Slovak (slovenčina) – Radio Omniglot

In this Adventure in Etymology, we’re opening doors to find the origins of the word door.

A door [dɔː / dɔɹ] is:

A portal of entry into a building, room, or vehicle, typically consisting of a rigid plane movable on a hinge. It may have a handle to help open and close, a latch to hold it closed, and a lock that ensures it cannot be opened without a key.

It comes from Middle English dor(e) [ˈdɔːr(ə)] (door), from Old English duru [ˈdu.ru] (door, opening) from Proto-West-Germanic *dur (door, hatch, flap) from Proto-Germanic *durz (door, hatch, flap), from PIE *dʰwer- (door) [source].

Words from the same roots include forum, forensic and thyroid in English, dörr (door) in Swedish, drws (door, doorway) in Welsh, dvor (court, courtyard) in Slovak and ترس (tors – shield, buckler) in Persian [source].

Incidentally, in Old English one word for window was ēagduru [ˈæ͜ɑːɡˌdu.ru], or literally “eye-door”. Another was ēagþyrel [ˈæ͜ɑːɡˌθy.rel], or “eye-hole” [source].

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In this episode I talk about the Czech language (čeština / český jazyk). I give an overview of the language itself, talk about my efforts to learn it.

Examples of Czech noun cases

Nominative: (Já) ji vidím = I see her
Genitive: Její květy jsou modré = Her flowers are blue
Dative: Dávám jí květiny = I give her flowers
Accusative: Ona mě vidí = She sees me
Vocative: Ahoj Evo = Hi Eva
Locative: Jsem doma = I am at home
Instrumental: Ona cestuje autobusem = She is travelling by bus

Some Czech tongue twisters without vowels

Chrt pln skvrn zdrhl z Brd.
A greyhound full of spots escaped from the Brdy (mountains)
Chrt pln skvrn zhltl hrst zrn.
A greyhound full of spots swallowed a handful of grain.
Chrt pln skvrn vtrhl skrz trs chrp v čtvrť Krč, prv zhltl čtvrt hrst zrn.
A greyhound full of spots barged through a tuft of cornflowers into the Krč neighbourhood, (but) first, it swallowed a quarter-handful of grain.
Plch zdrhl skrz drn, prv zhltl čtvrthrst zrn.
A dormouse escaped through a turf; first it swallowed a quarter-handful of grain.
Zdrhl krt skrz drn, zprv zhltl hrst zrn.
A mole escaped through a turf; first, it swallowed a quarter-handful of grain.
Vlk pln žbrnd zdrhl hrd z mlh Brd skrz vrch Smrk v čtvrť srn Krč.
A wolf full of poor-quality beverages escaped proud from the mists of Brdy through the Smrk hill into the roe deer district of Krč.
Prd krt skrz drn, zprv zhlt hrst zrn
A mole farted through grass, having swallowed a handful of grain
Škrt plch z mlh Brd pln skvrn z mrv prv hrd scvrnkl z brzd skrz trs chrp v krs vrb mls mrch srn čtvrthrst zrn
A miser dormouse from the mists of Brdy full of spots from manure, firstly proud, pushed (with its fingers in a specific way) a dainty of bitchy roe deer, quarter-handful of grain, off the brakes through a tuft of cornflowers into the dwarfed willows.