Author: Šimon Tesař
Masaryk University of Brno
Translation from Czech by Maria Lolova
Published in: Slavyanski dialozi, XIX, 2022, 29, 107-119. [In Bulgarian]
Abstract: The paper focuses on unusual written documents – Czech tombstone inscriptions in Catholic cemeteries in Bela Crkva, Češko Selo and Kruščica. These cemeteries among of the few public spaces where written Czech is actively used on a large scale. The paper examines the influence of Serbian orthography on the written form of the Czech language. Features of non-literary Czech and changes caused by contact with Serbian are also described. The material for the analysis was collected during a field research and on its basis a database was created with a total of 334 tombstones. Long-term isolation, limited teaching of Czech and permanent contact with Serbian have disrupted Czech spelling customs. The result shows a variety of graphic realizations that mix phonetic and etymological spelling.
Key words: tombstone inscription, Czech minority, Banat, Czechs in Banat