Prima principia linguae Bohemicae – stručná mluvnička češtiny ze 17. století
Prima principia linguae Bohemicae – a concise Czech grammar from the 17th century

Summary/Abstract: In addition to the Jesuit grammars of Czech by J. Drachovius (Olomouc, 1660), J. Konstanc (Prague, 1667) and M. V. Šteyer (Prague, 1668), the anonymous concise grammar book Prima principia linguae Bohemicae (approx. 1678) was also published at the Jesuit printing office in Prague. On 48 pages, it contains the basic rules of Czech orthography and the nominal and verbal paradigms. The majority of the paradigms and the orthography rules correspond to those in the handbook by M. V. Šteyer, who probably is also the author of Prima principia. The book’s description of the main traits of what was at that time the higher standard bears witness to its stabilized form and continuity not only up until the end of the 18th century, which is reflected by its reprint in 1783, but also in the long term. If we compare the phonological formation and the paradigms of this higher variety of Middle Czech with the forms of the present-day standard, we do not find any essential differences.

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