Preposition vocalization in Czech (v > ve, s > se, pod > pode, etc.) is a complex matter which is drastically over-simplified in most Czech and foreign textbooks, grammars, and dictionaries (cf. Slovník spisovné &chachekcz;e&shachek;tiny pro &shachek;kolu a ve&rhachek;ejnost, Filipec et al., 1994; Mluvnice &chachekcz;e&shachek;tiny, Dokulil et al., 1987; Chcete mluvit &chachek;esky, &Chachek;echová et al., 1997). Very few grammars have attempted to put forth a systematic description—a clear exception being Travni&chachekcz;ek's 1951 Mluvnice spisovne &chachekcz;estiny. In his work, Travni&chachekcz;ek gives an extensive description of the conditions under which preposition vocalization always, usually, occasionally, and never occurs in literary Czech (and to a lesser extent in non-standard variants of Czech), and provides phonetic and historical reasons for some of these.

In the half century since the publication of Travni&chachekcz;ek's grammar, some of these norms have changed and are exhibiting more predictable patterns. In my analysis, I will discuss the major trends of change, the instances in which variation exists, as well as discussing more elaborate articulatory, phonological, and historical reasons for the modern situation. Because of the numerous complications associated with analysis of the variants of spoken Czech, I have limited my study to various forms of printed materials. As a summary, I will make comparisons to other Slavic languages and will posit topics for further research and their implications to various subfields in Czech and Slavic linguistics.