Wikipedia key to pronunciation of Czech
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Czech language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-cs }} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters .
See Czech phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Czech.
Consonants
IPA Examples
Nearest English equivalent
b b ýt, b zukotb eat
c lať , t ěšit, t icho, loď , loď ka
between sk ew and UK st ew [note 1]
d d élka, od běr, modlit ba
d elta
dz kamikadz e, lec kdo
heads
dʒ dž bán, léč ba
j ab
f f oukat, f létna, kav ka, lov
f ocus
ɡ g ram, g ril, k do
g ag
ɦ h ořet, h bitost
ah ead
j j enom
y ellowboy
ɟ ď as, d ěda, d ík,
between ag ue and UK d ew[note 2]
k k olo, ping-pong , k terý
sc ald
l l ak
l ack
l̩ Vl tava, kýbl
little
m m ouka
m ocha
m̩ sedm
rhythm
n n yní
n inny
ɲ laň , kon ě, nyn í
cany on
ŋ Han ka
sing
p p yl, p es, leb ka, šváb
sp ill
r r obot
r obot
r̩ vr ba, vichr
lover (US , trilled)
r̝ ř eka, ř vát
No English equivalent; simultaneous [r ] and [ʒ ]
r̝̊ chř est, keř
No English equivalent; simultaneous [r̥ ] and [ʃ ]
s s tůl, krás a, z káza, kaz
s tole
ʃ š elest, š těstí, muž , váž ka
sh ell
t t en, mat ka, led , pod kova
st and
ts c ena, poc ta
bats
tʃ č as, koč ka, poněvadž
ch ase
v v ítr, v dova
wav e
x ch omout, prach , neh ty,
práh
loch
z z ima, uz da, s družení
z oo
ʒ ž ár, kaž dý
sabotage
Vowels
IPA Examples
Nearest English equivalent
a ma tka
pa sta
aː má ma
fa ther
ɛ le t, svě tlo
le t
ɛː lé tat
square (UK)
ɪ kli d, by l
ki d
iː klí t, bý t
clea n
o po d
po t (UK)
oː mó da
thou ght (UK)
u ku p
fu ll , bu ll
uː ú roda, ků lna
foo l
Diphthongs
IPA Examples
Nearest English equivalent
au au to
ou t
ɛu eu ro
say oo
ou lou ka
lo cal (US)
IPA Other
ˈ Primary stress . Stress falls on the first syllable of a word.
. Syllable break, e.g. nauka [ˈna.uka] is three syllables, not two.
^ Alveolo-palatal. Substantially closer to t than to k .
^ Alveolo-palatal. Substantially closer to d than to g .
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
Comparisons Introductory guides
