Strč prst skrz krk

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Wave course and spectrogram of the sentence.
Milan Cabrnoch 2014

STRČ PRST SKRZ KRK ( str̩tʃ PRST skrz Krk listen ? / I dt., Plug the finger through the neck ') with strong rolled syllabic r is a Czech and Slovak 15 letters long tongue twisters . Audio file / audio sample

In language lessons for non-native speakers, this phrase is often used to practice the pronunciation of Slavic words without written vowels in these languages. Depending on the native language, these seemingly vowelless words are difficult to pronounce at first. In Czech, vowelless words are more common, as the sonants / r / and / l / can be syllabic, i.e. they can assume the syllable peak position. This is why this sentence is often used as an example of a “sentence without vowels”.

In German, non-vowels like / n / and / l / can also be syllabic, but their syllables have no border , e.g. B. / es.n̩ / essen , / ap͡f.l̩ / apple , and only in dialectal terms like dirndl are they spelled orthographically without a preceding vowel letter.

The phrase also serves as the motto of the Swiss cultural criticism magazine La Distinction .

Other, similar sentences without written vowels

This sentence is often mistaken for the longest Czech sentence with no vowel letters. But others have been known for a long time:

  • Smrž pln skvrn zvlhl z mlh. 'The morel full of spots has become damp from the mists.' (21 letters)
  • Chrt pln skvrn vtrhl skrz trs chrp v čtvrť Krč. 'The spotted greyhoundentered the Krč districtthrough a clump of cornflowers .' (35 or 37 letters)
  • Chrt pln skvrn counts to zrn. 'Thestained greyhound has eaten a handful of grain.' (23 or 24 letters)
  • Plch counts skrz drn, prv counts hrst zrn. 'The dormouse cut through the clod of earth, before that it devoured a handful of grain.' (30 or 31 letters)
  • Chrt zdrhl z Brd. Vtrhl skrz strž v tvrz srn, v čtvrť Krč. Blb! Prskl, zvrhl smrk, strhl drn, mrskl drn v trs chrp. Count l čtvrthrst zrn skrz krk, pln zrn vsrkl holds z vln. Chrt brkl, mrkl, zmlkl. Zvlhls? 'The greyhound fled the Brdy Mountains. He stormed through a ravine to a feeding station in the Krč district. What a fool! He spat, knocked over a spruce, tore out a sod and tossed it on a bouquet of cornflowers . He swallowed a quarter-handful of grains down his throat, and when it was full of grains, he swallowed some water (literally waves). The greyhound stumbled, blinked, fell silent. Have you got wet? ' (140 letters)

More Czech “tongue twisters” with vowels

Also known is the tongue twister that addresses the Czech “ ř ”: Třista třicet tři stříbrných stříkaček stříkalo přes třista třicet tři stříbrných střech. '333 silver fire engines splashed over 333 silver roofs.'

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.distinction.ch
  2. ↑ The Czech expression "Zvlhls?" Literally means "Have you got wet?" (In the sense of sexual arousal, "wet" in the sense of vaginal secretions ), but cannot be translated correctly into German. It is a vulgar attempt to cause embarrassment in the other person.

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