When citizens of the Czech Republic awake on Friday morning – perhaps from uneasy dreams – they are likely to find that things have changed.
But unlike the bodily transformations undergone by Gregor Samsa, the protagonist in Czech novelist Franz Kafka’s best-known work, they may be about to witness a metamorphosis of national magnitude.
Czech leaders, fed up with their country’s long and complicated full name, have proposed changing it to a single word with just three syllables: Czechia.
In a joint statement, the president, prime minister and other senior officials said they would ask the UN to update its database of geographical names with the new title, in the hope that it might take root before the country competes in the Olympics this summer.
Because inside the country there’s something of a dual meaning. Bohemia and Moravia (and a very small slice of the old Silesia) make up the Czech Republic. And sure, we could say Czechia for the whole. But within the country, at least to the Bohemians, Czechs are Bohemians and Moravians are Moravians. The meaning can slide around a bit: depends a bit upon context.
But I have noted what I thought to be rather amusing, a sign in a wine shop window. “We have Moravian wine” and another one by it “We have Czech wine”. When I asked, well, obviously, Czech means Bohemian and Moravian, Moravian. But, but, Moravia is in Czech! Well, yes and no…..
You would think they would be wary of adopting a name that sounds so similar to Chechnya especially with so many geographically challenged septics with their fingers on triggers.
We have British wine and English wine….
I don’t know. When someone says Czechia I want to say Gezundheit.
Reichsprotektorat von Böhmen und Mähren
Doesn’t really work because it doesn’t include the Sudeten…..
Is the name pronounced Checkia or Chechia? I would have gone for the former which is quite a bit different from Chechnya, (at least the way I say it).
I think that Czechia is a silly name. I first remember seeing it being mooted in the early 90’s.
My main objection is that one is trying to latinise a name that already has a Latin form ie Bohemia.
Mind you in German it is Tschechien, which is the same, but somehow doesn’t seem so… artficial.
One is not allowed to say Die Tschechei, as that’s the inter-war version.
Scotland, England, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Newfoundland, Switzerland, Thailand …; all have been sovereign states.
I vote for Czechland. Or Czechlands if they’d prefer that.
‘Czechland? (Check-land?’) Sounds better, and only has two syllables.
Hang on: is Czechia pronounced Chek-iya or Chech-iya? I would assume the former, which sounds nothing like Chechnya.
It’s Česko in Czech, of course – and yes, there isn’t a separate word for “Bohemia” in Czech – but Bohemia is from the Boii, the Gallic tribe that lived there when the Romans first found the place, making it all even more weird.
And I like Czechland in English, it feels much more natural than Czechia.
@Tim Newman & Kevin B
Good point. I had assumed that as this was the English version of the shortened name, it would be pronounced with a soft ch.
In the article TW links to this afternoon, the similarity with Chechnya is mentioned by the locals.
http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/czechia-wins-top-backing-but-opposition-voiced-to-shortened-name-for-czech-republic
Who would advertise “Czech wine” when you can buy Moravian next door?