Czech phonetic trancription describes the methods of graphic recording of spoken languages which are used in the Czech linguistic literature. The use of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is limited. It is applied especially in comparative phonetics and phonology.
Traditionally, the almost-perfectly phonetic Czech alphabet is used by Czech linguists. The IPA is adopted for sounds which have no letters in the Czech alphabet, or some other letters are used.
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The following table shows the list of sounds that occur in standard Czech pronunciation. It compares the IPA characters with the characters used in the traditional Czech transcription. Where more possibilities are given, the first letter is used in scientific literature, the other occurs in older essays or in handbooks for lay users.
| IPA | Czech transcription |
|---|---|
| Short vowels | |
| a | a |
| ɛ | e |
| ɪ | i |
| o/ɔ | o |
| ʊ | u |
| Long vowels | |
| aː | a:, á |
| ɛː | e:, é |
| iː | i:, í |
| oː/ɔː | o:, ó |
| uː | u:, ú |
| Diphthongs | |
| aʊ̯̯ | au̯, au |
| ɛʊ̯ | eu̯, eu |
| oʊ̯/ɔʊ̯ | ou̯, ou |
| Nasals | |
| m | m |
| ɱ | ɱ, μ |
| n | n |
| ɲ | ň |
| ŋ | ŋ |
| Plosives | |
| p | p |
| b | b |
| t | t |
| d | d |
| c | ť |
| ɟ | ď |
| k | k |
| g | g |
| ʔ | ʔ, ’ |
| Affricates | |
| t͡s1 | c |
| d͡z1 | ʒ, dz |
| t͡ʃ1 | č |
| d͡ʒ1 | ʒ̆, dž |
| Fricatives | |
| f | f |
| v | v |
| s | s |
| z | z |
| ʃ | š |
| ʒ | ž |
| x | x, ch |
| ɣ | ɣ |
| ɦ | h |
| Trills | |
| r | r |
| r̝2 | ř |
| r̝̊ | ř̭, ř |
| Approximants | |
| j | j |
| l | l |
| Syllabic consonants | |
| r̩ | r̥ |
| l̩ | l̥ |
| m̩ | m̥ |
The graphemes <y> or <ý> are not used for the trancription of Czech. However, [dy], [dý], [ty], [dý], [ny] and [ný] are used in some dictionaries and handbooks to point out the fact that written <d>, <t> and <n> are not softened in foreign words:
The following table shows the list of letters commonly used in English-Czech dictionaries. This transcription is traditional, but the IPA is also used in some dictionares and textbooks in the recent years.
| IPA | Czech transcription |
|---|---|
| Short vowels | |
| ʌ | a |
| æ | æ |
| e | e |
| ɪ | i |
| ɒ | o |
| ʊ | u |
| ə | ə |
| Long vowels | |
| ɑː | a: |
| ɜː | ə: |
| iː | i: |
| ɔː | o: |
| uː | u: |
| Diphthongs | |
| aʊ̯̯ | au |
| əʊ̯ | ou |
| aɪ̯ | ai |
| eɪ̯ | ei |
| ɔɪ̯ | oi |
| ɪə̯ | iə |
| eə̯ | eə |
| ʊə̯ | uə |
| Nasals | |
| m | m |
| n | n |
| ŋ | ŋ |
| Plosives | |
| p | p |
| b | b |
| t | t |
| d | d |
| k | k |
| g | g |
| Affricates | |
| t͡ʃ | č |
| d͡ʒ | dž |
| Fricatives | |
| f | f |
| v | v |
| θ | θ |
| ð | ð |
| s | s |
| z | z |
| ʃ | š |
| ʒ | ž |
| h | h |
| Approximants | |
| w | w |
| j | j |
| ɹ | r |
| l | l |