Language Inquiry Database

The linguistically structured Language Inquiry Database provides access to inquiries and responses from the language consulting service of the Czech Language Institute. The database is accessible via a web interface. Database users can learn about a wide range of language issues addressed in the inquiries and responses. They can also search inquiries by various criteria (e.g. language area or keywords) in a user-friendly environment. The Language Inquiry Database is designed as an open, continuously updated and flexible tool. It captures the development of the Czech national language through an unconventional lens: from the perspective of language users and the language consulting service, instead of the typical view presented by language manual writers. Database users can record and analyse new and problematic linguistic phenomena and identify their emergence and development over time.

The database can be continuously updated and expanded and the data in it can be used in the development of the Czech normative dictionary and orthography rules. Moreover, the database can be considered the most reliable scientifically processed record of the development of the Czech national language from users’ perspective.

The database was funded by the Ministry of Culture's National Cultural Identity (NAKI) II programme through the project Access to Linguistic Consultancy Queries in a Linguistically Structured Database (project ID: DG16P02B009). The technical design and language content of the database were developed by the following Czech Language Institute staff: Martin Prošek, Martin Beneš, Anna Černá, Ondřej Dufek, Klára Dvořáková, Jakub Kopecký, Adam Kříž, Barbora Martinkovičová, Hana Mžourková, Kamila Smejkalová, Ivana Svobodová, Veronika Štěpánová and Pavlína Vavříková. Database programming and operation are provided by the staff of the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen: Luděk Müller, Zbyněk Zajíc, Josef Psutka, Aleš Pražák, Lucie Skorkovská, Martin Zíma, Martin Dostal, Michal Nykl, Tomáš Valenta and Marie Kunešová.

How to cite the Language Inquiry Database

We recommend the following citation for the Language Inquiry Database:

DJD: Databáze jazykových dotazů [online] (2019–2025). Praha: Ústav pro jazyk český AV ČR. Cit. 7. 4. 2025. <https://dotazy.ujc.cas.cz/>.