O češtině s Karlem Olivou – Karásková Ivana (2023)

This Czech-language book presents a lively and informative interview with linguist Karel Oliva, exploring how Czech developed and how its vocabulary, grammar and spelling work. It discusses the origins of the i/y spelling rules, the ring above ů, unusual language reforms and inventive purist expressions such as čistonosoplena, knihovtipník and klapkobřinkotruhla. Karel Oliva, a former long-serving director of the Institute of the Czech Language of the Czech Academy of Sciences, explains why words such as kulaťoučký and páteř are distinctive, why terms like nožehlák and Křemíkové údolí never caught on, and why using díky nehodě is no longer considered an error. He also comments on politicians’ speaking skills, the particular features of Czech and the possibility that the language could one day be displaced by a universal European language. The interview covers surprising facts, including the Czech origins of the international word tunnel in the sense of diverting money, the connection between mrož and a printer’s error, and the link between quark and the Czech word tvaroh. The contents are in Czech.