Je čeština jako menší jazyk v ohrožení? (Pohled očima historika jazyka)
Is Czech as a minor language endangered? (From the viewpoint of a language historian)

Summary/Abstract: The Czech language is endangered neither by geopolitical causes (wars) nor natural ones (cataclysms). The history of Czech shows that its contact with other languages does not endanger the language, because its impact (mainly loanwords) is counterbalanced by the adaptability of the Czech language: both through its inflectional character and the influence of secondary word-formative motivation. The current trend toward unilingual global communication (English) in highly specialized branches (science, military affairs, astronautics, cybernetics) is compensated for by the rich metaphorical feature of technical terms used in a non-terminological way by the whole population. On the other hand, Czech does not benefit from the mechanical introduction of foreign elements into the language, for these elements (e.g. indeclinable attributes, the rejection of forming feminine forms from masculine ones, the ignoring of verbal aspect) break up its inflectional character. However, Czech could be endangered, rather, by its own uneducated users.

• Details
• Contents