Disputatio:Cechia

Vicipaedia 2 paginas de terra illa habet: Tzekia et Res Publica Cecha? Quale nomen adoptare debemus? Possibile, nomen potium est Cechia sive Czechia? --Alexander Gerascenco 15:55, 2 Ianuarii 2006 (UTC)

Tzekia appears to be based off of Egger's Tzechoslovakia, Cecha is coined with the Italian-style "Church" pronunciation in mind. I really dislike Egger's overuse of Tz and k, but his book has such authority among Neo-Latinists that I would recomend we go with Tzechia. --Iustinus 19:51, 2 Ianuarii 2006 (UTC)

Won't it be useful to make a clear distinction between the two digraphs: "cz" and "tz", so that one of them would always stand for the sound denoted by "c" (before "e", "i", "y") - in Italian, "cz" - in Polish, "ch" in English, "tsch" - in German and the other for the sound denoted by "ts" - in English, "z" - in German, "c" - in Polish and, before "e", "i", "y", in the traditional variant of Latin pronunciation I was taught at the university. Should we write "Tzar" and "Czechia" (as I would prefer) or "Czar" and "Tzechia"? -- Alexander Gerascenco 16:46, 2 Ianuarii 2006 (UTC)

Czechia mihi melius sonat. Cuchar 21:21, 3 Martii 2006 (UTC)

Mihi etiam! -- Alexander Gerascenco 07:07, 4 Martii 2006 (UTC)

"Cz" appears nowhere in the Latin-Czech dictionary (as well as "tz" or "k"). There is no reason for writing "z" after "c", because "e" follows. I think that the best forms are "Cechia" and "Res publica Cecha". Write more opinions so we could correct everything. Petr C. 08:25, 4 Martii 2006 (UTC)

As far as I know, "c" before "i", "e", "y" is read according to Italian rules, i.e. like English "ch", only according to the Church pronunciation, which is not followed by everyone. Personally I was taught to read "c" as "ts" in such positions, and the reconstructed classical pronunciation prescribes reading "c" always as "k". So, "Cechia" could be read as "Tsekhia" or even "Kekia"...

"Cz" and "tz" can be used in Latin transliterations of foreign words (esp. proper names) (see, e.g., Graesse. Orbis Latinus, Hofmann. Lexicon Universale, Herberstein. Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii, etc.). The problem is their interchangeability (that I'd love to put an end to)...

The Russian-Latin dictionary that I have offers such variant of the country name as "Tsec(h)ia"... -- Alexander Gerascenco 05:04, 5 Martii 2006 (UTC)

That's the problem of latin in the modern world - each nation uses its own pronounciation rules. I am taught that "c" before "i", "e", "y", "ae", "oe" is pronounced as "tz" (rules used in the Czech Republic - medieval latin). Example - "Cicero":

• Medieval latin [tzitzero] - in Slavic languages c, ц
• Germany [kikero]
• Italy [tchitchero] - in Slavic languages cz, č, ч
• France [sisero]
• United kingdom [siserou]

In this angle of view it's really hard to say which form describing the Czech land is correct. Latin came to Bohemia in medieval ages, but "Tzekia" appeared for the first time in history at the beginning of the 20-th century as a part of "Tzekoslovakia" (latin had already been "dead" language). That's why the medieval latin seems to be the best for me. I understand, that "big" nations would like to use their form of latin everywhere, but Tzekia is already being used in many other Vicipaedia articles, so this form seems to be a good compromise. Petr C. 10:26, 5 Martii 2006 (UTC)

"Tzekia", never "Tzechia"? -- Alexander Gerascenco 12:44, 5 Martii 2006 (UTC)

Considering the poor quality of much of the Latin here, I would not think referring to widespread use of a word here to be any kind of argument for its use. Errors go unchecked and tend to multiply... —Myces Tiberinus 03:08, 31 Martii 2006 (UTC)

Quin Bohemia? Bohemia enim non est diffilicis scriptu. Scio quidem hanc regionem non eosdem terminos habuisse ac Tsecia hodierna, sed tamen paene eandem regionem significat. Et - exempli gratia - etiam nomine Italiae utimur quamvis Italia hodierna maior sit quam Italia Romanorum temporis. usor:Bohmhammel 20.31 (UTC) pridie Nonas Martias 2006

Ego quoque Bohemia malo. Also, when it comes to spelling sounds that can't be unproblematically spelled in Latin (such as the 'ch') I would be inclined to use the original/native orthography if possible (thus, from Česko, either Cech- or perhaps Čech-—or do the Czechs have a standard method of reducing diacriticked letters to plain ones?). That said, Hofmann does write Czechus at least once. "-kia" doesn't seem to be supported at all. —Myces Tiberinus 03:08, 31 Martii 2006 (UTC)

I should append that the usual treatment I have run aross is that the sounds are spelled according to the underlying native language of the Latinist (so as an English-speaker I might prefer 'Czechia', the English form)—but in a place like this that's somewhat infeasible. —Myces Tiberinus 13:43, 31 Martii 2006 (UTC)

Res Publica Bohemica etc. etc. etc.

Georgius omnibus, qui hanc disputationem participant, salutem. Hodie denique quaestionem de nomine Rei Publicae Bohemicae (sive Tzekae, ut nonnulli dicunt) ad viros feminasque doctos, qui studiis in universitatibus studiorum Bohemicis (sive, sit venia verbo, Tzekicis) operam dant, cursu electronico detuli; equidem nullus dubito, quin duas paginas de eadem re publica habere supervacaneum sit; itaque exspectemus paulisper. --Georgius Laminarius 07:47, 17 Maii 2006 (UTC)

In Vicipaedia Latina iam sunt paginae lingua Bohemica et Bohemoslovacia. Possibile, haec pagina etiam renominanda est "Bohemia" (et pagina, nunc Bohemia nominatur, facienda est "Bohemia (terra)")?

P.S. Václav Klaus -> Venceslaus Klaus (fons: Percontatio Venceslai Klaus, praesidentis Bohemiae [1])

-- Alexander Gerascenco 06:14, 29 Augusti 2006 (UTC)

Sodalis optime, gratias tibi pro interrogatione tua ago; nunc equidem nomen Rei Publicae Bohemicae mihi perplacet (quin etiam in usu diutissime est); nondum autem unum nomen, quo patria mea appelletur, proponere velim, quamvis opinionem meam habeam. Primum res in sessionibus nostris universitariis et in scholis Circuli Latini Prageni tractanda et penitus perscrutanda erit. Deinde omnia, si necesse erit, mutanda nobis erunt. Sed, quod ad vocem Tzekiae exit, parum Latina esse mihi videtur. --Georgius Laminarius 13:11, 4 Septembris 2006 (UTC)

Adhuc Tzekia - mox Res Publica Bohemica

Nonnullos Universitatis Carolinae Pragensis professores adii, ut sententiam suam de nomine rei publicae, quae ex Bohemia, Moravia, parte Silesiae constat, aperirent; opusculum de hac re proculdubio exarandum nimis longum temporis spatium postulat et bene compertum est lexica Latina (index eorum apud lingua Bohemica operaque in Academia scientiarum Bohemica edita nomen Rei Publicae Bohemicae continere. Intra ergo quattuordecim dies, sodales egregii, huic paginae nomen Rei Publicae Bohemicae impositurus sum. Unum autem nomen terrarum Bohemicarum variis ex causis perdifficile inveniri potest - nondum enim consensus inter incolas Bohemiae, Moraviae, Silesiae exstat. --Georgius Laminarius 16:41, 12 Octobris 2006 (UTC)

Bohemomoravia

Sorry, but to call Czechia by a name derived from Bohemia is the same nonsense as to say Brandenburgum instead of Germania. You can't call the whole country by a part of it. Czechia consists not only of Bohemia, but also of Moravia. So what about Bohemomoravia? --212.158.134.242 17:26, 2 Septembris 2007 (UTC) Gabriel Svoboda

The current article title is really terrible. You call Tzilia by its Neolatin name, not by a name of one of its regions. You even accept Tzadia although this country does have a classical Latin name (Garamantia). But my homeland must has to be called wrongly (just as Anglia would be an incorrect name for Regnum Unitum, or Russia for Unio Sovietica) only because somebody doesn't lïke its Neolatin name: Tzekia. (Well, at the best I'd prefer Tzechia instead of Tzekia, unless you want to write also psykologia, kamaeleo etc.) But Bohemia or any of its derivatives is definitely wrong because it doesn't cover the whole country. --Gabriel Svoboda 14:52, 30 Decembris 2007 (UTC)

If you're proposing to move to Tzechia or Tzekia, Gabriel, I agree with you. (Bohemomoravia is also OK, I guess, but clumsy.) But let's wait and see what one or two others think. Andrew Dalby 16:58, 30 Decembris 2007 (UTC)

If Tzadia was to be called Garamantia (which is by no means really modern Chad) then all this would be pointless, for the Classical name for Bohemia is Boiohaemum--Xaverius 17:10, 30 Decembris 2007 (UTC)

If the /tʃ/ of chocolate is to be transcribed as Latin "s" (as apparently it is), why isn't the /tʃ/ of Czechia also to be transcribed as "s," making the country Sechia? (Not to mention Sile for Tzile and Sadia for Tzadia.) Here's a general principle: proposed transcriptional irregularities must be defensible on grounds of prior usage; and if they can't be, then transcriptions should be created on the basis of previously established phonetic regularities. IacobusAmor 20:40, 30 Decembris 2007 (UTC)

Somewhat off the topic of Czechs, but Nuntii Latini latinised Chechnya as "Tzetznia"! On the topic, they also follow suit later with Tzekia itself. Both of these stories were written by Pekkanen. Harrissimo 22:28, 30 Decembris 2007 (UTC).

Maybe we should actually see all the options? I presume we're keeping Respublica at the beginning, so here are some adjectives:

• Bohemica (most common across the board, used by Helfer, Ducrue and a Czech themself as sources)
• Tzecha (Egger and Pekkanen, looks bad, not a good transcription, not classical)
• Cecha (Also Egger, not classical, but like Cechia - very similar to the Czech name and )
• Tzek(ic)a (Pekkanen)
• Ceca (From Levine's Cecoslovachia)
• Bohemomoravia (ficta, but look at this (quite interesting) )

But which is both P.C. and well-made? Harrissimo 22:28, 30 Decembris 2007 (UTC).

Forms that spell /tʃe/ as "ce" are unacceptable to those who pronounce Latin in the reconstructed classical manner, for whom Cecha must be pronounced /kekha/. Forms that use /z/ as if it were merely /s/ are likewise nonclassical, since "z" is classically a long consonant, consisting of /d/ + /z/, so Tzecha might become almost a trisyllable: tdz-e-cha. The spelling that may dissatisfy the least is "ts," and it may lead to Tsechia. IacobusAmor 00:09, 31 Decembris 2007 (UTC)

The /dz/ is part of the Italian style, I think. Allen's Vox Latina, citing Velius Longus, firmly places the classical Latin value of z at /zz/—still a double consonant, but just a long one, not an affricate of any kind; and, of course, in classical Greek times the zeta was /zd/. The origin of this practice of using tz for /tʃ/ could certainly use some looking into, though; presumably it has some basis backing its relative popularity, which should probably be discovered before some unknown baby is thrown out with the bathwater. —Mucius Tever 03:19, 31 Decembris 2007 (UTC)

Yes, and Allen remarks (boldface added): "Before the adoption of the foreign sound and letter, the Greek ζ had been rendered by its nearest Latin equivalent, viz. by the voiceless s initially and ss medially" (p. 46). ¶ Regarding why European observers used "tz" to transcribe a certain sound in American Indian words (see Vitzliputzli): perhaps those writers heard no difference between "s" and "z" and therefore conceived "ts" and "tz" to be the same sound. Maybe "tz" looked more familiar to them than "ts" would have. IacobusAmor 04:45, 31 Decembris 2007 (UTC)

BTW, there is no need to keep Res publica at the beginning, Latin names of most other republics in the world do fine without it.

Some aspects of the problem are described [2]. As you can read there among others, Bohemia or Res publica Bohemica is definitely wrong; but as far as all other alternatives are concerned, none of them is probably clearly better than all others.

* No alternative offers the original initial sound of the name as Latin just doesn't have it. So, Cechia (from Italian pronunciation) is not more wrong than Tzekia (tz in this function dates back to the 6th century AD [3]), Tsechia (from modern Greek Τσεχία), Czechia (from old Czech, current Polish and from these two also English spelling) or even Sechia.

* For the second consonant sound, ch (_echia) is both traditional and reflects the original pronunciation best - but if Neolatin dislikes it, k or c (_ekia, _ecia) would not be an essential mistake either. --Gabriel Svoboda 09:30, 31 Decembris 2007 (UTC)

Czechia, please

"Tzekia" sounds like tzatziki and looks really odd. Czech Humanists writing in Latin sometimes did use "Czechia" or "regnum Czechicum" (when speaking about all lands of Czech kingdom - which could be fitting also for today's situation (Moravia and piece of Silesia), so it is not a new word, as suggested. Concerning "res publica" I would prefer "Res publica Bohemorum".

How to represent in Latin the sound of IPA [tʃ] is a current topic of discussion on my talkpage. Of course if attestations exist, Vicipaedia should recognize them—though IMHO that doesn't mean that Vicipedia should necessarily give them preference in listing the order of alternatives in a lemma. In classical pronunciation, cz comes out as [kzz]] (z is long), a strange sound. IacobusAmor 16:47, 19 Maii 2008 (UTC)

Surely Vatican pronunciation, as being that of a living official language, should always be regarded as normative, whatever local idiosyncracies contributors prefer. According to that [tʃ] is easily represented by 'c' followed by 'i' or 'e'. 'Cechia' would be most appropriate - but what name does the Vatican actually use for the modern state?82.36.94.228 09:20, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Everyone in Czechia - both secular and ecclesiastic Latinists - use the Slavic pronunciation, according to which Cechia is /tsexia/. There is nothing like "the only correct" or "the official" pronunciation of Latin: throughout history, Latin has been used by many more people than just by ancient Romans or by Italian(ised) clergy, ergo neither the formers' nor the latters' pronunciation should prevail. Latin is a language with many pronunciations, try to cope with it, please.
Nevertheles, the traditional Latin pronunciation of that area has no /tʃ/ sound, and its Latinizations in local names vary from case to case: Čáslav became Czaslavia /kzaslavija/, Děčín (German Tetschen) became Dasena /dazena/, Jičín became Gicinum /gitsinum/, and many other proposals on the transliteration of /tʃ/ exist. I don't think we can find any solution that will satisfy everybody. We just have to pick one of the possibilities and stick on it. In this case, most common is Tzechia, and I have no problems with it, just like I'd not be against any other solution, for example Cechia. (But the ch should never be replaced with k, as I have explained it earlier in this discussion.)
The current article title tries to avoid the decision, but the result is worse than what it tries to avoid: Czechia is neither Bohemia nor any derivative of it. Yes, I am sure you will find many sources where Czechia is called Bohemia; but likewise, you will find many sources where Nederlandia is called Hollandia, or where Britanniae are called Anglia, yet Wikipedia doesn't copy such mistakes even if they are common.
The recently created categories Incolae civitatis X have invented another possible solution: we have [Categoria:Incolae Bohemiae et Moraviae]. Bohemia et Moravia, I guess, is also the solution used by the Vatican, because Czechia is divided into just two ecclesiastic provinces: Bohemian and Moravian. --Gabriel Svoboda 12:58, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

I don't believe that I suggested that Latin should only be pronounced in one way - it never was, as you rightly say -or gave the impression that I couldn't cope with variety. I merely suggested that Vatican Latin, as the most widely used form, might be thought of as a kind of RP! 82.36.94.228 13:38, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Except that most of us who come to Vicipaedia from outside the Vatican regard the reconstructed pronunciation of the time of Augustus (more or less) to be the aptest one for modern pronunciation—which is why "Czechia" begs to be pronounced [kzzeχia]. IacobusAmor 14:26, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

OK then, I apologize to 82.36.94.228 for not assuming good faith. Actually, I'd like to know which variety is most common, do we have any statistical data (such as a ballot on Pagina prima :-) )? Anyway, IacobusAmor's response indicates my point - the only agreement Latinists can reach about pronunciation (hence about transcription of foreign sounds) is that there is no agreement. The reconstructed pronunciation has no /tʃ/ sound, it can only try to invent some substitute - and in this respect, cz /kz/ is not more wrong than ts /ts/, tz /tz/ or c /k/. --Gabriel Svoboda 14:52, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Er...Iacobe, I must take issue on two points. 1st "Most of us". Really? I am not a resident of the Vatican and I am an Anglican. Tergum violinae 20:43, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Me too. :) IacobusAmor 21:51, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Among people who actually use Latin much (rather than attempt to teach it to schoolchildren) this tends to be in the realm of church music where 20c Vatican pronunciation holds sway - rightly or wrongly. Tergum violinae 20:43, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Mainly in a small part of Europe. Modern French-, German-, and Spanish-influenced areas may differ, as may the "historical performance" of Latin works by English, French, German, and other non-Italian composers of more than a couple of centuries ago. IacobusAmor 21:51, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Actually the current Vatican form was standardised at the beginning of the 20th century to facilitate interintelligibilty - which is surely not a bad thing. It doen't affet a small part of Europe. Yes, there is a trend in some esoteric places for "historical reconstructions" with Byrd's works sung according to ye olde Englyshe Latin pronunciation, whic is all very interesting for people who like that sort of thing - along with real ale, one would guess - but the only occasion most folks experience Latin which is not written on a page is hearing choral music or seeing the pope on telly.Tergum violinae 22:02, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

2nd"Reconstructed Augustan Latin". Again, really? Do you make sure that you always drop final "m"s except in monosyllables as well? And never, ever, pronounce the letter 'h'? The evidence is rather strong that even by the time of Augustus some modification of 'c' before 'i' and 'e' had already begun and that 'ae' and 'oe' had ceased to be diphthongs. Tergum violinae 20:43, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

According to W. Sidney Allen's book (p. 60), ae as a diphthong is attested by Quintilian (first century) and Terentius Scaurus (second century), and by later borrowings, including that of Caesar into Old High German (whence it became the modern Kaiser, not *Kehser) and praedium into Welsh as praidd. One doesn't really quite "drop" the ems. Allen says there's no evidence of the "softening' of c before e and i "before the fifth century A.D.; and even today the word for '100' is pronounced kentu in the Logudoro dialect of Sardinia" (p. 15). IacobusAmor 21:51, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Czechia and Tzekia just don't look like any kind of Latin. Cechia could be pronounced 'Kekia', 'Tsekia' or 'Tshekia' depending on how you pronounce your Latin. All would be perfectly acceptable, because the word would at least LOOK like Latin! Tergum violinae 20:43, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

I agree that the CZ in Czechia looks weird, but surely our familiarity with name of the Greek scholar Ιωάννης Τζέτζης (Ioannes Tzetzes) makes the TZ of Tzekia look unsurprising. IacobusAmor 21:51, 13 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Indeed, out of the correct alternatives proposed (Cechia, Czechia, Tsechia, Tzechia), only Cechia contains syllables commonly found in lots of Latin words; all others have some more or less unpleasant consonant cluster. As for Ioannes Tzetzes, he seems to have been of Georgian origin; unfortunately, I didn't manage to Google the original Georgian name, it would be interesting to know whether it was /tʃetʃes/, /tsetses/ or something else. Greek el:τζατζίκι (tzatzici), by the way, comes from Turkish cacık /dʒadʒik/. Nevertheless, modern Greeks transliterate /tʃ/ as ts (which we often adopt from them, for example here): el:Τσεχία (Tsechia), el:Τσετσενία (Tsetsenia), el:Τσελιάμπινσκ (Tseliampinsc), el:Καμτσάτκα (Camtsatca), el:Τσουκότκα (Tsucotca). Do we turn all these into Cechia, Cecenia, Celiabinsc(um), Camciatca, Ciucotca? I'd be happy to do so, but perhaps we still need something like cz/ts/tz for cases when /tʃ/ is not followed by a vowel and c would therefore be /k/ in all pronunciations, such as el:Σλόμπονταν Μιλόσεβιτς (Milosebits). --Gabriel Svoboda 10:53, 14 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

The latin language is just o hobby for me (although I would welcome its introduction as an international auxiliary language...) but I happen to come from the Czech republic, so this concerns me a little bit... In my opinion, the variant "Czechia" is the best one no matter which pronunciation one is to choose. If we consider the classical restituted variant, it indeed looks weird (is if it were pronounced /kzekxia/ ) which in my opinion is not wrong. Just the opposit! It looks so weird it just can't be pronounced in the classical way ad therefore it is clearly a digraph denoting a non-latin sound (namely /tʃ/). Moreover it is used not only in English and Polish, but it was the ancient variant of Czech orthography before the introduction of the diacritical marks. Of course, this calls for a greater consistency, so one variant should be used fot translitteration of all words. Another possibility is the introduction of diacritics (universal, of course), so it would be "Čechia"... which is kinda weird...

No consensus

Just for curiosity, I tried to count how many participants in this discussion have expressed some kind of preference towards each alternative. (I didn't concentrate on technical details, for example Tzechia stands also for Tzekia, and Bohemia stands also for Res publica Bohemica.)

• Cechia (5) - 82.36.94.228, Alexander Gerascenco, Gabriel Svoboda, Petr C., Tergum violinae
• Bohemia (4) - Alexander Gerascenco, anonymous founder of Czechia, please, Bohmhammel, Georgius Laminarius
• Czechia (4) - Alexander Gerascenco, anonymous founder of Czechia, please, Cuchar, Gabriel Svoboda
• Tzechia (4) - Andrew Dalby, Gabriel Svoboda, Iustinus, Petr C.
• Sechia (2) - Gabriel Svoboda, IacobusAmor
• Tsechia (2) - Gabriel Svoboda, IacobusAmor
• Bohemomoravia (1) - Gabriel Svoboda

I interpret the hypothetical result as no consensus. The *echia alternatives seem to be more popular than the current article title, but its four or five internal variants make it impossible to win over single Bohemia. (Or maybe the supporters of Bohemia are just satisfied with the current title and remain silent.) Never mind, this discussion has been founded three years ago, so in 2012 we may arrive to an agreement. :-) --Gabriel Svoboda 11:47, 15 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

By the standard of some wiki discussions, that's optimistic!! I have meanwhile been using ... Bohemiae et Moraviae as a circumlocution when creating categories. It isn't neat, but it's uncontroversial I hope, till a better answer is agreed on. Andrew Dalby 20:55, 20 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Actually for categories containing people, ... Bohemiae et Moraviae is optimal and should probably remain even if this article is once moved, because it is a purely geographic, nationalistically neutral name. Till 1945, Bohemia and Moravia were no more Czech than they were German, so with the current category titles we don't pretend that the Bohemian Franciscus Kafka and the Moravian Sigismundus Freud were Czechs. (I know, these categories are meant geographically rather than ethnically, but still ...) --Gabriel Svoboda 21:06, 20 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Well, that's good! Latin names are handy sometimes ... Andrew Dalby 09:49, 21 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Vatican has "Respublica Cecha". I think we should run with that. Fons: publicationes Vaticanae fons linguae Latinae vitalisTergum violinae 22:15, 2 Februarii 2009 (UTC)

Etiam pro Cechia fontem Vaticanum habemus. Res publica usually penetrates a geographical name only to distinguish two Chinas, Dominicas, Germanies, Irelands, Koreas, Macedonias, or Serbias, which is not the Czechia's need. Otherwise of course I agree: we already know Cechia is supported by Egger+Levine+Vatican, can any other trio of Latin authorities beat this one? --Gabriel Svoboda 17:21, 3 Februarii 2009 (UTC)

Their spelling is most pertinent within the context of Ecclesiastical Latin. Readers/speakers of a more classically oriented Latin will pronounce Cechia something like [kekia] or [kekhia]. Presumably that's OK with the Cechii (the [kekii])? IacobusAmor 17:35, 3 Februarii 2009 (UTC)

It is the version found in a living official state language. I can't think that the "kekians" would be any more irritated than the "tsekians"!Tergum violinae 20:28, 3 Februarii 2009 (UTC)

I don't know how much other Cechi (themselves pronouncing it /tsexi/ in their Latin) would be irritated by the classical pronunciation, but they would recognise Cechia at least visually. Although there is no official method of reducing letters with diacritics to plain ones, the de facto Czech standard (used in the 1990s Internet etc.) says that any diacritical mark is just removed: Čechia --> Cechia. --Gabriel Svoboda 18:33, 3 Februarii 2009 (UTC)

Usage in world's languages

I tried to analyse how the initial sound of this country name was reflected in various languages. I based my analysis on Latin-alphabet languages from [4] and their number of native speakers given by Wikipedia.

• ch — about 480 million people, most notably Spanish Chequia. Ch would make no sense in Latin, beause h in Latin doesn't serve as a general modifier, but a specific one. It either marks aspiration, especially in words of Greek origin (psychologia, cholera), or prevents palatalisation of c in foreign words adopted in the Italian way (Slovachia, Chirgisia). Neither nor makes sense for Czechia, /tʃ/ is a palatalised /k/ (ergo the palatalisation should not be prevented, we would actually welcome it), not an aspirated /k/ (ergo no aspiration should be marked). Moreover, it would be extremely confusing to write Chechia, because the same digraph would reflect two different sounds.
• cz — about 460 million people, most notably English Czechia and Polish Republika Czeska. Cz was a common placeholder for /tʃ/ in medieval orthographies of Slavic languages until Ioannes Hus invented č. Nevertheless, this digraph remained to be used in Polish, and it managed to enter English and some other languages via it.
• tch — about 280 million people, most notably (Brazilian) Portuguese Tchéquia and French Tchéquie. Here /tʃ/ is interpreted as /t/+/ʃ/, with /ʃ/ written as common in these languages.
• c — about 210 million people, most notably Javanese Republik Céko, Italian Cechia, Romanian Cehia and Indonesian Ceko. In Javanese and Indonesian c means /tʃ/ always, in Italian/Romanian c before e/i comes from palatalised /k/.
• tsch — about 110 million people, most notably German Tschechien. Again /t/+/ʃ/.
• s — about 80 million people, most notably Vietnamese Cộng hòa Séc. Vietnamese has two /tʃ/-like sounds (tr /ʈʂ~ʈ/, ch /c~tɕ/), yet for some reason it chose s /ʂ/.
• tsj — about 31 million people, most notably Dutch Tsjechië and Afrikaans Tsjeggië. The /tʃ/ again is analysed as t /t/+ sj /ʃ/, where sj /ʃ/ probably comes from s + softening represented by j.
• ts — about 31 million people, most notably Malagasy Repoblika Tseky and Tagalog Republika ng Tsek. Tagalog phonology is quite similar to the Greek (which also uses ts) or Latin one, it has no sounds like /ʃ/ or /tʃ/.
• tj — about 23 million people, most notably Swedish Tjeckien, Danish Tjekkiet and Afrikaans Tsjeggië. Here /tʃ/ is perceived as a palatalised t.
• cs — about 15 million people, Hungarian Csehország. This traditional Hungarian digraph can be analysed as c /ts/ + s /ʃ/.
• tx — about 10 million people, most notably Catalan Txèquia. Again /t/+/ʃ/.
• tsh — about 6 million people, Finnish Tshekki (standard orthography: Tšekki). Again /t/+/ʃ/.
• x (Tetum), t (Icelandic, Maori), k (Faroese), ...
• ç, č, tš, ċ, ... (about 160 million people use diacritics)

To sum up, the most common options are ch (480 mil.), cz (460 mil.), variants of /t/+/ʃ/ (420 mil.), c (210 mil.). I don't think the result solves anything, but it may serve as some basis for the future discussion. --Gabriel Svoboda 19:55, 20 Ianuarii 2009 (UTC)

Solutio finalis quaestionis Cechicae

Propono hanc paginam ad Cechia moveri. Qua de causa? Ecce quod Google Books dicunt:

• Czechiae — 105 proventus
  
• Cechiae — 63 proventus
  
• Tzechiae etc. minus quam decem proventus habet
  

{Googlem Books vice Googlem ipsam usus sum, quia explorationis proventus in Google ipsa multis linguis non-Latinis atque interrete recente (includens Vicipaedia) deformantur.}
Czechia victor clarus esse videtur. Non debemus autem oblivisci Czechiam partem Czechoslovakiae septuaginta annis fuisse, cuius nomen etiam considerandum est. Si ambo nomina separatim tractaremus, e.g. Czechiam praeter Cechoslovakiam habere potessemus, quod incongruens esset. Ecce Google Books iterim:

• Cechoslovakiae — 328 proventus
  
• Cecoslovachiae — 40 proventus
  
• Czechoslovakiae — 38 proventus
  
• Cechoslovachiae — 25 proventus
  
• Cechoslovaciae — 17 proventus
  
• nomina alia minus quam decem proventus habent
  

Computemus:

• Cechia + Cechoslovakia + Cecoslovachia + Cechoslovachia + Cechoslovacia = 63 + 328 + 40 + 25 + 17 = 473 proventus
  
• Czechia + Czechoslovakia = 105 + 38 = 143 proventus
  

Ergo paginam ad Cechia moturus sum. Gabriel Svoboda 10:33, 2 Octobris 2009 (UTC)

OK, sed Cechia enuntianda est /kekhia/. Confer Chilia, Tsilia, etc.? IacobusAmor 14:28, 2 Octobris 2009 (UTC)

Vero Tsechia, Tzechia vel quin Sechia phonologie classicae melius (non autem accurate) congruunt. Sed hae optiones fere non usurpantur extra Vicipaediam et paucos Latine loquentes recentes (Egger, Pekkanen): Tzechiae duo proventus, Tzekiae unus proventus, Tsechiae nullus proventus etc. Ergo duae optiones solae manent: Cechia /kekhia/ et Czechia /kzzekhia/. Puto /k/ melius quam /kzz/ esse ...
Chilia a nomine Hispanico Chile oritur; hoc modo Čechiam a Česko haberemus. Nonnuli vero hoc nomen utebantur (e.g. Flora Čechica), tamen credo nos diacritica potius effugere. Gabriel Svoboda 15:19, 2 Octobris 2009 (UTC)

Epistula in "Cechoslovaciam" quae dicitur

Georgius A. Laminarius amicis in Vicipaedia salutem dicit.

Diuturni silentii, amici, quo eram his temporibus usus - non ignavia quadam, sed partim studiis, partim negotiis distractus - finem hodiernus diem attulit; itaque, etsi omnes Latinitatis fautores vel maximi aestimo, non possum quin vobis huius paginae, quam condidi, mutationem qua nomen vere Latinum atque usu rei publicae ipsius probatum, ideo usurpandum pessum dedistis, obiciam velut peccatum in Latinitatem vivam commissum. Non nego multos esse hoc in situ viros doctissimos, nihilominus de vocabulis locutionibusque vere Latinis non puto esse suffragia ferenda; nam Latinitas pura et emendata, quam nos omnes iam inde ab initio studiorum sumus secuti, numquam arbitrio vulgi fuit moderanda; isto enim nomine nullam iam esse Latinitatis, quae vinculum inter nos et veteres esse debet, nullam, inquam, Latinitatis esse utilitatem existimarem. Quod sane non sibi vult me velle omnia inter nos amicitiae Latinae vincula diluere, nihilominus hoc nobis omnibus deliberandum censeo quorsum studia nostra dirigi oporteat. At fortasse res non tanti sit momenti, ergo pergamus, amici, eo nomine uti quod unicuique nostrum melius confectum esse videatur:). Valeatis quam optime.--Georgius A. Laminarius 08:53, 28 Octobris 2009 (UTC)

Dedi ex Urbe a.d. V Kal. Nov., i. e. die festo liberae Bohemoslovaciae dicato, a. MMIX a partu Virginis