Bohemism

Not to be confused with Bohemianism.

Bohemisms or Czechisms'[1] are words and expressions borrowed or derived from the Czech language. The former term is derived from the historical name Bohemia for Czech lands.

The best known Bohemisms, entered into virtually all languages, are "robot" and "polka". See List of English words of Czech origin for Bohemisms in English.

Many Bohemisms related to church and liturgy entered Polish language in Middle Ages during the Christianization of Poland under the influence of Moravian and Bohemian traditions. Many of them ultimately originated from Latin language, the language of liturgy.

The analysis of Bohemisms is a significant argument of the Edward L. Keenan's hypothesis about the authorship of The Tale of Igor's Campaign. [2]

See also

References

  1. Sparling, Don (1991). English or Czenglish?: jak se vyhnout čechismům v angličtině. Prague: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství. ISBN 80-04-25329-6.
  2. Edward L. Keenan, Josef Dobrovský and the Origins of the Igor´ Tale, Harvard University Press, 2003, 0916458962.

Further reading