Am I Czech or Bohemian ? Or both?? (part I) / Jsem Cech nebo Bohem ? Nebo objoji?? (1. cast)

OK, I think it’s about time to put some light on the words “Bohemia” and “Bohemian“. The dictionary describes the word “Bohemian” as follows:

• a native of Bohemia (duh!)
• a person (an artist or writer), who lives and acts free of regard for conventional rules and practices
• a Gypsy
• the Czech language, esp. as spoken in Bohemia
• living a wandering or vagabond life, as a Gypsy

That didn’t help much!! What I want to know is when we call ourselves “Bohemians”, is it a correct description? Does the word “Czech” really equal to the word “Bohemian”? Well, this is what some trusted sources of mine say about this – to many of us – very confusing term:

CZ:Tak si myslim, ze je na case, abychom si posvitili na dva, dnes dosti matouci vyrazy: “Bohemia” a “Bohemove”. Mohou se Cesi – ze zemepsineho hlediska – nazyvat Bohemy? Vypatrala jsem na toto tema odpovedi:

The word “Bohemian” is derived from the Latin name for a certain Celtic tribe called the Boii - Boiohaemum – inhabiting the modern day Czech Republic. Until the 19th century the Czechs were called solely Bohemians. After that a need arose to start distinguishing the Bohemian Slavs and the Bohemian Germans (the region of Silesia).

How about the term “Bohemia”? Bohemia, according to the definition, is a historical region in the central Europe, occupying the WESTERN two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic and it does not include the region of Moravia. This region was settled by the Boii about 300 BC who also spread into France, Italy, Hungary and Slovakia. During the 1st century the western part of Bohemia was settled by Germanic tribes which later also absorbed the leftover of the defeated Boii in the eastern part of Bohemia. In the 6th century Bohemia received an influx of various Slavic tribes, the precursors of today’s Czechs.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemia

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=+bohemia