Lgv39 History of the chess terminology

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2026
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Doman Kučera (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Bc. Ondřej Šefčík, Ph.D.
Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Linguistics and Baltic Languages – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites
Knowledge of basic etymology and linguistics is an advantage but not a prerequisite for the course.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
Course objectives
The aim of this course is to introduce students to chess terminology and familiarise them with the various names and meanings of chess pieces and some of the most important chess terms. The student will be able to compare the chess terminology of different periods and languages, which will give him/her an insight into the development of chess and an understanding of the peculiarities of the terminology of different languages. The course also aims to show how the study of chess terminology contributes to the understanding of the development of chess from its beginnings to the present day.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student will be able to recognize the basic types of chess terminology, which he/she will understand in the context of chess history. The student will also be familiar with the basic developmental phases of chess.
Syllabus
  • 1) General introduction, etymology, method Wörter und Sachen + historical-comparative method
  • 2) Terminology, term, genre transformation, terminological layers
  • 3) Etymology vs. contact linguistics
  • 4) Borrowing, calque, borrowing adaptation, folk etymology
  • 5) Internationalization vs. nationalization of language, purism
  • 6) Indian Chaturanga
  • 7) Chaturanga in Sassanian Persia and the Byzantine Empire
  • 8) Shatranj and Islamic expansion
  • 9) Chess in Asia and Russia
  • 10) The transition of chess to Europe
  • 11) Chess in the Middle Ages and chess literature
  • 12) Latin chess terminology and regional distribution
  • 13) Chess terminology in Czech and Polish
Literature
    recommended literature
  • MURRAY, H. J. R. A History of Chess. ‎Clarendon Press, 1913. URL info
  • ZÍBRT, Č. Dějiny hry šachové v Čechách od dob nejstarších až po náš věk: Studie kulturně-historická. Bursík & Kohout, 1888. URL info
  • KARLÍK, P., M. NEKULA and J. PLESKALOVÁ. Nový encyklopedický slovník češtiny. NLN, 2017. URL info
  • NEDOMA, R. Old West Norse chess terminology and the introduction of chess into Scandinavia. In D. H. Caldwell & M. A. Hall. The Lewis Chessmen: New Perspectives. National Museums of Scotland, 2014, p. 242–259. URL info
  • RICHARDS, D. J. The Vocabulary of the Russian Chessboard. New Zealand Slavonic Journal. 1979, No 2, p. 63–72. URL info
  • MACIUSZAK, K. Persian Checkmate – “The King is Oppressed”: On the origin of the chessmen’s names. Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia. 2003, No 8, p. 91–101. URL info
  • KARPLUK, M. Ze staropolskiej terminologii ludycznej: szachy. Jezyk Polski. 1980, LX, 2–3, p. 84–104. URL info
  • BOSSONG, G. Semantik der Terminologie: Zur Vorgeschichte der alfonsinischen Schachtermini. Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie. 1978, vol. 94, 1–2, p. 48–68. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1515/zrph.1978.94.1-2.48. info
  • DĘBOWIAK, P. Le fou est-il vraiment fou? Les noms des figures d’échecs dans les langues romanes. Studia etymologica Cracoviensia. 2013, vol. 18, p. 41–49. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.4467/20843836se.13.002.0939. info
  • EISERHARDT, E. Die mittelalterliche Schachterminologie des Deutschen: Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde bei der hohen philosophischen Fakultät der Albert-Ludwig-Universität. 1906. info
    not specified
  • ŽŮREK, V., P. CERMANOVÁ, V. BAŽANT and J. SVÁTEK. Přenos vědění: Osudy čtyř bestsellerů v pozdně středověkých českých zemích (Transmission of Knowledge: The Fortune of Four Bestsellers in Late Medieval Czech Lands). Filosofia, 2021. info
  • GAMER, H. M. The earliest evidence of chess in Western literature: the Einsiedeln Verses. Speculum. 1954, vol. 29, No 4, p. 734–750. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2847098. info
  • ЛИНДЕР, И. М. Шахматы на Руси. Наука, 1975.
  • SCHEIDIG, J. Vom Ritter über den Springer zum Pony – Die Schachfigur des Springers im onomasiologischen Wandel. Sprachwissenschaft. 2024, vol. 49, No 1, p. 95–107. URL info
  • NIEVERGELT, A. Vom Elefanten zum Alten, vom Alten zum Sprinter. Onomasiologischer Wandel auf dem Schachbrett. In L. Czajkowski, S. Ulbrich–Bösch & C. Waldvogel. Sprachwandel im Deutschen. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2018, p. 293–304. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110526585-021. info
  • SCHULTE, M. Board games of the Vikings – From hnefatafl to chess. Maal og Minne. 2017, vol. 109, No 2, p. 1–42. URL info
  • NEDOMA, R. Die Schachterminologie des Altwestnordischen und der Transfer des Schachspiels nach Skandinavien. In M. Teichert. Sport und Spiel bei den Germanen: Nordeuropa von der römischen Kaiserzeit bis zum Mittelalter. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2014, p. 29–86. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110338294.29. info
  • PANAINO, A. Gli scacchi tra Oriente e Occidente: il ruolo “mediatorio” dell’Iran sasanide. In A. Baronio. Gli scacchi e il chiostro: Atti del convegno nazionale di studi, Brescia, 10 febbraio 2006. Fondazione civiltà bresciana, 2007, p. 41–96. URL info
  • WIEBER, R. Das Schachspiel in der arabischen Literatur von den Anfäng bis zur zweiten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts: Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn. 1972. info
Assessment methods
Colloquium
Language of instruction
Czech
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2026, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2026/Lgv39