# Rakousko



## thegreathoo

How come Czechs and Slovaks use Rakousko for Austria?  Any stories to explain this?


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## Mori.cze

Apparently the country name originates in the name of the castle Raabs.


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## Enquiring Mind

Sorry to appear to be pedantic, but in the interests of accuracy (this is, after all, a language forum  ):


> How come Czechs and Slovaks use Rakousko for Austria?


 The Czech ou diphthong usually mutates to a long u - ú - in Slovak, and that's the case with Rakúsko too: 





> Tipy na jednodňové výlety do Rakúska  (invia.sk) _Tips for day trips to Austria / Tips for a day out in Austria._


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## bibax

I can be pedantic, too.  

The Old Czech *ú* (long u) has mutated to *ou* in Modern Czech. Slovak (as well as the Moravian dialects) seems to be phonetically more conservative than Central Bohemian Czech (the basis of the Standard/Literary Czech).

Old Czech *Rakúsy* > Modern Standard Czech *Rakousy / Rakousko*;

From my older post (I have an elephant's memory ):

Austria (Österreich < lat. Marchia austriaca, _Eastern Mark_) in Czech:

*Rakousko* (also plurale tantum *Rakousy*, e.g. Dolní/Horní Rakousy = Lower/Upper Austria), named after a castel, now Burg Raabs an der Thaya (in Czech Rakuš / Rakús / Rakous < Ratgoz), near the Austrian-Moravian border.

If you are able to read in German (from Wikipedia):

_Die schriftlichen Quellen setzten erst mit der Nennung eines Burgherrn „Gotfridi admissus in castrum Racouz“ in der Chronik Cosmas von Prag im Jahre 1100 ein. Aus den Jahren 1074 und 1076 ist die Nennung eines Waldgebietes, der „silva Rogacz“ in zwei Königsschenkungen an die Babenberger Markgrafen, bekannt. Noch heute wird Österreich von seinen nördlichen Nachbarn, den Tschechen, „Rakousko“ genannt –* „das Land hinter Raabs“*. _

Rakúsy (= the land behind Raabs, das Land hinter Raabs), the name was common in all Czech and Slovak dialects_ "from time immemorial"_ (země ta od nepaměti slove Rakúsy).


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