Institute of the Czech Language

The Institute of the Czech Language (Czech: Ústav pro jazyk český, ÚJČ) is a scientific institution dedicated to the study of the Czech language. It is one of the institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Its headquarters are in Prague and it has a branch in Brno.[1]

Institute of the Czech Language
DirectorPhDr. Martin Prošek, Ph.D.
AddressLetenská 123/4, 118 00,
Prague 1, Czech Republic
Coordinates50°5′24.93″N 14°24′30.53″E
Websiteujc.avcr.cz/

The institute was created in 1946, by transformation of the former Office for the Czech Lexicon (Kancelář Slovníku jazyka českého), founded in 1911 by the former Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1953 it became a part of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and became a public research institution in 2007.[2]

In the Czech Republic, the institute is widely accepted as the regulatory body of the Czech language. Its recommendations on standard Czech (spisovná čeština) are viewed as binding by the educational system, newspapers and others, although this has no legal basis.

The institute's rich publishing activity has two main branches, firstly scientific monographies, magazines (Naše řeč, Slovo a slovesnost) and articles, that could be viewed as conversation between bohemists themselves, discussing matters of the Czech language. Secondly, what could be considered output of these discussions, is a consistent set of rules on vocabulary, grammar and orthography. Of the recommendations published most weight carry those, to which the institute itself assigns "codification status":[3] monolingual dictionaries of the Czech language, Slovník spisovného jazyka českého and Slovník spisovné češtiny pro školu a veřejnost, and the orthography manual Pravidla českého pravopisu. The recommendations published in new editions of these are usually subsequently accepted by a ministry of education to be used in schools. The publication of new editions has often been a source of heated debate and national controversy, as recently as 1993.[4]

There have been unsuccessful attempts to enshrine the position of the Czech language and its minders in legislation, akin to the Language law of Slovakia.[5]

See also

References
  1. "General Information". Institute of the Czech Language. Ústav pro jazyk český AV ČR. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  2. "Institute of the Czech Language of the ASCR, v. v. i." Academy of Sciences of the Czech republic. Centre of Administration and Operations of the ASCR. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  3. "O slovnících". LEXIKO. Ústav pro jazyk český AV ČR. 25 March 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  4. Vašíčková, Eva (4 August 2011). "GLOSA: Po prudkých bojích jazykovědců potichu přijdou změny". iDNES.cz. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  5. Sněmovní tisk 485 - Novela z. Ústava České republiky
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