The Czech language contains several letters not found in the English alphabet, but most of them simply represent sounds we don’t have a single symbol for. For example, ě sounds like “yeh,” š like “sh,” č like “ch,” and ž like “zh” (think second g in “garage”). But there is one very special letter, the sound of which does not even exist in any other language that I’m aware of. That letter is ř.
To form the ř, one must produce the sounds of the Czech “r” (a “trill” r made in the front of the mouth) and ž at the same time. Naturally, this is very difficult for foreigners to pick up, as we have simply never trained our tongues to move in that way. But being unable to pronounce this letter does not automatically label you a foreigner. In fact, just about every Czech has to visit a speech therapist during the early years of school in order to learn to form this letter, and some of them never succeed.
The speech therapist who visits the preschool where I work expressed her admiration for my ability with this letter; years of practice seem finally to have paid off. And actually, once you are able to form the sound, you begin to understand why Czechs are so proud of it. It’s quite fun to say! But what does it actually sound like? I’ve spent some time thinking about it, and I believe it can be described in this way:
Ř is the sound of a G that got stuck and started vibrating. It’s the precise sound produced when a beetle trapped inside a plastic bag flaps its wings desperately hoping to escape.
As an example, here is the pronunciation of the Czech word řeka (river): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Cs-%C5%99eka.ogg
And here is a famous Czech tongue twister (Třistatřiatřicet stříbrných křepelek přeletělo přes třistatřiatřicet stříbrných střech. - Three hundred and thirty three silver quails flew over three hundred and thirty three silver roofs.): http://www.omniglot.com/soundfiles/czech/tonguetwisters/tt3_cz.mp3
Enjoy, and happy tongue twisting to all!
