This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/lRC.2ACE/3508.1 Message Board Post: Paula, <"On the address the were a line drawn above the c and the a. I have know any idea what this means."> If you mean above the c and a in Becvar, then those would be handwriting shortcuts for the hacek-c and long-a, resp., which indicates that the name is pronounced "BETCH-VA-AR." The accent is always on 1st syllable in Czech, but the litttle "accent mark" is not really an accent mark in Czech-- it as a "long vowel mark." Long vowel means long in time, not long in quality, so you drawl it out -- analogous to "blackbird" -- we don't say "BLACK-b'd;" or HO-lo-CAUST -- we don't say HO-la-cust. This is why Bob Vila is such a stickler about correcting people on the pronunciation of his name as "Bob VEE-laaaah." It's a Czech name with a long vowel mark on the a.