It is a beautiful and very difficult language. Czech is spoken by 10,3 million inhabitants in the Czech Republic and several thousands abroad. Slovak is very similar to Czech and the populations of both countries understand each other practically perfectly. All Slavic languages have their origins in the Proto-Slavic language, which appeared approximately 2000 years BC in the region between the Oder and the Dnieper River.
Slavic languages can be divided into 3 categories:
1) West Slavic – Czech, Slovak, Polish.
2) East Slavic – Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian.
3) South Slavic – Slovene, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Bulgarian.
15th century – the most significant personality was undoubtedly Jan Hus. He endeavored to replace German words without however
using Czech archaic words, he tried to revive the language and put special attention on pronunciation.
16th – 17th centuries. The peak of the language’s maturity is defined in the work of John Amos Comenius. The Bible of Kralice in 6 volumes – joint work of the Czech Brethern – is created.
Late 18th century and first half of the 19th century. At the time of the National Revival and following a germanization wave, the era is marked by the so-called revival movement. The publication of literature in Czech is renewed – the publishing house “česká expedice” of Vaclav Matej Kramerius and the book “mluvit česky” (speak Czech). Czech language is once again making a comeback. Josef Jungmann and Frantisek Palacky were significant men of letters of that time.
