Dž or not dž...

[Kikko]

Hi all once again
This time my question is pretty simple.

In some books they consider dž as a letter, just like ch, in others they dont even write it on the alphabet.
In my dictionary for ex. it doesnt apper to be considered as a letter even if it has its own pronunciation and role when "playin" between voiced and unvoiced consonants.

Is it a letter on its own or not?
Thus, czech alphabet is composed by 31 or 32 letters? (if idint count bad *lol*)


Thanx

[This message has been edited by Kikko (edited August 26, 2002).]

[Anke]

Hi Kikko,

although 'dž' is often used in this form (especially for foreign words in the Czech language), it is no letter of its own.

[Kikko]

pretty damn quick answer
Thanx for help

[Kanadanka]

d with hacek is considered its own letter, since it is counted among the letters of the alphabet - just name the alphabet and see how many letter there are without it (you already know there should be 32)

[Ladis]

Ď is a letter .

Czech alphabet:
a b c č d ď e f g h ch i j k l m n ň o p q r ř s š t ť u v w x y z ž

(Q, X and W were added because of foreign words.)

[Zeisig]

In the initial posts I see d followed by a rectangle. I shall suppose that it is dž or dz. Dž is the voiced counterpart of č and dz is the voiced counterpart of c, thus they would be digraphs (like ch). But they never occur in the written Czech words, if we do not count interjections and several exceptions: džbán, džber, ... We should have to spell such words (I think it is or was an allowed alternative): čbán, čber with the same pronuntiation (the voiceless č is pronounced dž before the voiced b).

The pronounced dž and dz occur always before voiced consonants and are always spelled č and c respectively (with the above mentioned exception, which could be easily rectified). The spelling is ethymological: e.g. loučit -> lučba (not ludžba). Thus the digraphs dž and dz were not included into the Czech alphabet.