Name of the Czech Republic

The country is named after the Czechs (Czech: Čechové), a Slavic tribe residing in central Bohemia that subdued the surrounding tribes in the late 9th century and created the Czech/Bohemian state. The origin of the name of the tribe itself is unknown. According to legend, it comes from their leader Čech, who brought them to Bohemia. Research regards Čech as a derivative of the root čel- (member of the people, kinsman).[11]

Several variants of the name have been used over the centuries, due to the evolution of the Czech language. The digraph "cž" was used from the time of the 16th-century Bible of Kralice until the reform of 1842, being eventually replaced by "č" (changing Cžechy to Čechy). In the late 19th century the suffix for the names of countries changed from -y to -sko (e.g. Rakousy-Rakousko for Austria, Uhry-Uhersko for Hungary). While the notion of Česko appears for the first time in 1704, it only came into official use in 1918 as the first part of the name of the newly independent Czechoslovakia (Česko-Slovensko or Československo) . Within that state, the Czech Socialist Republic (Česká socialistická republika, ČSR)[8] was created on 1 January 1969.[12] On 6 March 1990 the Czech Socialist Republic was renamed the Czech Republic (Česká republika, ČR).[13] When Czechoslovakia broke up in 1993, the Czech part of the name was intended to serve as the name of the Czech state. The decision started a dispute as many perceived the "new" word Česko, which before had been only rarely used alone, as harsh sounding or as a remnant of Československo.[14] The older term Čechy was rejected by many because it was primarily associated with Bohemia proper and to use it for the whole country was seen as inappropriate. This feeling was especially prominent among the inhabitants of Moravia.

The use of the word "Česko" within the country itself has increased in recent years.[note 1] During the 1990s, "Česko" was rarely used and viewed as controversial. Some Czech politicians and public figures (e.g. media magnate Vladimír Železný) expressed concern about the non-use of Česko and Czechia. Václav Havel claimed that "Slugs crawl on me a little whenever I read or hear the word [Česko]." Miroslav Zikmund associated it with Hitler's Nuremberg rallies.[15] Minister Alexandr Vondra also strongly opposed using these forms. In 1997, the Civic Initiative Czechia was formed by linguists and geographers in Brno to promote the use of Czechia.[16] The following year, a conference of professionals aimed at encouraging the use of the name was held at Charles University in Prague. The Czech Senate held a session on the issue in 2004.[17][18]

The historical English name of the country is Bohemia. This name derives from the Celtic tribe of Boii, who inhabited the area from the 4th century BC. Boiohaemum, as it was originally known in Latin, comes from the Germanic "Boi-haima", meaning "home of the Boii". The name survived all the later migrations affecting the area, including the arrival of the Slavs and the creation of the Czech state. In the 9th century, the country became officially known as the Duchy of Bohemia, changing to the Kingdom of Bohemia in the 11th century, and the Crown of Bohemia in the 14th century. A number of other names for the country have been used, including Lands of the Bohemian Crown, Czech/Bohemian lands, Bohemian Crown, the lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas and others.[19][20] The Bohemian state included the three historical lands: Bohemia (Čechy) in narrower meaning, Moravia (Morava) and Silesia (Slezsko). From the 14th century until 1635 it also included Upper and Lower Lusatia. The higher hierarchical status of the Bohemian region led to that name being used for the larger country, with the people and language of this country being commonly referred to as Bohemian.

The first known usage of the word Czechia in English comes from a book of 1841 by Henry and Thomas Rose, A New General Biographical Dictionary Projected and Partly Arranged.[5][19]

Shortly before the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian empire, there were proposals to use the traditional name Bohemia for the newly-formed state.[21] However, out of consideration for Slovak national aspirations, the name "Czecho-Slovakia" (later "Czechoslovakia") was adopted instead.

After the establishment of Czechoslovakia, the name Czechia appeared in English, alongside the official name, as a reference to all the Czech lands[22] and to differentiate between the Czech and Slovak parts of the state. It was used at least as early as 4 January 1925; appearing in the article "Literary History of the Czechs", published by The New York Times.[23] The name was used in the Anglophone press before the German occupation of the Czech lands in 1939.[24][25][26][27]

The current English ethnonym Czech comes from the Polish ethnonym associated with the area, which ultimately comes from the Czech word Čech.[28][29][30] The words "Czechian", "Czechish", "Czechic" and later "Czech" (using antiquated Czech spelling)[19] have appeared in English-language texts since the 17th century. During the 19th-century national revival, the word "Czech" was also used to distinguish between the Czech- and German-speaking peoples living in the country. The term "Czechia" is attested as early as 1569 in Latin[19] and 1841 in English (Poselkynie starych Przjbiehuw Czeskych – Messenger of the old Fates of Czechia).[5][19] There were other early mentions in 1856[31] and in an 1866 report on the Austro-Prussian War.[32]

The equivalent of the Czech short form Česko is in routine use by most other languages. In a few cases (for example Polish Czechy, Croatian Češka and Serbian Чешка/Češka) this form had historically been used for Bohemia. Other languages adopted new short forms such as تشيكيا Tshīkyā in Arabic. In most cases, the new form has more or less completely replaced the formal name for most usages. In Dutch the term Tsjechië has been used following the dissolution of the former Czechoslovakia, and is essentially the same as Czechia but adapted to match Dutch orthography. However, usage in Spanish and French remains mixed, with the forms Chequia and Tchéquie only occasionally being used alongside the longer formal names República Checa and République tchèque.

• Bohemian
• Hyphen War

Look up Czech Republic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• (in Czech) "Open letter to the Czech Olympic Foundation, Czech Sports Union, politicians, business people, media, etc.", National Geographic, 2001.
• (in English) "Looking for a name" by Daniela Lazarova, Radio Prague, 13 May 2004.
• (in English) "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, 1–5 September 1999.
• (in English) "From Bohemia to Czechia" Jiří Šitler (12 July 2016) Radio Prague