The Czech Alphabet - Vowels, Consonants, Diacritics & more

Q: How many letters are in the Czech alphabet?

The Czech alphabet has 42 letters in total [1] . This includes 14 vowels (5 short + 9 long) and 28 consonants, many featuring distinctive diacritical marks.

Q: What makes Czech diacritics special?

Czech diacritics have specific functions : • Acute accent (´) - lengthens vowels (á, é, í, ó, ú, ý) • Caron (ˇ) - modifies consonants (č, ď, ň, ř, š, ť, ž) • Ring (°) - creates ů (long u sound) • They change both pronunciation and meaning !

Q: What is the difference between Ú and Ů in Czech?

Both represent long "u" sounds but have different uses : • Ú - appears at the beginning of words and roots • Ů - appears in the middle or end of words • Same pronunciation but different spelling rules • Example: úkol (task) vs. stůl (table)

Q: Where is Czech spoken today?

Czech is spoken in several places: • Czech Republic - where it's the official language • Slovak Republic - widely understood due to historical connection • Czech communities worldwide in countries like USA, Canada, Austria, Germany About 10.7 million people speak Czech as their native language [3] !

Q: Is Czech difficult to learn for English speakers?

Czech has some challenges but also advantages : • Challenges: complex grammar, diacritics, consonant clusters • Advantages: phonetic spelling, consistent pronunciation • Latin script makes reading easier than Cyrillic • Once you master diacritics, pronunciation becomes predictable !

Q: What are some unique features of Czech pronunciation?

Czech has several distinctive pronunciation features : • Ř - a unique rolled "rzh" sound found only in Czech • Syllabic consonants - r and l can form syllables without vowels • Fixed stress - always on the first syllable • Consonant clusters - like "zmrzlina" (ice cream)!

Czech Alphabet at a Glance

42 letters: 14 vowels (5 short + 9 long) and 28 consonants
Spoken by approximately 10.7 million native speakers
Official language of the Czech Republic and EU official language
Uses Latin script (Czech alphabet) for writing ^[2]
Features three types of diacritics: acute accent (´), caron (ˇ), and ring (°)
West Slavic language with unique letter Ř not found in any other language
Developed during the Czech National Revival in the 19th century ^[1]

Czech Vowels (Uppercase)

Short vowel ah (uppercase)

Long vowel ahh (uppercase)

Short vowel eh (uppercase)

Long vowel ehh (uppercase)

Vowel yeh (uppercase)

Short vowel ih (uppercase)

Long vowel eeh (uppercase)

Short vowel oh (uppercase)

Long vowel ohh (uppercase)

Short vowel uh (uppercase)

Long vowel ooh (uppercase)

Long vowel ooh from historical ou (uppercase)

Short vowel ih - same sound as "I" (uppercase)

Long vowel eeh - same sound as "Í" (uppercase)

Czech Vowels (Lowercase)

Short vowel ah - as in "pas" (passport)

Long vowel ahh - as in "hrát" (to play)

Short vowel eh - as in "den" (day)

Long vowel ehh - as in "léto" (summer)

Vowel yeh - as in "děti" (children)

Short vowel ih - as in "pít" (to drink)

Long vowel eeh - as in "víno" (wine)

Short vowel oh - as in "oko" (eye)

Long vowel ohh - as in "dóm" (cathedral)

Short vowel uh - as in "ruka" (hand)

Long vowel ooh - as in "ústa" (mouth)

Long vowel ooh - as in "můj" (my), from historical ou

Short vowel ih - as in "syn" (son), same sound as "i"

Long vowel eeh - as in "být" (to be), same sound as "í"

Czech Consonants (Uppercase)

Czech Consonants (Lowercase)

[ahh]

[cheh]

[dyeh]

[ehh]

[yeh]

[eeh]

[nyeh]

[ohh]

[rzh]

[sheh]

[tyeh]

[ooh]

[eeh]

[zheh]

[ahh]

Long vowel /aː/ with acute accent

[cheh]

Voiceless postalveolar affricate with caron

[dyeh]

Palatalized consonant with caron

[ehh]

Long vowel /eː/ with acute accent

[yeh]

Vowel with caron - palatalization marker

[eeh]

Long vowel /iː/ with acute accent

[nyeh]

Palatalized nasal consonant with caron

[ohh]

Long vowel /oː/ with acute accent

[rzh]

Fricative trill with caron - unique Czech sound

[sheh]

Voiceless postalveolar fricative with caron

[tyeh]

Palatalized consonant with caron

[ooh]

Long vowel /uː/ with acute accent

[ooh]

Long vowel /uː/ with ring above - from historical ou

[eeh]

Long vowel /iː/ with acute accent

[zheh]

Voiced postalveolar fricative with caron

[AHH]

[CHEH]

[DYEH]

[EHH]

[YEH]

[EEH]

[NYEH]

[OHH]

[RZH]

[SHEH]

[TYEH]

[OOH]

[EEH]

[ZHEH]

[AHH]

Long vowel /aː/ with acute accent (uppercase)

[CHEH]

Voiceless postalveolar affricate with caron (uppercase)

[DYEH]

Palatalized consonant with caron (uppercase)

[EHH]

Long vowel /eː/ with acute accent (uppercase)

[YEH]

Vowel with caron - palatalization marker (uppercase)

[EEH]

Long vowel /iː/ with acute accent (uppercase)

[NYEH]

Palatalized nasal consonant with caron (uppercase)

[OHH]

Long vowel /oː/ with acute accent (uppercase)

[RZH]

Fricative trill with caron - unique Czech sound (uppercase)

[SHEH]

Voiceless postalveolar fricative with caron (uppercase)

[TYEH]

Palatalized consonant with caron (uppercase)

[OOH]

Long vowel /uː/ with acute accent (uppercase)

[OOH]

Long vowel /uː/ with ring above - from historical ou (uppercase)

[EEH]

Long vowel /iː/ with acute accent (uppercase)

[ZHEH]

Voiced postalveolar fricative with caron (uppercase)

Letters with Acute Accent (Čárka)

Long vowel /aː/ - as in "hrát" (to play)

Long vowel /aː/ (uppercase)

Long vowel /eː/ - as in "léto" (summer)

Long vowel /eː/ (uppercase)

Long vowel /iː/ - as in "víno" (wine)

Long vowel /iː/ (uppercase)

Long vowel /oː/ - as in "dóm" (cathedral)

Long vowel /oː/ (uppercase)

Long vowel /uː/ - as in "ústa" (mouth)

Long vowel /uː/ (uppercase)

Long vowel /iː/ - as in "být" (to be), same sound as í

Long vowel /iː/ - same sound as Í (uppercase)

Letters with Caron (Háček)

Voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/ - as in "čaj" (tea)

Voiceless postalveolar affricate /tʃ/ (uppercase)

Palatalized /ɟ/ - as in "ďábel" (devil)

Palatalized /ɟ/ (uppercase)

Vowel /jɛ/ - as in "děti" (children)

Vowel /jɛ/ (uppercase)

Palatalized nasal /ɲ/ - as in "něco" (something)

Palatalized nasal /ɲ/ (uppercase)

Fricative trill /r̝/ - unique Czech sound, as in "řeka" (river)

Fricative trill /r̝/ - unique Czech sound (uppercase)

Voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/ - as in "škola" (school)

Voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/ (uppercase)

Palatalized /c/ - as in "ťapat" (to tap)

Palatalized /c/ (uppercase)

Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/ - as in "žena" (woman)

Voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/ (uppercase)

Letter with Ring (Kroužek)

Common Consonant Clusters

str

spr

škr

tř

dř

As in "most" (bridge)

As in "škola" (school)

As in "spát" (to sleep)

str

As in "strom" (tree)

spr

As in "správný" (correct)

škr

As in "škrtat" (to scratch)

tř

As in "třeba" (maybe)

dř

As in "dřevo" (wood)

As in "první" (first)

As in "bratr" (brother)

As in "krásný" (beautiful)

As in "gram" (gram)

Syllabic Consonants

[ah]

[AH]

[eh]

[EH]

[ih]

[IH]

[oh]

[OH]

[uh]

[UH]

[ih]

[IH]

[ahh]

[AHH]

[ehh]

[EHH]

[eeh]

[EEH]

[ohh]

[OHH]

[ooh]

[OOH]

[eeh]

[EEH]

[ooh]

[OOH]

[yeh]

[YEH]

[beh]

[BEH]

[tseh]

[TSEH]

[deh]

[DEH]

[feh]

[FEH]

[geh]

[GEH]

[hah]

[HAH]

[yeh]

[YEH]

[kah]

[KAH]

[leh]

[LEH]

[meh]

[MEH]

[neh]

[NEH]

[peh]

[PEH]

[kev]

[KEV]

[reh]

[REH]

[seh]

[SEH]

[teh]

[TEH]

[veh]

[VEH]

[veh]

[VEH]

[kseh]

[KSEH]

[zeh]

[ZEH]

[cheh]

[CHEH]

[dyeh]

[DYEH]

[nyeh]

[NYEH]

[rzh]

[RZH]

[sheh]

[SHEH]

[tyeh]

[TYEH]

[zheh]

[ZHEH]

[nula]

[jeden]

[dva]

[tři]

[čtyři]

[pět]

[šest]

[sedm]

[osm]

[devět]

[tečka]

[čárka]

;

[středník]

[dvojtečka]

[otazník]

[vykřičník]

„

[uvozovky]

[levé uvozovky]

[pravé uvozovky]

[pomlčka]

–

[en dash]

—

[em dash]

(

[závorka]

)

[závorka]

[lomítko]

[zpětné lomítko]

[zavináč]

[mřížka]

€

[euro]

Kč

[korun českých]

[procento]

[tečka]

Period (full stop)

[čárka]

Comma

;

[středník]

Semicolon

[dvojtečka]

Colon

[otazník]

Question mark

[vykřičník]

Exclamation mark

„

[uvozovky]

Opening quotation marks

[uvozovky]

Closing quotation marks

[levé uvozovky]

Left angle quotation marks

[pravé uvozovky]

Right angle quotation marks

[pomlčka]

Hyphen

–

[en dash]

En dash

—

[em dash]

Em dash

(

[závorka]

Left parenthesis

)

[závorka]

Right parenthesis

[lomítko]

Forward slash

[zpětné lomítko]

Backslash

[zavináč]

At symbol

[mřížka]

Hash symbol

€

[euro]

Euro symbol

Kč

[korun českých]

Czech koruna currency symbol

[procento]

Percent symbol

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How many letters are in the Czech alphabet?

What makes Czech diacritics special?

What is the difference between Ú and Ů in Czech?

Where is Czech spoken today?

Is Czech difficult to learn for English speakers?

What are some unique features of Czech pronunciation?

References:

[1] Czech Language Institute. "Czech Orthography Rules". Retrieved from Czech Language Institute
[2] Unicode Consortium. "Latin Extended-B Block". Retrieved from Unicode Latin Extended-B
[3] Czech Statistical Office. "Czech Republic in Figures". Retrieved from Czech Statistics