Language Information:
Czech is a West Slavic language spoken by over 10 million people(data of 2015). It is an official language in the Czech Republic (where most of its speakers live) and one of 20+ official languages of European Union, and has minority language status in Slovakia, Austria, Poland and many Balkan countries.
Czech's closest relative is Slovak, with which it is mutually intelligible. It is closely related to other West Slavic languages (such as Polish), and more distantly to Slavic languages such as Russian. Although most Czech vocabulary is based on shared roots with Slavic and other Indo-European languages, many loanwords (most associated with high culture) have been adopted in recent years.
Study of the history, language, and culture of the Czech Republic (and the former Czechoslovakia) has been a part of the Indiana University curriculum for East European Studies since the early 1950s.
| Department | Slavic & East European Languages and Cultures |
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