Czech is the official language of the Czech Republic. The dialect of Prague, capital of the country, forms the basis for Standard Czech. Standard Czech is the language of government administration, all levels of education, the media, and of publication. It is used alongside Common Czech, the colloquial spoken language.
The worldwide population of Czech speakers is estimated at around 12 million. Czech is very close to Slovak. In fact, Czech and Slovak speakers are usually able to understand each other.
Dialects
The standard literary language is based on the dialect of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. The colloquial spoken language, or Common Czech, is based on the Central Moravian dialect but is also influenced by local dialects. The Eastern Moravian dialect is a transitional variety between Czech and Slovak, while the diverse Silesian dialects gradually blend into Polish dialects spoken along the border. |
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