Abstract
The paper represents a first systematic attempt to investigate the utilization of majuscules in Early Modern Czech prints. Methodologically, it follows the previous research of Early Modern German prints by the team of Bergmann and Nerius (1998), who carried out a complex analysis of this phenomenon on the textual, syntactical and lexical levels.
Due to the limited space, for the present investigation only the capitalization of substantives was selected. Exploring four extracts (Genesis 1-5, Ezekiel 1-5, John 1-5 and Galatians) from all Early Modern Czech Bibles (21 editions between 1488 and 1780), the paper describes the changes in the proportion of capitalized substantives (divided into proper and common nouns and subsequently into several subgroups according to their semantics).
It demonstrates that the capitalization of common nouns in Early Modern Czech Bibles does not follow the German pattern of constant growth, reaching its maximum at the end of the Melantrich tradition (more than 50 %) and then decreasing to approx. 20 and 17 % in the Kralice and Saint-Wenceslaus tradition respectively.