Czech Orthoepic Codification (Its Origin and Content and a Comparison with the Codification of German)
Abstract
The article focuses especially on the Czech orthoepic codification (i.e. the handbooks Výslovnost spisovné češtiny I, 1967, and Výslovnost spisovné češtiny II, 1978). It analyses its contents (e.g. differences between conceptions of the codification of vernacular and loan words), as well as its origin and the preceding endeavours to codify the pronunciation.
It is of interest that these handbooks, unlike for example the orthographic handbook, are not generally known and that students often obtain no information about them. The paper goes on to present some newer handbooks dealing with this issue, which however are not considered to be works of codification.
It can be disputed whether this codification is at all necessary for the Czech language and whether it should be updated (and if so, who and on what basis should do it). The final part of the article compares the situation in the field of Czech and German orthoepy.