A AUSGERECHNET U VÁS SE ŠPRECHTILO VOSTOŠEST…
A ausgerechnet u vás se šprechtilo vostošest…

On Czech and German language contacts in contemporary Czech prose

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper was to analyze the Czech and German language contacts in contemporary Czech prose. We focused on forms of multilingualism and how they are used in the texts. Analysis of the material ( R. Denemarková: Peníze od Hitlera; J. Vrak: Obyčejné věci a Dokonalost nože; M. Kozelka: Semeniště zmrdů a J. Rudiš: Pankáči na Baltu) showed that it is necessary to distinguish between the use of authentic German in the characterization and value function, German quotations and paraphrases with the function of ironic allusions and germanisms whose usage does not indicate national, but social affiliation. We noticed a shift from interlingual heterogeneity, in terms of the opposition between Czech and German, to introlingual heterogeneity, in terms of functional stratification of Czech, therefore the opposition of standard vs. substandard. We concluded that German cannot be identified German with „the foreign“ and the Czech with „the ours“ in language, because the border is permeable and flexible as a consequence of mutual contacts.

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