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title: Czech
description: Czech is a West Slavic language of Central Europe, closely related to Slovak. Its fixed initial stress, rich case system, and consonant clusters (including ř) define a distinct national literary culture.
llms_summary: "Czech. (Prague, Prague, Czech Republic). Profile. Grammatical Typology SVO, Fusional. L1 Native Speakers 10000000 (10M). Language Family Indo-European / Balto-Slavic / Slavic / West Slavic. Language Vitality Index 8/10 (National) scale. Number of Countries 1 countries. Standard Script Latin (Czech alphabet). Total Speakers 13000000 (13M). UNESCO Risk Category Safe. Web Domain Share (%) 0.2 %. Writing System Complexity Level 2 (Phonetic Latin with Diacritics) level. Linguistics & Culture. Czech is a West Slavic language of Central Europe, closely related to Slovak. Its fixed initial stress, rich case system, and consonant clusters (including ř) define a distinct national literary culture.  canonical profile on Structured Pages"
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indexed_at: "2026-08-05T14:05:49.391Z"
date_modified: 2026-08-04
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---
# Czech

Czech is a West Slavic language of Central Europe, closely related to Slovak. Its fixed initial stress, rich case system, and consonant clusters (including ř) define a distinct national literary culture.

*Last updated: 2026-08-04*

## Record

- **Title**: [Czech](https://structuredpages.com/czech/?format=md)
- **Place**: Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- **Range**: czech-republic
- **Use case**: Linguistics & Culture
- **Website**: https://www.ujc.cas.cz/
- **Contact address**: Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
- **Coordinates**: 50.0755, 14.4378

### Summary

Czech is a West Slavic language of Central Europe, closely related to Slovak. Its fixed initial stress, rich case system, and consonant clusters (including ř) define a distinct national literary culture.

### Description

## Historical Evolution

Old Czech literacy accompanied Hussite reform; Bible translation (Kralice) shaped Protestant tradition. Habsburg rule elevated German, but National Revival (19th century) codified modern Czech through Jungmann and others. Czechoslovakia unified Czech and Slovak politically until 1993 Velvet Divorce.

## Phonology

Czech stress always falls on the first syllable. The ř sound (/r̝/) is famously difficult for learners. Vowel length is phonemic (á vs a). Consonant clusters without vowels (e.g., prst) occur word-finally.

## Syntax

Czech is SVO with seven cases and three genders. Aspectual verb pairs are obligatory. Second-position clitic ordering (e.g., Já jsem, Včera jsem) is a hallmark of standard grammar.

### Categories

- language
- slavic

### Attributes

| Property | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Grammatical Typology | SVO, Fusional |
| L1 Native Speakers | 10000000 (10M) |
| Language Family | Indo-European / Balto-Slavic / Slavic / West Slavic |
| Language Vitality Index | 8/10 (National) scale |
| Number of Countries | 1 countries |
| Standard Script | Latin (Czech alphabet) |
| Total Speakers | 13000000 (13M) |
| UNESCO Risk Category | Safe |
| Web Domain Share (%) | 0.2 % |
| Writing System Complexity | Level 2 (Phonetic Latin with Diacritics) level |