More than a decade after the split of Czechoslovakia into Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the latter country continues to be known by several competing names in English and Czech. While "Czech Republic" (Czech: Česká republika) is the unquestioned long-form name, Czech authorities, geographers and linguists have had difficulty convincing people to use the officially preferred short forms of "Czechia" and Česko.
"Czechia"
Since 1993, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs has promoted "Czechia" as the short form of the country's name. The Czech government increasingly uses the term in English publications. But while similar names, such as the Spanish and Portuguese Chequia, the Italian Cechia and the Danish Tjekkiet, have caught on, few English speakers use the word "Czechia."
As "Czechia" remains uncommon, and the long form "Czech Republic" is often considered too unwieldy for marketing purposes, people often resort to the adjective "Czech." The Czech national ice hockey team brands itself as "Czech Team" rather than "Team Czechia" or "Team Czech Republic." English speakers (and Czechs speaking English) sometimes refer to the country simply as "Czech," using the adjective as a noun.
"Česko"
The Czech counterpart to "Czechia" is "Česko." Like the English word, the word "Česko" ran into some resistance at first, but "Česko" has since achieved widespread public use.
While the promotion of the word "Czechia" is primarily a marketing concern, the word "Česko" touches on important issues of national identity in the Czech Republic. The country consists of three historic provinces — Bohemia (in Czech, Čechy), Moravia (Morava) and Czech Silesia (Slezsko). Of the three historical areas, Bohemia is the largest and the traditional seat of power. The same word — český — means both "Czech" and "Bohemian."
Many people use the word "Čechy" to refer to the entire Czech Republic. This is similar to using the word "England" to refer to all of Great Britain or referring to the old Soviet Union as "Russia." Just as Scots and Ukrainians may be offended in those cases, Moravians and Silesians may not appreciate the use of "Čechy" to refer to their country.
The Czech government adopted "Česko" as the country's official Czech-language short-form name in 1993. (The name had existed for centuries but was rarely used until 1993). The word combines the adjective "český" with the -sko suffix traditionally used for territories in the language. For some Czechs, the word sounds strange and harsh.
The use of the word "Česko" by the Czech media and public has increased in recent years. Nonetheless, Czech sports fans still chant, Češi do toho ("Go Czechs") rather than Česko do toho.
Promotion of the official names
Some Czech politicians and public figures have expressed concern at the disuse of "Czechia" and "Česko." In 1997, an organization to promote the names was established. The following year, a conference of professionals aimed at encouraging the use of the names was held at Charles University in Prague. The Czech Senate held a session on the issue in 2004.
See also
External links
- "Open letter to the Czech Olympic Foundation, Czech Sports Union, politicians, business people, media, etc.", National Geographic, 2001 (in Czech).
- "Looking for a name" by Daniela Lazarova, Radio Prague, May 13, 2004.
- "Česko versus Czechy? On the geographic name of the Czech Republic" by Leoš Jeleček, paper presented at the 2nd Slovak-Czech-Polish Geographical Seminar, Bratislava, September 1-5, 1999.
- "Where are you from?" "I am from Czechia." for the Journal of the Czech Journalists and Translators
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Czech_Republic under GFDL
