čárka

Pronunciation

• RP enPR: chärʹkÉ™, IPA: /ˈt͡ʃɑːkÉ™/

Origin

From the Czech čárka ("little line”, “comma”, “acute accent"), the diminutive form of čára ("line”, “threadlike mark made by a stylus").

Full definition of čárka

Noun

1. (rare, only in reference to the diacritic’s use in Czech) An acute accent (used to lengthen a vowel).
• 1993, Olga Parolková and Jaroslava Nováková, Czech for Foreigners, page 153A long vowel is denoted by a “čárka” and is twice as long as the short one.
• 2000, Jarda Cervenka, Revenge of Underwater Man and other stories, page 28“It should be ÄŒermák, with a háček above the C and a čárka above the a, long a.”
• 2009, Autumn Pierce, Angličtina, page 28There are no separate keys for háčky and čárky.
• 2011, Charles Ota Heller, Prague, “A note about Czech words”, page vii“Čárky” (pronounced “tchah-rky”) are used to lengthen the sounds of vowels.

Coordinate terms

• (Czech diacritics) čárka (´), háček (ˇ), kroužek (Ëš), tečka (Ë™)