O tzv. české diglosii v současném světě
On the alleged Czech diglossia in the contemporary world

Summary/Abstract: This article considers the development of the definitions of diglossia and diglossic language communities from Ferguson’s original 1959 proposal through to the present day and their bearing on Czech. Czech has often been proposed as an example of diglossia, and this article tests some of these definitions against the Czech language situation in Bohemia, bringing to bear examples of current usage from a variety of situations, including television, advertising, business meetings, and e-mail. The examples demonstrate the degree to which features of different codes are intermingled in speech and writing in a way proscribed under descriptions of diglossia. They also testify to growth in new means of communication that mix features of the high and low varieties. The current Czech language situation is thus analysed as “post-diglossic”, with many of the attitudes and beliefs associated with diglossia still persisting in the Czech environment, while actual language usage exhibits diglossic patterns in an ever-narrowing range of communicative situations.

• Details
• Contents