Department of Czech language

The aim of the article is to introduce a new approach to verb valency analysis. This approach – full valency – observes properties of verbs which occur solely in actual language usage. The term “full valency” means that all arguments, without distinguishing complements (obligatory arguments governed by the verb) and adjuncts (optional arguments directly dependent on the predicate verb), are taken into account. Because of an expectation that full valency reflects some mechanism which governs verb behaviour in a language, hypotheses concerning (1) the distribution of full valency frames, (2) the relationship between the number of valency frames and the frequency of the verb, and (3) the relationship between the number of valency frames and verb length were tested empirically. To test the hypotheses, a Czech syntactically annotated corpus – the Prague Dependency Treebank – was used.

Syntax of natural language has been the focus of linguistics for decades. The complex network theory, being one of new research tools, opens new perspectives on syntax properties of the language. Despite numerous partial achievements, some fundamental problems remain unsolved. Specifically, although statistical properties typical for complex networks can be observed in all syntactic networks, the impact of syntax itself on these properties is still unclear. The aim of the present study is to shed more light on the role of syntax in the syntactic network structure. In particular, we concentrate on the impact of the syntactic function of a verb in the sentence on the complex network structure. Verbs play the decisive role in the sentence structure (''local'' importance). From this fact we hypothesize the importance of verbs in the complex network (''global'' importance). The importance of verb in the complex network is assessed by the number of links which are directed from the node representing verb to other nodes in the network. Six languages (Catalan, Czech, Dutch, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese) were used for testing the hypothesis.

After a rapid and successful development of the theory of complex networks at the turn of the millennium [1,2], attempts to apply this theory to a language analysis emerged immediately . The first results seemed to bring new insights to the functioning of language. Moreover, some authors assumed that this approach can even solve some fundamental problems concerning language evolution . However, after a decade of the application of complex network theory to language analysis, the initial expectations have not been fulfilled, in my opinion, and the need for a deeper, linguistically based explanation of observed properties has been still more obvious. Cong and Liu's review can be seen as a successful attempt to clarify the main aspects of this kind of research from the linguistics point of view. However, I see two problematic aspects in their study relating to the nature of the character of explanation.

The relationship between two important semantic properties (polysemy and synonymy)
of language and one of the most fundamental syntactic network properties
(a degree of the node) is observed. Based on the synergetic theory of
language, it is hypothesized that a word which occurs in more syntactic contexts,
i.e. it has a higher degree, should be more polysemous and have more synonyms
than a word which occurs in less syntactic contexts, i.e. it has a lesser degree. Six
languages are used for hypotheses testing and, tentatively, the hypotheses are
corroborated. The analysis of syntactic dependency networks presented in this
study brings a new interpretation of the well-known relationship between frequency
and polysemy (or synonymy).

The thesis deals with language of drug users, producers and dealers. Dictionary of drug-related sociolectisms is the main output. It contains 467 vocables and nearly 500 connotations. Presented knowledges are based on questionnaire surveys carried out during 2013. These surveys were carried out in collaboration with sanatoriums and K-centers in 13 regions of Czech Republic. Thesis also pays attention to cryptic function of this sociolect. Research showed that the bulk of users of the sociolect use it in order to conceal true meaning. Most of expressions are completely abstruse for common population as it was confirmed by corroborative survey. The thesis also contains a treatise on definition of sociolects, brief literature review and characteristics of czech drug scene.

The thesis deals with socio-onomastic aspects of toponymy. The main focus is knowledge
and usage of non-standardized toponymy in six different Moravian and Silesian areas. The
aim  of  our  research  was  to  find  out  how  various  characteristics  of  inhabitants  and  their
relationship  to  the  area  affect  their  knowledge  and  usage  of  toponymy  (toponymic
competence). The influence of the area was also taken into consideration. The research was
conducted  in  the  years  2014–2017.  Non-standardized  place  names  were  collected  and
randomly  selected  twenty  of  them  were  put  in  socio-onomastic  questionnaire  tested
toponymic  competence  in  each  area.  Respondents  were  also  asked  about  their  social
characteristics opinions, attitudes, emotional aspects and their relationship to the area. All
together  it  was  a  collection  of  over  400  non-standardized  place  names  and  232
questionnaires. The data was statistically tested by Wilcoxon test and Kruskal-Wallis test.
It  was  found  that  knowledge  and  usage  of  toponymy  depend  on  age  and  gender  of
respondents while level of education has no influence. The length of stay in the area partly
affects toponymic competence but more important is the type of stay (childhood, tourist,
resident).  Other  aspects  influencing  toponymic  competence  are:  knowledge  of  the  area,
interest  in  community  life,  knowledge  of  dialect,  attitude  to  renaming,  attitude  to
onomastic research, considering the area as a home. Knowledge and usage of toponymy is
also  affected by social-economical character of the area. Relationship between toponymic
competence and historical-demographic development was not fully confirmed.

ŽIVÁ toponYMIe V oBCI RUSAVA* K l í č o v á s l o v a: názvy míst, socioonomastika, živá toponymie, Rusava, dotazníkový výzkum úVOD Příspěvek se zabývá znalostí a používáním živé (nestandardizované) toponymie 1 v moravské obci Rusava. Prezentujeme zde část výzkumu zaměřeného na zjišťování vlivu lokality a sociálních, emocionálních a názorových charakteristik mluvčích na "život" místní toponymie. Výzkum vy chází z předpokladu, že toponymie je spjata s prostorem, v němž se ozna čované objekty nachází, a s uživateli jazyka, kteří tato toponyma v komunikaci používají-jde tedy většinou o osoby, které jsou s prostorem rovněž nějakým způsobem spjaty. Vztah mezi obyvateli a lokalitou má charakter interakce. Lokalita do jisté míry ovlivňuje své obyvatele-jazykově, sociálně, názorově, emocionálně atd. Podoba lokality je ovšem zároveň jejími obyvateli utvářena, závisí tedy na jejich charakteristikách. Vývoj toponymie a stav toponymie je tedy pevně spjat se vztahem mezi jejími uživateli a lokalitou. RUSAVA Rusava je obec v okrese Kroměříž, ve Zlínském kraji, v severozápadní části přírodního parku Hostýnské vrchy. "Obec byla založena podle zakládací listiny ze dne 23. 4. 1657 knížetem Janem z Rottálu po potlačeném povstání Valachů na Vsetíně" 1 Vymezením živé toponymie se podrobně zabývají David a Mácha v publikaci Názvy míst-Paměť, identita, kulturní dědictví. V souladu s nimi termínem živé toponymum rozumíme "zeměpisné jméno, jehož základní charakteristikou je neúřednost, primárně vyjádřená neexistencí závazné standardizované podoby" (David, Mácha 2014: 15). * Příspěvek vznikl s podporou grantového projektu SGS01/FF/2016-2017 "Nové přístupy k výzkumu toponymie-na příkladu vybraných lokalit Moravy a Slezska" (poskytovatel Ostravská univerzita v Ostravě, Filozofická fakulta). Text bude rovněž součástí mojí dizertační práce Socioonomastické aspekty toponymie vybraných lokalit, předložené k obhajobě v červnu 2018.

This paper focuses on the distinctive features of a particular type of geographical name, referred to as commemorative place names: e.g. Batov,Gottwaldov, Frunze, Leningrad, or Stalingrad. These features are illustrated
with primarily Czech toponymic material, presented in comparison to Slovak, Russian, Yugoslav, and Bulgarian place names. Commemorative names display several specific and distinctive features as a consequence of their dependence on political regimes and ideologies. These features include
the domination of naming above other onymic functions and the elevation of naming to a symbolic act; instability, manifested in frequent changes and renamings; high ideological value, reflected in the importance of equivalence
between the place and its name; and certain difficulties involved in using such place names in everyday communication. These distinctive features could be considered compelling reasons for the establishment of a specific type of geographical name, termed “commemorative place names.”

The aim of the text, perhaps the first of its type in Czech onomastics, is to highlight the most noticable tendencies and features in the development of modern Czech oikonymy. Habitation names, i.e. the names of inhabited places, such as cities, villages and other settlements are mentioned, particularly those of the 20th century.
          Four trends have become fashionable in modern Czech oikonymy:
a) The need to create standardization and correctness in language.
b) An awareness of the need to create a representative form for place names. This includes an emphasis on national representation and its beneficial usage and purpose in advertising.
c) A recognition of the important role of nationalism, in our case Czech-German ethnic regrouping and migration after World War II.
d) Commemorative or honorific naming and renaming.
The development of Czech oikonymy was studied through commemorative naming and its usage. The commemorative/honorific name (“honorifikační jméno“ in Czech) is a place name that does not reflect a standard proper name. Its basic function is not a description, location and identification of an onymic object even though its function is to allocate a name to a place. Therefore such place names are typical of politically and ideologically motivated naming; they create a “political“ landscape. The potential of commemorative naming is illustrated by the rich language material of the proposed place names, for example the new Czech socialist town of Havířov (founded in1955).

The text focuses on non-scholarly etymology. This language phenomenon is illustrated using Czech place names. Attention is devoted to the following problems:
1. The method of non-scholarly interpretation of the words.
2. The role of non-scholarly etymology as a rhetorical device in
medieval literature.
3. The usage of the non-scholarly etymology of place names in the 19th and 20th centuries, i.e. as a method of historical work, its usage in advertising and its influence on the standardisation of changes in the place names.

This study focuses on non-standardized toponymy used in the urban areas of the Czech towns of Havířov and Ostrava-Poruba. These towns were founded after the Second World War as housing estates for coal miners and workers in heavy industry. The towns were built according to a similar plan, with a prevalence of commemorative street names typical of the era. The spatial similarity of the two towns determined the similarity of non-standardized toponymy, used in parallel with official street names. This is documented in the oldest layer of toponyms used by the towns inhabitants.