A small blue box with “EN” should appear in the lower right corner of your screen. Click on the blue box and you should receive two prompts “EN” for English and “CS” for Czech. This is how you turn on and off the Czech fonts. Locating and Creating Czech Alphabet Characters Once you "enable" your keyboard and then change the language from English to Czech, you just have to learn what key produce what diacritic. For example, the "number line" across the top of the keyboard in English types out, "1234567890-=" If I use change the language to Czech, the top line reads out, "+ěščřžýáíé=" In Cap Lock in English it is: "1234567890-=" In Czech, Cap Lock types out "+ĚŠČŘŽÝÁÍÉ= ´" When you hit the "+=" key, you will not produce a character when set for the Czech language. That key is important though because if you hit it first and then another alpha key that second alpha key will be created with a čárka (the accent mark) over the that letter. For example, if one first hits the "+=" key and the "c" key, the following character is produced "ć". Although I am not well educated in this area, I have generally found that the keyboard when set for the Czech language will produce most all diacritics that are grammatically correct. We Texas Czechs have been noted for reversing the use of the čárka and the háček, the keyboard serves as a reminder for me to "Czech" my spelling (smile). There is another diacritic used in the Czech language but not as frequently as the čárka and the háček. It is the kroužek (small circle) used to mark a long "u" sound. To produce this character, in the Czech language mode, simply hit the ":;" key to create a "ů" This diacritic comes up in some place names such as one of my villages of origin "Jablůnka." The most frustrating thing for me about using the Czech language setting is that the "y" and "z" keys are reversed. If you don't remember this, you wind up with some really weird looking words! Oh yes, for those of us who are just learning, we wonder why there are these diacritic marks. They really indicate how an alphabet character is pronounced. A čárka applied to a vowel lengthens the sound of that vowel and the háček (when applied to a "s" "z" "c" "r") changes where the tongue is placed on the roof of the mouth and the air flow and thus the sound of that character. A háček is also used over the letter "e" when combined with letters "d" "t" and "n." Also, a čárka is also used over those three consonants "d" "t" and "n." You also need to use a font which has the Czech characters. Times New Roman, should work. For sending messages to Europe, you will need to work with a Unicode. Susan Rektorik Henley Home