Prague speech or does Prague have its own dialect? Read what you may not have known about our speech Company News Pražská Drbna
The dialect is simply a designation for a territorial unit of the national language. At the most general level, the Czech and Moravian dialects can be divided. However, within this division, there is very often an intermingling and subsequent further division. The question of whether Prague also had or still has its dialect is difficult to answer, as Prague is a typical place where several dialect units met (the Czech Northeast and Southwest). Nevertheless, even in Prague we come across names and names that we will not find anywhere else. What was it really like with the Prague peppers and the Žižkov slang or what does the name of the anti-breast or babosed mean in the language of the Prague conveyors? In a five-part series focused on the Prague language, we will gradually address these issues and others.
Common speech in Prague
The first part of the series on the Prague dialect will not be focused on specific expressions, but will try to answer the question of whether or not Prague actually has its own dialect. And whether in the case of Prague it is possible to talk about the dialect at all.
To understand this question, let’s say a few words about where Prague is. The metropolis is located in the Central Bohemian region. This is an area that is neutral in relation to both neighboring areas. In other words, Prague lies in the territory of the Czech dialect group, which has a minimum of dialect characters.
“I’d rather talk about ordinary speech in Prague. In the case of dialects, it is a traditional dialect limited to a certain territory, usually in the countryside. In Prague, this common language developed in completely different conditions, “He says Karel Komárek from the Faculty of Arts of Palacký University in Olomouc.
Nowadays, dialects usually give way to general Czech. Somewhere there is still an intertwining of general Czech and local Czech.
The development of the Prague dialect was different than anywhere else
The integration of Prague into the Central Bohemian region shows that its specifics are precisely those features that are common to the dialectal and unwritten language of the whole of Bohemia. The fact that people from all over the country moved here also had a great deal of credit for the development of speech in Prague, which means that the development of the local “dialect” was relatively different than anywhere else.
“The Prague dialect is rather an unofficial naming of an unwritten language that corresponds to the conditions of the city in its vocabulary. It is also influenced by foreign languages (thanks to the past mainly German), but it also has a certain dialect base in the grammar – in many ways it coincides with the features of the Central Bohemian dialects: Yeah, voni bejvaj for three years in Celetný!” answers Karel Komárek’s question of how common speech in Prague is affected.
Pepíkovská Czech or Žižkov slang
If the dialect was already talked about in Prague, it was in connection with Pepík’s Czech or Žižkov’s slang. At the time of his studies in Prague in the early 1980s, Karel Komárek perceived as a typical Prague language mainly of native Praguers, but also of those who immigrated here and tried to adapt to the locals.
“They were mostly members of older generations, some still remembered the First Republic. The remains could also be found in culture: in films for witnesses or in literature. For example, in Čapek’s Turbine, which is also filmed, ”Adds Komárek.
In the next part we will focus on the so-called “Žižkov peppers”.