Re: So it is true...


Thomas Widmann <twid@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:m3pso3byrp.fsf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "Paul J Kriha" <paul.nospam.kriha@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
> > In the old Czechoslovakia it was even more difficult to avoid
> > learning the other language. As soon as you listened to radio news
> > or watched TV you were getting half the newscasts and half the plays
> > in the other language.
>
> For some time, there was a Scandinavian satellite channel broadcasting
> in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish (AFAIK -- I couldn't watch it back
> then). However, it later split into separate channels for each
> country.
>
> > I have never seen a SK-CZ dictionary in my life. No doubt they do
> > exist and are used by serious professionals/translators.
>
> What about shorter word lists of the most important false friends and
> unknown words?

If any Czech person has any word list book at home at all,
it would most likely be a version of the one I have, "Pravidla
C^eske'ho Pravopisu" (Rules of Czech Orthography).

On 91 pages it describes the Czech orthographic rules and rules
of transcription of foreign words (i.e. words not borrowed into
Czech) from the foreign languages of interest.

Then on 255 pages (organized in three columns of 50 lines each)
it lists in alphabetical order selected words that are spelled in
a way that "may cause problems" to "some people", infrequently
occurring words, and some words falling into disuse.
The meaning of the words is not explained. Only occassionally
a few words are included when a similarly sounding word is
written differently. The false friends in writing are much less
common than they are in written English.

So basically it's just a list of selected 38,000 words.
The nouns have their gender or genders (if the noun has
multiple ones) marked. If the derivational rules (e.g. related
verbs with different aspect) are clear and wouldn't impact
spelling, the related words are not listed.

There are also three separate lists of proper names.
- three thousand or so geographical names showing adjective forms
- personal names (i.e. not surnames)
- personal names of antiquity


> > Having to use a dictionary while reading a novel would seriously
> > hamper my enjoyment of it. I am willing to use one only when I read
> > books written in the language I know well or am in a process of
> > learning.
>
> Well, it depends how often you need the dictionary, I think. If it's
> only a handful of words per novel, it's OK with me.

A handful words per novel probably happens when you read a novel
in any language.
However, even if I don't have to use a dictionary to understand
all words but have to pause and think hard about 20-30 words
per page, then I get tired and distracted from the plot.


> >> If you talking, the problem might be decoding the other party's
> >> speech.
> >
> > I encounter that problem when listening to an unusual dialect of
> > English or listening to a conversation in very noisy environment. I
> > don't have that problem listening to any dialects of Slovak. I may
> > not know what a particular word or a phrase meant but I know
> > precisely what the person said and when I ask about it I can repeat
> > it while it still rings in my ears.
>
> Interesting. Is this true also for younger speakers who didn't grow
> up with bilingual TV?

This is what I find happens to me when I listen to Slovak,
German, Italian, or Russian and I believe it also happens to
other people from the continental Europe. When I hear
a well pronounced word that I don't understand, I, more often
than not, guess correctly its spelling and then find it in a dictionary.

pjk

> /Thomas


.

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