Editing Czechs (section)

== Ethnology ==
{{Culture of the Czech Republic}}
{{See also|Name of the Czech Republic}}
The Czech ethnic group is part of the [[West Slavs|West Slavic]] subgroup of the larger Slavic ethno-linguistical group. The West Slavs have their origin in early Slavic tribes which settled in Central Europe after [[East Germanic tribes]] had left this area during the [[migration period]].<ref>{{cite book|last1= Kobyliński|first1= Zbigniew|chapter= The Slavs|editor1-last= McKitterick|editor1-first= Rosamond|editor1-link= Rosamond McKitterick|title= The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 1, C.500-c.700|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JcmwuoTsKO0C|volume= 1, C.500-c.700|publisher= Cambridge University Press|date= 1995|page= 531|isbn= 978-0-521-36291-7|access-date= 28 February 2017|archive-date= 28 September 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230928201330/https://books.google.com/books?id=JcmwuoTsKO0C|url-status= live}}</ref> The West Slavic tribe of Czechs settled in the area of [[Bohemia]] during the migration period, and assimilated the remaining Celtic and Germanic populations.<ref name="Historical Dictionary of the Czech State" /> In the 9th century the [[Duchy of Bohemia]], under the [[Přemyslid dynasty]], was formed, which had been part of [[Great Moravia]] under Svatopluk I. According to [[Slavic mythology|mythology]], the founding father of the Czech people was [[Forefather Čech]], who according to legend brought the tribe of Czechs into its land.

The Czechs are closely related to the neighbouring [[Slovaks]] (with whom they constituted [[Czechoslovakia]] 1918–1939, 1945–1992). The [[Czech–Slovak languages]] form a dialect continuum rather than being two clearly distinct languages.<ref name="KamusellaNomachi2016">{{cite book|author1=Tomasz Kamusella|author2=Motoki Nomachi|author3=Catherine Gibson|title=The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01LeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA140|date=29 April 2016|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-1-137-34839-5|pages=140–|access-date=28 February 2017|archive-date=28 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928201250/https://books.google.com/books?id=01LeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA140#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Czech cultural influence in Slovak culture is noted as having been much higher than the other way around.{{sfn|Berger|2003}} Czech (Slavic) people have a long history of coexistence with the Germanic people. In the 17th century, German replaced Czech in central and local administration; upper classes in Bohemia and Moravia were Germanized, and espoused a political identity (''{{lang|de|Landespatriotismus}}''), while Czech ethnic identity survived among the lower and lower-middle classes.<ref name="Fishman2001">{{cite book|author=Joshua A. Fishman|title=Handbook of Language & Ethnic Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ay0FmRjOLWMC&pg=PA320|date=25 January 2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-976139-5|pages=320–}}</ref> The [[Czech National Revival]] took place in the 18th and 19th centuries aiming to revive Czech language, culture and national identity.  The Czechs were the initiators of [[Pan-Slavism]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Hans Kohn|title=Pan-Slavism: its history and ideology|url=https://archive.org/details/panslavismitshis00kohn|url-access=registration|year=1953|publisher=University of Notre Dame Press}}</ref>

The Czech ethnonym (archaic ''{{lang|cs|Čechové}}'') was the name of a Slavic tribe in central Bohemia that subdued the surrounding tribes in the late 9th century and created the Czech/Bohemian state. The origin of the name of the tribe itself is unknown. According to legend, it comes from their leader [[Lech, Czech, and Rus|Čech]], who brought them to Bohemia. The exact etymology of ''Čech'' is uncertain, with most common derivation relating it to the root ''čel-'' (member of the people, kinsman).<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://nase-rec.ujc.cas.cz/archiv.php?art=4320 | publisher=The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic | title=Původ jména Čech | trans-title=Origin of the name ''Čech'' | first=Jaromír | last=Spal | journal=Naše řeč (Our Speech) | pages=263–267 | volume=36 | issue=9–10 | year=1953 | language=cs | access-date=11 October 2012 | archive-date=9 December 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121209232303/http://nase-rec.ujc.cas.cz/archiv.php?art=4320 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Cmejrkova2010">{{cite journal |last1=Čmejrková |first1=Světla |last2=Daneš |first2=František |year=2010 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_2010_num_88_3_7799 |title=Czech |journal=[[Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire]] |volume=88 |issue=3 |page=692 |quote=The origin of the ethnonym ''Čech'' (''Česi'' or ''Čechové'' in plural) is not entirely clear.}}</ref><ref name="Dickins2011">{{cite journal |last1=Dickins |first1=Tom |year=2011 |url=https://wlv.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/2436/621187/The%20Czech-Speaking%20Lands.pdf;jsessionid=3DD8A34AAC4E0F9B90130B3D79CE25CA?sequence=1 |title=The Czech-Speaking Lands, their Peoples and Contact Communities: Titles, Names and Ethnonyms |journal=[[The Slavonic and East European Review]] |volume=89 |issue=3 |page=402 |quote=As Spal has observed, the origin of ''Čech'' (Bohemian) is far from clear, but amongst the more plausible explanations is that it has the root ''čel'', as in ''čeleď'' (family), and also ''člověk'' (person).}}</ref><ref name="Rejzek2012">{{cite book |last=Rejzek |first=Jiří |date=2012 |orig-year=2001 |title=Český etymologický slovník |trans-title=Czech etymological lexicon |language=cs |location=Voznice |publisher=Leda |isbn=9788073352967 |page=111}}</ref> The Czech ethnonym was adopted by the Moravians in the 19th century.<ref name="Kamusella2008">{{cite book|author=T. Kamusella|title=The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JzkWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA501|date=16 December 2008|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|isbn=978-0-230-58347-4|pages=501–}}</ref>