I do apologize to be so ignorant about Czech history, but why exactly is it considered derogatory to say Tscheschei in German? Why is Tschechien preferred?
Tscheschei :? - I never heard of it, maybe it is a typing error (but Google has found it). IMO, Tschechien and Tschechei are synonyms. IMHO, Tschechien is a preferred formal term (cf. Britannien, Italien, Schlesien, Slowenien, Kroatien, Serbien, Albanien, etc.).
The more correct and common form is, as already mentioned, Tschechien. However, die Tschechei (with article) is also being used. To my knowledge, there is no derogatory connotation to the latter word. Presumably, 'die Tschechei' arose as a result of the orthographic confusion when the newly born Czech republic suddenly appeared. The German word for Czechoslovakia is die Tschechoslowakei and 'die Slowakei' is the accurate term for Slovakia, thus the first instinct could well have been to stick with the 'die' plus an -ei (pronounced as the English word 'I'). Still, neither the Czechs nor the Anglo-Saxon speaking world has resolved the issue of finding a short form for the Czech Republic which feels comfortable (a persistent but not widely acknowledged suggestion is Czechia in English and Česko in Czech). By the way, what's the Russian name for the Czech Republic? I hear that on the streets of Moscow, Chechens are nicknamed Czechs (for simplicity of pronunciation rather than shared characteristics I assume..) :wink:
tschechei is nazi-german. it's okay to say tschechien, but the correct german form ist tschechische republik.
I suspect this is a Swiss conception prevalent in the Swiss German dialect. As far as I know there is no such connotation in Germany or Austria at least among the younger generations. It would be interesting to get the opinion of a few native Germans and Austrians on this issue. During the Nazi occupation the Czech republic was officially referred to as the Reichsprotektorat Böhmen und Mähren, and at least officially the terms Böhmen and Mähren are likely to have been used to reinforce the perception of the Czech lands as historically and culturally German. If Tschechei is a bad word, then there are quite a few Germans who don't know it and use it with no bad intention. More opinions from Germans and Austrians, please! Die Tschechische Republik is of course the official name (just like the official full name for Britain is 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'), but this cumbersome form is only used in very formal speech. Tschechien is commonly used in newspapers, books and everyday speech.
i've read this in a german guidebook (baedeker). swiss german also knows both names, tschechei and tschechien. you are right.
I did a search on the forum and noticed that the term Tschechei is used by Member Jochen ... (sorry to drag you into this discussion Jochen, hope you don't mind) and His use of the word conveys only positive attitudes toward Czechs. Might it be that the term Tschechei only is considered derogatory by Czechs? I did a few searches with Google and could only see the term used in a neutral or positive manner towards the Czech Republic.
Yes, I have misspelt it and did so because every time I hear it in German it is pronounced the way I spelt it. Swiss German/Saxonian German is to blame! :wink: Чехия. Have never heard that. Seems unlikely. I have asked quite a few native Germans and they generally do agree there is something wrong with saying Tschechei but no one is competent enough to explain why. I take Czech classes, and our Czech teacher told us we should avoid saying Tschechei because the Czechs find it offensive. :!:
i have to protest :lol: swiss german's tschechei doesn't sound like tscheschei. maybe the german version. they also say schina for china and schemie for chemistry :lol:
but that's the point, isn't it? if czechs dislike this term it should be avoided. otherwise you could use any rassistic etc. terms with the excuse that you didn't mean it in a degoratory way.
which of the many Swiss dialects do you mean? :wink: I am pretty sure I heard it as "schei" from some Swiss, too.
oh, i forgot about the dialects... don't know all of them :wink: it's just that we are so famous for our "ch", like in chuchichaeschtli :lol:
Well, of course it should be avoided if it is considered as derogatory; but in this case it is considered as derogatory not by the speakers of that language but by speakers of another language (who do not use the word anyhow). It will be hard for speakers of another language in another country to understand and get used to not using a word in their own language because people in a neighbouring country with a different language oppose to the use of a word that is not used in their language. If Germans decided to consider 'Britain' as derogatory, would that require Brits to stop use it and start using a for Germans more pleasing term such as 'United Kingdom'??? :shock: I think that the most sensible would be for Czechs to understand that there is nothing derogatory about using Tschechei when speaking German, and of course at the same time for Germans to avoid using it in case someone would be offended... :? Can somebody explain to me Czechs find it so bad? Was it used by resident Germans during the war? Was it used in Nazi propaganda? :?:
