Česky s humorem

Author(s): Milena Vonková / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2020

The article examines the possibilities of incorporating humor into teaching Czech as a foreign language. Utilizing the experience she has gained teaching Czech as a foreign language, both in the Czech Republic and abroad, the author contemplates the specific effect humor has on the teaching process and explores the so-called Czech national humor and its importance in Czech culture. She presents her own publications that use verbal and pictorial humor as a key element of instructional texts, explaining why she considers the method of teaching through humor to be meaningful, refreshing, and legitimate. The illustrated conversational guide Česky s humorem: Česká rčení, přísloví a pranostiky [Czech through humor: Czech sayings, proverbs, and adages] aims above all else to bolster instruction of Czech as a foreign language. The book employs 25 illustrated pages to depict examples of common Czech sayings, proverbs, and adages, which are then supplemented by instructional texts, including 25 worksheets titled “Questions and Tasks.” These worksheets offer a wide range of questions and exercises, including dialogues and games, which can be used. Additionally, the book offers a series of short thematic poems that can be used for both pronunciation practice and content analysis. In format and theme, this book corresponds to the author’s textbook Česky s obrázky [Czech through pictures] and her instructional jokebook, Kdo se směje, rozumí [If you laugh, you understand].

Úvodní slovo

Author(s): Milan Hrdlička / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2020

Vážení čtenáři, otevíráte letošní druhé číslo časopisu Nová čeština doma a ve světě, který již tradičně přináší podnětné studie, zasvěcené recenze i další zajímavé texty zaměřené jednak na jazykovědnou bohemistiku, jednak na povahou lingvodidaktický obor čeština jako cizí jazyk. Vedle obvykle tematicky pestrých pojednání o naší mateřštině se Vám v podzimním vydání NČDS nabízí i určitý dílčí kontrastivní pohled na vybrané slovanské jazyky, konkrétně na ruštinu a na bulharštinu.

Simple Czech — čeština zjednodušená pro účely porozumění nerodilými mluvčími — reflexe, analýza, praxe

Author(s): Kateřina Lah,Josip Lah / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2020

The paper deals with the problem of simplification of Czech texts for the purpose of making them more accessible to speakers of foreign languages whose language proficiency in Czech is lower than B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Special attention is given to the simplification of factual texts about Czech culture. It analyses a set of ten simplified texts adapted by experts in the area of teaching Czech as a foreign language. The theoretical portion of the paper describes the methods of text simplification. Its practical portion focuses on the analysis of procedures identified on the lexical, syntactic, morphological, word-formation, and discursive levels. Individual procedures are accompanied by examples from the analysed materials. Results show that all the simplified texts contain the same basic adaptation strategies. Simplification is not primarily conducted on the level of words, expressions, and sentences, but on the level of the meaning of the entire text and its individual parts. The decisive criterion in text simplification is the purpose of the resulting texts.

Kdo může v češtině jít

Author(s): Svatava Škodová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2020

The text presents possible animal subjects for the Czech verb jít (“to go”). The verb jít prototypically described human movement, then was used anthropomorphically to describe the movement of animals; however, the verb jít cannot be used for all animals. The article presents some brief research into the use of the verb jít with specific animals. The data was collected from both native and nonnative Czech speakers, allowing us to reflect upon which features of an animal’s movement are essential for native Czech speakers to consider it acceptable to use the verb jít.

Concepts of Space, Time and Motion in Contemporary Czech

Author(s): Lucie Saicová Římalová / Language(s): English Issue: Special/2020

Space, time and motion are crucial concepts in human thinking. They tend to be expressed differently in different languages and this can present difficulties for language learners. This paper summarises the basic linguistic means of expressing time, space and motion in contemporary Czech and attempts to systematise the existing linguistic research related to these topics. The analysis focuses on deictic, lexical (e.g. verbs of motion) and phrasal units and on selected grammatical categories (especially time, aspect and case) and points out specific features of a “Czech” understanding of the concepts as revealed by the given linguistic expressions. In Czech utterances, the concepts are usually interconnected, with several means connected with the concepts often appearing simultaneously. The “Czech” conceptualisation of space, time and motion is complex, but it is nevertheless organised in various ways (for example, along selected oppositions, metaphors or image schemas, using a specific categorisation of motion in verbs of motion). Furthermore, space and motion often function as a source domain for metaphors of more abstract concepts. It is suggested that this overview could provide some background for research into the use of Czech as a non-native language.

Time and Space

Author(s): Zdeněk Starý / Language(s): English Issue: Special/2020

The fact that languages use the same means to express temporal as well as spatial distinctions might be a symptom of a deeper interconnectedness of Time and Space in language. The article focuses on aspect as a category that molds time into the language. Communicative acts with an imperfective verb can signal imperfectivity as well as perfectivity of the communication, and vice versa: communicative acts with a perfective verb can be interpreted not only perfectively, but imperfectively as well. Morphological aspect (i.e. aspect given by the morphological make-up of the verb) is thus to be distinguished from aspect as an aspectual construal of the communication (sentence). Factors which contribute to the constitution of the aspectual construal of the communication are located not only within the verb itself (its morphological make-up), but also outside of the verb, or even beyond the realm of language means. On the basis of the study of aspectual construals of communication, the notion of perfectivity is classified in regard to event/state flow into five types. The underlying principle of this classification is asymmetry (point(s) of asymmetry) instaured into the event/state flow. While in cases where Time and Space share means of expression, their relationship is metaphorical (one input domain is talked about in terms of the other), the Time–Space link in perfectives does not facilitate the communication of temporal meanings in terms of spatial ones. In this sense its “metaphoricity” is “deponent”. Perfectivity as a temporal category emerges directly from the asymmetry as a spatial concept: the temporal cogitandum is determined by the spatial cogitatum.

Some Discussions on Static and Dynamic Spatial Expressions in Czech and Chinese

Author(s): Melissa Shih-hui Lin / Language(s): English Issue: Special/2020

This study aims to present a comprehensive overview on Taiwanese Chinese-speaking students’ acquisition of static and dynamic spatial expressions in the Czech language, and to investigate the transfer and interference from their L1. It is assumed that this study can not only present and compare how these two languages express the spatial expressions, but also propose how to solve obstacles in L2 acquisition. This study will apply not only a qualitative but also a quantitative contrastive study of spatial expressions in Czech and Chinese, in an attempt to find out all the related patterns developed. This requires empirical analysis of some databases of authentic texts, mainly the error evidence provided during SLA. With the benefit of this insight, i.e. the typical error patterns found in learners’ interlanguage, a more complete interpretation of the semantic concepts in the target languages is to be concluded.

The verb jít as a representative of a motion event in space in texts by non-native speakers of Czech

Author(s): Svatava Škodová / Language(s): English Issue: Special/2020

The aim of this paper is to offer an analysis of the uses of the verb jít ‘go’ by non-native speakers of Czech. Using quantitative and qualitative analysis based on data drawn from the CzeSL corpus, we will point out the specifics of use of this important verb in the written communication of non-native speakers of Czech. This research is not concerned with error analysis, but instead focuses on the overall picture of semantic uses of this verb by non-native speakers of Czech. The resulting analysis should contribute to a methodical description of the teaching of the verb jít within the grammatical and lexical system of Czech for foreigners. The current paper is based on a learner corpus of Czech as a foreign language, the CzeSL-SGT (Czech as a Second Language). The CzeSL corpus contains 12,388 texts (960,000 words) and offers both linguistic and error annotation; the error annotation is based on two target hypotheses. From these texts, 5,785 occurrences of use of the verb jít were excerpted and analysed for their valency and semantic patterns, prepositional co-occurrence, collocation and lexical use. The results of the analysis are discussed in the context of the individual levels of the Common European Framework of Reference.

The spatial dimension in the teaching of Czech for foreigners (particularly in prepositional phrases with the locative meaning ADV Loc)

Author(s): Milan Hrdlička / Language(s): English Issue: Special/2020

Spatial relations are an important element of communication. They are expressed using prepositional (Jeli podél řeky. ‘They drove alongside the river.’) as well as nonprepositional phrases (Prošli hlubokým lesem. ‘They crossed a deep forest.’), locative adverbs (Všichni sešli dolů. ‘They all came downstairs.’) and subordinate clauses (Došli až tam, kde cesta končila. ‘They arrived to the place where the path ended.’). ADV Loc phrases assume secondary meaning in communication (Je úplně na dně. ‘He has hit bottom.’ — he is in a critical situation). Originally, local relations played a fundamental role in the formation of other meanings: the meanings of purpose, effect, and cause evolved in the dynamic component while the meanings of condition, aspect, manner, etc. developed in the static component. Local relations receive due attention in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages as well as in the reference level descriptions for Czech (A1–B1). The same applies to selected textbooks of Czech for foreigners. There is, however, room for improvement which could be achieved by: a) applying the onomasiological approach (grouping prepositions based on semantic units) instead of the semasiological one; the obstacle to this is the horizontal description of Czech declension (a step-by-step presentation of grammatical cases rather than entire paradigms), b) taking advantage of the knowledge of the use of primary prepositions (linguo-didactic instructions) and c) taking advantage of other aspects, e.g. the presentation of the preposition na ‘for’ as a preposition of purpose and not place (Jde na oběd. ‘He is going for lunch.’ — not “where”, but “why”); paying more attention to differences (z Brna vs. od Brna ‘from Brno’ vs. ‘from around Brno’); synonymy (podle/podél řeky ‘along/alongside the river’); and the competition between prepositions (za mlhy / v mlze = ‘during the fog / in the fog’).

Prasłowiański dialektyzm glěmyzьdjь ‘ślimak, żółw, małż’

Author(s): Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2020

The aim of the paper is to explain the Czech appellative hlemýžď m. ‘snail, Helix, esp. edible snail, Helix pomatia L.’ as well as Old Czech hlemýžď, hlemýžďž, hlemýšč, hlemýšť m. ‘tortoise; shell, conch; snail’ from the etymological, semantic and morphological points of view. It is suggested that the Czech lexical items in question go back to a Proto-Slavic compound noun *glěmy-zьd-jь, denoting an animal “having its house (*zьdъ) in the form of a shell (*glěmy)”. Some related terms attested in East Baltic (e.g. Latv. gliẽme f. ‘snail, bivalve, shell, conch’, gliẽmezis, gliẽmêzis, gliemêzis m. ‘snail’; Lith. gliemežỹs m. ‘an animal having a shell-covered soft body; bivalve, mollusc’, also ‘snail, crab, crayfish’) show that the Czech lexemes represent a Proto-Slavic dialectism, which may refer to snails, tortoises, bivalves, or other molluscs belonging to the subphylum conchifera.

Srozumitelnost českého odborného a úředního textu — proč se jí zabývat a jak ji měřit

Author(s): Jan Chromý,Silvie Cinková,Jana Šamánková / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2021

Text comprehension is one of the key skills that are learned during the school years. On the one hand, reading literacy is fundamental for successful comprehension, on the other hand, comprehension success is determined by textual features, i.e. its readability. Text readability thus presents an important issue — from both the reception (people may not be able to comprehend a text fully due to its low readability) and production perspective (people may not be able to produce a well readable text). The current study presents an experimental method for measuring readability of Czech texts of various genres based on the triangulation of (1) the rate of correct answers on comprehension questions, (2) intra-textual features, and (3) subjective assessment of text readability. The method is discussed in depth and individual steps are illustrated on an example of a research in progress under the project Linguistic Factors of Readability in Czech Administrative and Educational Texts.

Regionální diskurzní marker jak kdyby

Author(s): Lucie Jílková / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2021

The article deals with the regional discourse marker jak kdyby, which is used in the Moravian and Silesian regions of the Czech Republic. The material analyzed consists of all exemplars of the expression jak kdyby found in the ORTOFON corpus (the corpus of spontaneous spoken Czech). The pronunciation analysis shows that speakers pronounce the expression jak kdyby as one three-syllable word with the accent on the first syllable in all cases [jagdɪbɪ]. The semantic analysis demonstrates that in roughly half of the cases the expression jak kdyby denotes comparison, and in the other half of the cases it is used as a discourse marker. Prosodic analysis shows a different distribution of pauses (.) that are present or absent before or after jak kdyby according to whether jak kdyby is used as an expression of comparison or as a discourse marker.

K slovníkově nezpracovaným neologismům v současné češtině

Author(s): Michaela Lišková / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2021

This article deals with neologisms adhering to one lexicographic criterion: their absence in contemporary monolingual dictionaries. 150 new lexical units are presented in fifteen thematic areas (e.g. pop culture and art, society and politics, leisure and entertainment). The neologisms encompass terms that are one-word and multi-word; stylistically neutral and symptomatic; domestic and foreign; common and nonce; new in form, meaning, and new in both form and meaning.

Kam všude se chcete podívat?

Author(s): Svatava Škodová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2021

The text examines use of the verb podívat se (“to take a look”), in its non-central sense, as a verb of motion; the author utilizes corpus analysis of the CzeSL SGS and Merlin corpora to reflect upon the use of this specific seme of the verb by non-native speakers of Czech. The aim of the text is to draw attention to the possibility of intentionally extending the semantic field of motion verbs for nonnative speakers of Czech.

Z jazykové poradny

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Czech Issue: 5/2022

Z jazykové poradny

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2023

This is the answer of the Language Consulting Centre to a language-related query.

Z jazykové poradny

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Czech Issue: 3/2023

Z jazykové poradny

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Czech Issue: 5/2023

These are the answers of the Language Consulting Centre to two language-related queries.

Interpretation of possessive pronouns in Czech infinitive constructions

Author(s): Tatiana Perevozchikova / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

Existing research has not yielded clear conclusions regarding the status of the Czech reflexive possessive svůj as a long-distance anaphora. Some researchers claim that svůj in infinitival complements strongly favours the local interpretation. Other scholars argue that the reference of svůj is ambiguous between the local and the long-distance reading, and that the choice between them is partly influenced by the matrix verb. In this article, we report on an experimental study investigating how reflexive and non-reflexive possessives in Czech object control infinitives are interpreted and whether the interpretation is constrained by the matrix verb. A written interpretation task was carried out with 96 Czech native speakers. The results show that for a reflexive possessive, the local interpretation is preferred, but the long-distance interpretation is also common, and its probability depends partly on the matrix verb. A non-reflexive possessive does not show a non-locality bias and its interpretation depends strongly on the matrix verb. Our results support form-specific multiple-constraints models of anaphora processing, suggesting that the interpretation of reflexives is influenced not only by the structural constraint of locality but also by pragmatic inferences based on the semantics of the matrix verb, although to a lesser extent than the interpretation of pronouns.

Rozloučení s Kamilou Smejkalovou

Author(s): Hana Mžourková / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2024