Word of the Week
Danny Bate, our resident linguist, offers a selection of everyday Czech words, to discuss their history and show how interconnected and familiar the Czech language can be.
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Word of the Week
Word of the Week: plný – ‘‘full’
Plný, which means ‘full’ in Czech, is an ordinary word, but with ancient origins.
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Word of the Week
Word of the Week: vlak –‘train’
Compared with English’s word train, there are no obvious similarities with Czech vlak. However, a bit of linguistics can illuminate what the two terms have in common.
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Word of the Week
Word of the Week: ty – ‘you’
Ty is one of the ways to say ‘you’ in Czech, specifically the singular, informal version. It’s part of a big family of related words for ‘you’.
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Word of the Week
Word of the Week: clo – ‘tariff’
Tariffs are a topical concept at the moment, and the Czech word clo is similar to the German over the border: Zoll.
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Word of the Week
Word of the Week: mlýn – ‘mill’
Many languages have got their word for ‘mill’ from Latin 'molīna'. For example, without it, Paris wouldn’t have its Moulin Rouge.
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Word of the Week
Word of the Week: ocet – ‘vinegar’
The primary component of vinegar is acetic acid, both words of which derive from the Latin verb acēre ‘to be sour’.
