TARTAKOVSKAYA, A. Conjunctions in spoken and written Czech Faculty of arts Charles University in Prague, 2011 Supervisor: Václav Cvrček, Ph.D. Number of pages: 66 + 6 attachments Key words: Conjunctions, written Czech language, spoken Czech language, word link, Czech National Corpus, secondary linking conjunctions, co-coordinating linking conjunctions Conjunctions in the Czech language are still relatively small chapter described in manuals and grammar books. The aim is to investigate connecting words in spoken and written language, their use in text and links with other words, compare the use of the coupling term in written and spoken Czech language. Theoretical basis for master's thesis is based on several works which are devoted to this issue, either in whole or in dealing with some of its parts. But the major outline of work is driven by the Czech National Corpus (hereafter CNC), namely the corpora SYN2005 and ORAL2008. First chapter deals with CNC and coupling expressions in general, second deals with secondary linking conjunctions, their use in text types and surrounding words. The content of the third chapter incorporates the connecting conjunctions.

The thesis Czech-Slovak lexical correspondences and differences in terms of their position in the standard language and dialects focuses on lexemes occurring equally in the areas of Czech and Slovak Republic (with a preference focus on border line of East Moravian and West Slovak dialects) and confrontation of their statuses in the national languages. The aim of the thesis is to track differences and concordances of Czech (Moravian) and Slovak dialect lexical parallels on a chosen sample of vocabulary from the perspective of their relation to the standard vocabulary of Czech and Slovak language. The opening chapter deals with language atlases and dictionaries used as sources for confrontation. This is followed by an image of Czech - Slovak language relations' development, question of border and evaluation of dialects from the perspective of belonging to Czech/Slovak dialects; and delimitation of assumed areas with the highest number of language concordances. The essence of the thesis are chosen dialectical lexemes obtained primarily from the Slovak Language Atlas (Atlas slovenského jazyka) and Czech Language Atlas (Český jazykový atlas), the assessment of extensity of area distribution of the researched lexemes and their comparison with codification dictionaries, Czech and Slovak. A separate...

The thesis is devoted to the issue of Czech-Russian trade relations and highlight Russia as a country suitable for Czech exporters. The aim of this thesis is to comprehensively analyze the business environment in Russia as a prior country for czech exporters, evaluate the potential of Russian market for Czech exporters, further characterize Czech-Russian business relations, describe the state institutions involved in promoting exports and provide comprehensive information to potential investors . The work is divided into three chapters. The first chapter analyzes Czech-Russian trade relations, with the emphasis on foreign trade.The second chapter deals with a comprehensive macroeconomic analysis of the RF with an outline of possible business opportunities for Czech exporters on the Russian market,a third chapter is devoted to pro-export policy of the Czech Republic.

Title: Comparison of Czech and Russian Declension of Nouns and Adjectives with a Focus on Teaching Czech for Foreigners Author: Mgr. Karel Kulich Department: Institute of Czech Language and Theory of Communication, Faculty of Arts, Charles University Supervisor: PhDr. Jiří Hasil, Ph.D. Abstract: The submitted thesis deals with Czech language as a foreign language in the field of Czech declension system of nouns and adjectives in comparison with the Russian system, and the issue of acquiring these language structures in the target group of Russian-language foreigners. This group of foreigners is a part of a large number of foreign students studying at Czech universities and other schools, so the topic of the paper is highly up-to-date. According to the findings of the linguists, the similarity of language structures may be the cause of the so-called interference errors. In a more general sense, it is the issue of homonymy, which is described, for example, by V. Skalička in connection with the development and termination of declension. In the linguistic comparison, the role of homonymity of desinential morphemes is related to their unequal functional load. The author claims to provide a thorough knowledge of Czech and Russian declension based on comparative study. The goals of the thesis include description...

This diploma thesis deals with the issues of numerals in the context of teaching Czech as a foreign language. The theoretical part describes the reasons why numerals are so problematic in the process of teaching and the common methodological recommendations for the teaching of numerals are described here as well. The goal of this thesis is to suggest the most suitable way to teach selected numerals along with the related grammatical cases. Numerals in the chosen textbooks of Czech for foreigners and the analysis of the chosen forms in the CzeSL-SGT learner corpora were analysed for this purpose. The analysis of the corpus helps to define the difficult cases in more detail. Based on the analyses, the worksheets were created for the chosen types of numerals that can be used in the teaching process. These materials also contain recommendations for working with the individual activities.

This thesis verifies the applicability of the Daniel Gile's Effort Model on two language pairs, French - Czech and Czech Sign Language - Czech. It is a theoretical-empirical thesis. The theoretical part offers a brief explanation of the process of simultaneous interpreting, of the Gile's Effort Model of simultaneous interpreting for spoken and sign languages, of the quality in interpretation, of the reason of failure during the transmission and of the coping strategies and tactics. Considering the accomplished experiment, which was focused on proper nouns and its influence on the interpreter's discourse, the last part is devoted to proper nouns and its use in Czech, in Czech Sign Language and its transmission during the interpretation, because the experts agree on fact, that proper nouns are problem triggers, that makes the transmission of the message difficult and that may cause a failure. The empirical part consists of an experiment. Its aim was to verify the applicability of the Effort model on two language pairs by using a discourse containing proper nouns. Three variables or factors were examined - the successful transmission of proper noun, the successful transmission of the segment containing noun and of the successive segment. The aim was not only to find out the results for each language...

The diploma thesis "Foreign Journalists of Czech Public Media: Comparison of the Conditions for execution of Profession" describes, maps and compares conditions for the work and life of permanent foreign journalists of public media institutions in the Czech Republic. These institutions are Czech Television, Czech Radio and Czech News Agency. After defining terms of public media, it continues by anchoring the public media in Czech legal system, a short description of history of each medium in context of foreign journalists, and the costs of operating a journalist network. Then it defines a journalist with regards to his or her profession and the necessary assumptions for doing such work. Later, foreign journalists are divided into several categories - permanent, ad hoc, freelancer, and war correspondent. Next, an operative part based on questionnaires had been sent to journalists and on two personal interviews with heads of the foreign editorial staffs of Czech Television and Czech Radio. The response rate to the questionnaires was over 60%. It investigated what kind of education current foreign correspondents have, as well as which languages they speak, their journalism career and experiences, what kind of equipment they have worked with, how often they are in contact with their central editorial...

This thesis examines the process of approximating EC law that the Czech Republic has undertaken both under the Europe Agreement and in order to fulfill one of the conditions for membership in the European Union. The thesis aims to determine whether the transposition of EC legislation has been undertaken with a view to effective implementation of the acquis communautaire and to assess what implications this process will have for the Czech Republic. To this end, three areas of law which are subject to approximation are examined, namely competition law, environmental law and company law. Accordingly, Chapter I provides a general overview of the process of approximation and the challenges it poses for the Czech Republic. The process of approximation in the field of competition law is examined in Chapter II, followed by environmental law in Chapter III. The area of company law is addressed in Chapter IV. Finally, Chapter V concludes with an analysis of the findings of the previous chapters with a discussion of the implications of approximation for the legal order of the Czech Republic.

In the course of its history, Prague has been the site of many significant cultural confrontations and conversations. From the medieval chronicle of Cosmas to the work of contemporary writers, the city has taken shape in literature as a multivalent space where identities are constructed and questioned. The evolution of Prague's literary significance has taken place in an intercultural context: both Czech-speaking and German-speaking writers have engaged with the city and its past, and their texts have interacted with each other. The city has played a central part in many collective narratives in which myth, history and literature intertwine. Looking at contemporary prose fiction written in both Czech and German, this thesis explores continuities and contrasts in the literary roles played by Prague. It analyses two German-speaking emigrant authors, Libuše Moníková (1945-1998) and Jan Faktor (1951- ), viewing them alongside three Czech writers, Jáchym Topol (1962- ), Daniela Hodrová (1946- ), and Michal Ajvaz (1949- ). Through close readings of eight texts, the thesis approaches the imagined city from four angles. It discusses how contemporary authors portray the search for meaning in the city by imagining Prague as two contrasting realms (the 'real' city and the 'other' city), how the discontinuities of the city are reflected by the fragmentation of the authorial stance, how these authors assemble new Prague myths from the vestiges of older topoi, and how they confront the contradictory urges to uphold the boundaries of the city and to transgress them. In post-1989 Prague, authors explore the unstable spaces between continuity and discontinuity, constructing an authorial ethos in these areas of tension.

The dissertation analyses the stratification of Czech in terms of teaching Czech as a foreign language. The general theoretical part relates to teaching Czech as a foreign language or other foreign languages as close as possible. This part also includes the analysis of recordings of authentic communication between Czech speakers and foreigners. The findings of the analysis are subsequently applied to the sample plans of teaching units. The introductory part deals with the history and development of the theory of the standard Czech language and it also presents the attitudes held by the members of the Prague Linguistic Circle, which were published in Spisovná čeština a jazyková kultura (Czech Literary Language and Culture) in 1932. The theoretical part reflects the issue of defining the standard, mentions diglossia and presents a variety of contemporary opinions on future trends in the development of codification. In accordance with its aim, the paper lists the recommendations of benchmark descriptions for Czech as a foreign language and also describes so called Foreigner Talk, including the way foreigners are spoken to by the speakers of Czech. Furthermore, the extent to which spoken Czech is reflected upon in the instruction of Czech language for foreigners and/or teaching materials were studied....