Middle Ž
Middle ž-Ž is a hybrid of capital and small letter, and probably unique in the Latin alphabet adaptations used throughout the world. It has been suggested as the 85th letter of the modern Czech language's Latin-based alphabet, counting 42 lower and 42 upper case letters, plus the new midsize Ž-ž (the sign ž-Ž represents the font for this letter, which is not yet available in the Wiki font sets). The reason for the introduction of this additional letter in 2021 was a specific modern Czech orthographic glitch in the rules for capitalisation of the names for "ethnic" and religious groups of people. The new letter was needed as a consensual spelling standard for one single word: Ž-žid (Jew), covering both the "ethnic" and religious identities of Jews at the same time.
The specific spelling problem of the Czech word Ž-žid (Jew) was mentioned already in 1887.[1] Žid (Jew in the sense of a nation/nationality/ethnicity) was differentiated from žid (Jew in the sense of a religious group). However, this left many uncertainties when transcribing speech, translating from other languages, or wanting to express both meanings, "ethnic" and religious, simultaneously. Note that among Jews the two identities usually overlap and are rarely differentiated, since the Medieval and modern concepts of nations and religions developed only long after the beginning of the formation of the Jewish people. But due to the controversy this caused, Czechoslovak Zionism in the 20th century preferred the upper case spelling, but Czech-Jewish assimilationists or strictly religious Jews (Haredim) often chose to use the lower case spelling in their newspapers, publications, and internal archival documentation.
In a novel way, this orthographic problem was resolved in the Czech edition of "History of the Jews in the Bohemian Lands" by Martin Wein[3] published by Palacký University Press, the publishing house of Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic.[4] A decision was made to follow the classical case of thesis, antithesis, synthesis on a visual and graphic level. A new glyph was invented by combining the lower case upper part with the upper case lower part of the Ž-ž glyph to create a midsized letter as a visual compromise solution, produced by typography designer Veronika Burian. Using the specially adapted font Edita UPO, the book itself was graphically designed by Markéta Cole.[5][6]
An academic debate has developed regarding the need for a new Czech letter. Zbyněk Tarant, a Hebraist and specialist for Middle Eastern Studies at University of West Bohemia in Plzeň discussed the issues with spelling the word "Jew" in Czech in detail in 2020.[7] Prague's Charles University linguist Jiří Nekvapil uses the English name "Middle ž-Ž" for the new glyph. He argues that the introduction of the "Middle ž-Ž" proves that the Czech language situation has become favorable to the formation of a spelling of Czech comprising variants specific for individual functional domains of the standard language.[8]
References
- ↑ Kdy jest psáti v češtině na počátku slov písmena veliká? / za účelem, aby pravopis ve příčině té byl ustálen, přesně stanoví Frant. Bačkovský. V Praze, 1887, p. 16 https://www.databazeknih.cz/zivotopis/frantisek-backovsky-125441
- ↑ "Novinky: Dějiny židů v českých zemích: od Hilsnera po Slánského". www.vydavatelstviupol.cz.
- ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Martin-J-Wein-2060593951
- ↑ Czech version: https://www.vydavatelstviupol.cz/cz/978-80-244-5779-6, English version in Leiden, Netherlands, 2015: https://brill.com/view/title/31886
- ↑ "Ask designers". askdesigners.eu.
- ↑ https://cz.linkedin.com/in/marketacole
- ↑ Poznámka k pravopisu a transkripci cizojazyčných pojmů, pp. 11-12 https://veda.fhs.cuni.cz/FHSVEDA-157-version1-habilitaciniu_prauce.pdf
- ↑ "How to write about Jews in Czech: The new letter “middle ž” as an avoidance strategy," by Jiří Nekvapil. In Sherman, T., Sloboda, M. & Vuković, P. (eds.) (2021). 7th International Language Management Symposium. Standardization as Language Management. Program and Abstracts. Zagreb, Prague: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb & Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague. Abstract on p. 28 http://languagemanagement.ff.cuni.cz/system/files/Book-of-abstracts-7thILMS-2021.pdf
Related Articles
- Spelling
- Czech language
- Alphabet
- Knaanic language
- Judaism
- Writing systems
- Language policy
- Standard language
External links
- Palacký University Press
- Nekvapil, J. (2008). Language cultivation in developed contexts. In B. Spolsky & F.M. Hult (eds), The Handbook of Educational Linguistics. Malden, Oxford, Carlton: Blackwell, 251-265.
- Video Clip Featuring Middle ž-Ž
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