Help:IPA/Czech

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Czech on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Czech in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Czech language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Czech phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Czech.

Consonants
IPA	Examples	Nearest English equivalent
b	být, bzukot	beat
c	lať, těšit, ticho, loď, loďka	stew (UK)
d	délka, odběr, modlitba	delta
f	foukat, flétna, kavka, lov	focus
ɡ	gram, gril, kdo	gag
ɦ	hořet, hbitost	ahead
j	jenom	yellow, boy
ɟ	ďas, děda, dík,	dew (UK)
k	kolo, ping-pong, který	scald
l	lak	lack
l̩	Vltava, kýbl	little
m	mouka	mocha
m̩	sedm	rhythm
n	nyní	ninny
ɲ	laň, koně, nyní	canyon
p	pyl, pes, lebka, šváb	spill
r	robot	robot (trilled)
r̩	vrba, vichr	lover (US, trilled)
r̝	řeka, řvát	No English equivalent; simultaneous [r] and [ʒ]
r̝̊	chřest, keř	No English equivalent; simultaneous [r̥] and [ʃ]
s	stůl, krása, zkáza, kaz	stole
ʃ	šelest, štěstí, muž, vážka	shell
t	ten, matka, led, podkova	stand
ts	cena, pocta	bats
tʃ	čas, kočka, poněvadž	chase
v	vítr, vdova	village
x	chomout, prach, nehty, práh	loch
z	zima, uzda, sdružení	zoo
ʒ	žár, každý	sabotage
Marginal consonants
dz	kamikadze, leckdo	heads
dʒ	džbán, léčba	jab
ŋ	Hanka	sing

Vowels
IPA	Examples	Nearest English equivalent
a	matka	apple (UK)
aː	máma	father
ɛ	let, světlo	let
ɛː	létat	fairy
ɪ	klid, byl	kid
iː	klít, být	clean
o	pod	story (short)
oː	móda	story (long)
u	kup	full
uː	úroda, kůlna	fool

Diphthongs
IPA	Examples	Nearest English equivalent
au	auto	out
ɛu	euro	roughly like go (some dialects^[1]); in other dialects, somewhat like eh-oo elided into a single syllable
ou	louka	goal

IPA	Other
ˈ	Primary stress. Stress falls on the first syllable of a word.
.	Syllable break, e.g. nauka [ˈna.uka] is three syllables, not two.

^ These dialects include Southern England (including Received Pronunciation), English Midlands, Australian, New Zealand, the Southern American, Midland American, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Western Pennsylvania and younger Californian English. Other dialects of English, such as most other forms of American English, Northern England English, Welsh English, Scottish English and Irish English, have no close equiavalent vowel.

[1] These dialects include Southern England (including Received Pronunciation), English Midlands, Australian, New Zealand, the Southern American, Midland American, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Western Pennsylvania and younger Californian English. Other dialects of English, such as most other forms of American English, Northern England English, Welsh English, Scottish English and Irish English, have no close equiavalent vowel.

[1]