Help:IPA for Czech
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article used to be a joint pronunciation guide for Czech and Slovak. For the pronunciation guide for the latter language, see Help:IPA for Slovak.
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Czech language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
English approximations are, in some cases, very loose, especially for vowels. They are intended to give only a general idea of the pronunciation. See Czech phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds.
| Consonants | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Examples | Nearest English equivalent |
| b | byl | bill |
| c | lať, těšit, teď | stew (UK) |
| d | délka | delta |
| dz | podzim, noc byla[1] | heads |
| dʒ | džbán | jab |
| f | foukat, záchvěv | focus |
| ɡ | kdo, gag | gag |
| ɦ | hořet | ahead |
| j | jenom | yellow |
| ɟ | ďas, děda | dew (UK) |
| k | kolo, ping-pong | scald |
| l | lak | lack |
| l̩ | Vltava | little |
| m | mouka | mocha |
| m̩ | sedm | rhythm |
| n | nyní | ninny |
| ɲ | laň, koně | canyon |
| ŋ | Hanka | Hank |
| p | pyl, nabob | spill |
| r | robot | robot (trilled) |
| r̩ | vrba | lover (US, trilled) |
| r̝ | řeka | simultaneous [r] and [ʒ] |
| r̝̊ | chřest | simultaneous [r̥] and [ʃ] |
| s | stůl | stole |
| ʃ | šelest | shell |
| t | ten, led | stand |
| ts | cena | bats |
| tʃ | čas | chase |
| v | vítr | vittle |
| x | chomout, práh | loch |
| z | zima | zoo |
| ʒ | žár | fusion |
| Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Examples | Nearest English equivalent |
| a | matka | hatter (UK) |
| aː | máma | father |
| ɛ | let | let |
| ɛː | létat | square (UK) |
| ɪ | klid, byl | kid |
| iː | klít, být | cleat |
| o | pod | pot (UK) |
| oː | móda | thought (UK) |
| u | kup | fool (shorter), bull |
| uː | úroda, kůlna | fool |
| Diphthongs | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Examples | Nearest English equivalent |
| au | auto | out |
| ɛu | euro | say oo |
| ou | louka | local (US) |
| IPA | Stress |
|---|---|
| ˈ | Stress falls on the first syllable of a word. |
Notes[edit]
- ^ [d͡z] occurs only in loanwords and as an allophone of /t͡s/ before voiced consonants. The word "podzim" is usually pronounced with [d͡z], but a careful speaker would pronounce the two letters separately.
Bibliography[edit]
- Dankovičová, Jana (1999), "Czech", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 70–74, ISBN 0-521-65236-7
- Šimáčková, Šárka; Podlipský, Václav Jonáš; Chládková, Kateřina (2012), "Czech spoken in Bohemia and Moravia" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 42 (2): 225–232, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000102
