Bohemian Grammar

JAROSLAV VICTOR NIGRIN, A. M. HARRISON TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL, CHICAGO.

BOHEMIAN LITERARY SOCIETY. CHICAGO.

[2]

Copyright, 1918, by the Slavie Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill.

“Slavie” Publishing Company 465 2544 S. Millard Ave., Chicago.

[3]

To CHARLES R. CRANE a true and enlightened friend of the Slavs this work is dedicated

J. V. N.

Chicago, July 14, 1917

[4]

[5]

PREFACE.

In preparing the present work it has been my aim to present to English speaking people a practical text book of the Bohemian language written along modern lines, explaining the grammatical principles and supplying enough exercises to illustrate them. As far as I am aware there are only two other books published on the same subject in English:—Chas. Jonáš “Bohemian Made Easy” a book based on conversational method and Grammar of the Bohemian language by W. Morfill, a very brief work destined for philologists rather than general students. As Jonáš’s book is out of print, and, as there is quite a demand for a practical text book of Bohemian among businessmen and students—Bohemian is at present taught at several Universities and High Schools in the United States—this work was undertaken.

The basis of this work was “Mluvnice česká” by Dr. Jan Gebauer, this being the standard Bohemian Grammar sanctioned by the university of Prague. My task was to arrange, to present the facts of the language given by Gebauer in such a way as to make its study most easy, practical and palatable. To accomplish this aim I have used my own experience and also followed suggestions given in various methods employed in the teaching of modern languages, in order that the book may be of assistance not only in a class-room but also in private instruction.

[6]

It is perhaps needless to point out that the first part, dealing with phonetics is very important, because, if the student obtains a correct pronunciation at the very outset, he will have made considerable progress in understanding and making himself understood. It is further recommended that the oral exercises be really practised orally—eventually by the entire class in unity. Learn the language by ear and eye! To the exercises from Bohemian into English very soon are added small articles, fables, stories and poems, which bring the student in touch with the living language and not only with prepared grammatical examples. It is certainly an easier and a surer way to learn correct Bohemian by reading and hearing as much as possible of good Bohemian than by making translation from English into Bohemian. Therefore, the exercises given in Bohemian are more numerous than those in English. Repetition makes mastery, and I did not hesitate to repeat a point that seemed to me to be important and the student ought to return again and again to such sections which are more difficult and

also more important.

Bohemian is a highly inflected language and presents a great variety of forms. I tried to simplify the study of this multitude by systematizing, by linking and uniting similar forms and by gradually introducing the question of declension and verb forms. The part dealing with idiomatic expressions and syntax is not as complete because I had not enough material on hand. This present work is to a certain degree a pioneer work and as such has had its difficulties that could not be mastered in a comparatively short time and with insufficient material. The book was written during the Great War, when it was impossible to obtain the aid of authorities in Bohemia. However, I wish to express my indebtedness to the following works consulted in my present work: Rádce správné češtiny: Peter Zenkl; Škola českého jazyka, Říha, Heyduk, besides the already mentioned works of Gebauer, Morfill and Jonáš. I wish also to thank most sincerely the following kind helpers: my colleague Boh. Kral, Mr. Josef Mach, Dr. J. E. S. Vojan and Miss Marie

Novak who[7] helped in the compiling of the dictionary and especially Miss Katherine Kiely for painstaking revision and help in proof-reading.

I hope, that the included paper by Mr. A. R. Nykl, on the “Slav Nations and their languages” will help to awaken interest in Slavic philology. It will also show that by studying Bohemian—a language of 10,000,000 people—of whom about a million are living in the United States, we are really getting in touch with a race of almost 150 million souls, a race that is comparatively youthful on the horizon of the history of mankind and undoubtedly a race with a bright future.

I sincerely hope that this present work will help to foster the study of Bohemian and that it will awaken interest in the literature and culture of my native land.

Chicago, August 18, 1917.

Jaroslav Victor Nigrin.

SLAV NATIONS AND THEIR LANGUAGES. By A. R. Nykl.

The Slavs belong to the Aryan or Indo-European group of races.

As the original dwelling place of the Slav race the majority of savants designate the territory between the Carpathians and the Baltic Sea, along the rivers Elbe, Vistula and Dnieper. It is generally assumed that during the great migration of nations in the course of the first centuries after Christ, various Slavonic tribes have left their original common home and migrated West and South, forming several separate groups, which in the course of time have developed characteristic religious, climatic and linguistic idiosynsrasies. This theory is considered the most plausible historically, though it is not quite corroborated by archeological research.

[8]

The NAME SLAVS (Slověne) has been differently interpreted as being derived from “slavný” (glorious) or “slovo” (word, speech, sermon). It is assumed that the Slavs called themselves so, because they could understand each other, while they called their neighbors, the Germans, whose speech was unintelligible to them “Němtsy” (ně-umtsy), i. e. people who were unable to speak intelligently. Another theory is that the appellation Slověne was first adopted by a Slav tribe living in the vicinity of Saloniki, which had been converted to Christianity by the Sts. Cyrill and Methodius, and, having at the same time learned the use of writing, wished to be known as a more educated people, in contradistinction from other, still illiterate, tribes. Their language has been preserved in the Orthodox church liturgy and is called the Old Slavonic. As Christianity, and with it the use of writing, gradually spread among the other Slav tribes, the distinctive name Slověne was also adopted by them, and finally became synonymous of the whole race.

Originally the whole territory East of the river Elbe, part of Western Saxony, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary and Illyria were inhabited by Slavs. From their settlements on the Elbe the Slavs were gradually driven East by the Germans, in Hungary they were driven from the plains into the mountains, i. e. the Carpathians, Tatra, the Alps and the Carso. In the Balkan peninsula they were hemmed in by the Greeks and later by the Turks. In Russia they were several times overrun by Asiatic races. They stubbornly held their ground as guardians of Europe against Asiatic domination, particularly so their Eastern and Southern groups. These constant struggles have somewhat retarded their intellectual and economic development, but their latent strength will surely bring them to the position they should rightfully occupy in the world’s history.

According to their present dwellings the Slavs can be divided into three groups:

I. NORTHWESTERN, comprising the Bohemians[9] (Czechs), Slovaks, Lusatian Serbs (Wends), Poles and Kashubes.

II. EASTERN, comprising Russians, i. e. Great Russians, Little Russians (Ruthenians, Ugro-Russians) and White Russians.

III. SOUTHERN, comprising the Slovenes, Serbo-Croatians and Bulgarians.

THE NUMERICAL STRENGTH of the Slav nations is variously estimated between 140 and 150 millions, distributed approximately as follows:

THE MUTUAL RESEMBLANCE of the Slavonic languages is very great, especially in syntax and grammatical structure. If a Bohemian, for example, learns Russian thoroughly, he can understand and translate the remaining Slavonic languages with a considerable degree of accuracy.

One may best judge of the similarity of the Slavonic languages by comparing the following examples, which are the translation of the first four verses of the Lord’s Prayer:

Bohemian (Czech):

Otče náš, kterýž jsi v nebesích, posvěť se jméno tvé. Přijď království tvé; buď vůle tvá, jako v nebi tak i na zemi.

Old Slavonic:

Otče naš, iže jesi na něbesěch! da svjatitsja imja tvojé, da priidět carstvie tvojé: da búdět vôlja tvojá, jako na nebesi i na zemi.

[10]

Bulgarian:

Tatko ny kojto si v nebe-to, neka da se svjati ime-to tvoje; da dojde carstvo-to tvoje; da bude volja-ta tvoja kakto na nebe-to, taka i na zemja-ta.

Serbo-Croatian:

Oče naš koji je si na nebesima, da se sveti ime tvoje; da dodje carstvo tvoje; da bude volja tvoja, i na zemlji kao na nebu.

Slovene:

Oče naš, ki si v nebesih, posvečeno bodi ime tvoje. Pridi kraljevstvo tvoje. Zgodi se volja tvoja, kakor v nebesih, tako na zemlji.

Lusatian Serbian:

Wôtče naš, kiž sy w njebjesach; swječene budž twoje mjeno; přindž k nam twoje kralestwo; twoja wola so staň kaž na njebju, tak tež na zemi.

Polish:

Ojcze nasz, który jest w niebie, świeč sie imie twoje, przyjdź królestwo twoje, badź wola twoja jako w niebie tak i na ziemi.

Little Russian:

Otče naš ščo na nebi! Nechaj svjatitsja imja tvoje. Nechaj priide carstvo tvoje. Nechaj bude volja tvoja jak na nebi, tak i na zemlj.

Russian:

Otěc naš kotorj jesi na něbesach; da svjatiťsja imja tvojo, da priďot cárstvo tvojo, da budeť volja tvoja kak na něbesach i na zemli.

WRITING:

The invention of the oldest Slavonic writing, the glagolitsa, is generally attributed to the two apostles, Cyrill and Methodius, but it seems that this writing had already been in use prior to their advent. It is derived from the old Greek alphabet, to[11] which new letters, representing sounds unknown to Greek, such as št, šč, š, č, jer, jery, jať, were added. From the rather unwieldy letters of the glagolitsa the more mobile kyrillitsa has been evolved, which is now used in the Russian-Orthodox church books. The modern Russian alphabet, the graždanka, is a simplified form of kyrillitsa, and was first introduced by Peter the Great of Russia. It is used by all Orthodox Slavs: the Russians and Little Russians, the Bulgarians and Serbs. Those of the Slavonic tribes who came under the influence of the Roman-Catholic church, i. e. Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatian Serbs, Slovenes, Croatians and Poles, have adopted the Latin alphabet.

A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE SLAVONIC LANGUAGES.

OLD SLAVONIC, also called Church Slavonic, was originally spoken in the vicinity of Saloniki, and was the first literary language of the Slavs. The old Bulgarian language is the one most closely related to it. Its structure and vocabulary are used as a basis for comparative philology.

BOHEMIAN (Czech) and SLOVAK have been treated in detail in the foregoing pages.

BULGARIAN is spoken by a race of Ugro-Finnish origin, which emigrated from Northern Russia to the Balkans and adopted the language of the Slav tribes whom it conquered. Its main characteristic is the use of definite article at the end of nouns, cf. car-at, zemja-ta, nebe-to. Its older literature contains many fine examples of Slav poesy. (There are three principal dialects spoken in Bulgaria: the Danubian, the Thracian and the Macedonian, which form the bridge between the Russian on the one side and the Serbo-Croatian on the other.)

SERBO-CROATIAN is spoken in Serbia, Croatia-Slavonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dalmatia, Adriatic islands and Southern Hungary (Bacska, Sirmia and Banat). (There are[12] four principal dialects: čakavština, štokavština, kajkavština and cvrližština.) The only difference between the Serbs and the Croats is that the former are chiefly Orthodox and partly Mohammedan and use the Russian alphabet, while the latter are mostly Roman-Catholics and use the Latin alphabet. The greatest literary treasure of this language constitute the national epics (narodne pjesme), in which the national heroes, who fell in the fateful battle of Kosovo Polje. The chief characteristic of this language is that it is spelt entirely phonetically.

SLOVENE is spoken in Southern Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Istria, Gorizia, Trieste and in several districts near Udine in Italy. It is very much akin to the Serbo-Croatian and shows but slight differences in syntax and composition.

WEND or LUSATIAN SERBIAN is spoken in some districts of the Upper and Lower Lusatia and forms a bridge between the Bohemian and Polish. The center of this tribe, now entirely surrounded by the Germans, is the town of Bautzen (Budyšín).

POLISH is next to Slovak the most akin to Bohemian. Various sounds, which in Bohemian are rendered by diacritical marks, such as š, ř, č, are represented by sz, rz, cz in Polish. A difference is also made between the soft and hard l, as in Russian. The language has also preserved the old Slavonic nasal sounds ą (on) and ę (en). A glorious national history and splendid literature are the heritage of the Polish nation, and the language is well worth the study.

The KASHUBE is a dialect spoken in Pomerania, near Danzig, by about 200.000 souls. The Kashubes, however, mostly consider themselves Poles.

LITTLE RUSSIAN, also called Ruthenian or Ukrainian, is spoken in Eastern Galicia, in the Carpathians from Uzhorod to Munkács, Northern Bukowina, and Southern Russia, along the Black Sea and the rivers Dniester, Dnieper and Don. It is rich[13] in national poesy, and, like the Serbo-Croatian, has preserved some of the purest characteristics of the Slav race. It constitutes a bridge between the Polish and the Russian, being to a certain extent a mixture of the two languages. It chiefly differs from the Russian in the pronunciation of jery, jať, e, o, and u, cf. dilo (Russ. djelo), buv (Russ. byl), dovg (Russ. dolg), ridny (Russ. rodnoj), vže (Russ. uže), usjaki (Russ. vsjaki).

RUSSIAN, also called Great Russian, is the official language of the Russian Empire. It is the most important of all the Slavonic languages and every Bohemian ought to learn it, especially in view of the great facility with which he can acquire it as compared with non-Slavonic nationalities. By learning it one acquires at the same time the key to all other Slavonic languages, so that one can learn any one of them in less than six months.

The grammatical forms and syntax in Russian are purer and more elaborate than in any other Slavonic tongue. The knowledge of Russian opens one the door to an immense literature, whose beauties have thus far found only a very fragmentary interpretation in America. Bohemians in America ought to devote special attention to the learning of Russian language and affairs, because Russia has a great future before her, and the friendliest relations should be cultivated between her and the United States.

Among the extinct Slavonic languages a special mention deserves the Polabian, which was spoken by the Slav tribes who lived on the river Elbe, i. e. Vagri in Lauenburg and Holstein, Bodrici in Mecklenburg, and Lutici (Veleti) in Brandenburg, as far back as the latter part of the 18th century.

[14]

PHONETICS—HLÁSKOSLOVÍ.

The Bohemian Alphabet—Česká Abeceda.

A. The Alphabet.

The Bohemian alphabet—abeceda—(called after the first four letters a, b, c, d) consists of 39 letters—písmen.

To these letters correspond individual sounds—hlásky—which go to make up the Bohemian words. The Bohemian language is very nearly phonetic, that is, for each sound there is a letter or, in other words, the spelling of words agrees with the pronounciation. These sounds are divided into: vowels—samohlásky—; and consonants—souhlásky.

B. The Vowels—Samohlásky.

The vowels are the word building sounds. Every vowel (and every consonant) has only one, unchanging pronunciation. The vowels are:

Long and short vowels.—Dlouhé a krátké samohlásky.

The vowels a, e, i, o, u, y as given above are called short—krátké,—and their pronounciation is short. But the same vowels occur long—dlouhé and then they are marked with the long sign—čárka and are pronounced long.

Dlouhé samohlásky: á, é, í, ó, ú, ý

C. Consonants.—Souhlásky.

Most of the consonants in Bohemian have the same sound as in English. These will be taken up first.

[15]

The following consonants have the same pronounciation in Bohemian as in English:

b, d, f, h, l, m, p, r, t, v, z. The letter s is always pronounced as the s in side; never like s in nose (sound z).

The Accent—Přízvuk.

In Bohemian the accent falls upon the first syllable. If the word contains many syllables a secondary and weaker accent falls upon the odd syllables (that is upon the third or fifth). Since the accent is regular there is no need of marking it.

Note.—Differentiate between the long syllable and the accented one! Examples: Voda (water). Here both syllables are short, the first one is accented; pátá (the fifth); here both syllables are long, the first one is accented. Kámen (the stone); here the first syllable is long and is accented; malá (small); here the first syllable is short but accented, the second is long and unaccented. The accent is the stress of the voice, while the long syllable refers merely to the prolongation in sounding. The beginner is advised to pronounce the long syllables markedly long just for the sake of practice.

GRAMMAR.

VERBS.

The negative form of the verb is formed by simple prefixing—ne—to the verb. Examples: neznám—I don’t know; nemáme—we have not etc.

NOUNS.

We begin with the nouns of the first declension. They end in a consonant in the nominative singular. In the objective (accusative) case they add -a; in the objective plural they replace -a by -y.

Examples:

Article.—There is no article, definite or indefinite in Bohemian.

Use of the cases.—The subject of a sentence is in the nominative case (the case that names the person or thing). The object of the verb is in the objective case.

[16]

Pán volá hocha.—The gentleman calls the boy.

Who (kdo) calls? The gentleman calls.—Pán volá. The gentleman is the subject of the sentence and is in the nominative case. Whom (koho) does the gentleman call? The gentleman calls the boy.—Pán volá hocha. The boy is the object of the verb calls and is in the objective case.

Since Bohemian is a highly inflected language, it is of extreme importance to become acquainted early with the case forms and their meanings.

Exercise I.

Translate into English:

Mám bratra. Máme bratry. Znám ptáka. Voláme sedláky. Bratr volá hocha. Sedlák má syna. Pán volá bratra. Sedlák nezná pána. Hoch nemá ptáka. Bratr nevolá hocha. Neznám pána. Nevolám sedláka. (The article and auxiliary do, does, are not translated).

Exercise II.

Translate into Bohemian:

The farmer knows the gentleman. We have a brother. The gentleman has a bird. The farmer doesn’t know the boy. We know the farmer. The gentleman doesn’t call the boys. The farmer has sons. The brother knows the boys. I know the boy. I don’t know the gentleman.

LESSON II. ÚLOHA II. Phonetics.—Hláskosloví.

Consonants having different pronounciation in Bohemian than in English.

c pronounced like ts, noc the night, celý whole.

j pronounced like y in you, já I, voják the soldier.

ch pronounced like kh (more exactly like German ch, machen)—chudý, poor.

Consonants with the hook marks.—Souhlásky s háčky.