sounds.pdf

THE POLISH ALPHABET AND SOUNDS

Here is the Polish alphabet: a, à, b, c, ç, d, e, ´, f, g, h, I, j, k, l, ∏, m, n, ƒ, o ,

ó, p, r, s, Ê, t, u, w, y, z, ê, ˝.

SOUND VALUES OF THE LETTERS

APPROXIMATE

LETTER

ENGLISH SOUND

EXAMPLE

a f a ther tak thus, so, yes, raz once

à d ome sà they are , wà˝ snake

The sound à is pronounced like om , except that the lips or tongue are not

completely closed to pronounce the m , leaving a nasal resonance instead.

b b ig bok side, aby so that

bi- b eautiful bieg course, run, race, tobie to you

c fi ts co what , noc night , taca tray

ch h all chata cottage, ucho ear, dach roof

The sound of ch is much raspier and noisier than English h .

ci-

ch eek

ciasto cake , cicho quiet

ch alk

czas time, gracz player, t´cza rainbow

ch eek

choç although, niçmi thread (Inst. pl.)

The letters ç and ci- are pronounced the same. The combination ci- is used

before a vowel. The letter c before i is pronounced like ç/ci-. The sound of

ç / ci- , pronounced with the mouth in the position of English )y), is different

from that of cz , pronounced with the mouth in the position of English "r".

d d o data date, lada counter

dz o dds cudzy foreign, wodze reins

dzi- j eans dziadek grandfather, ludzie people

dê j eans wiedêma witch. ludêmi people-Instr.pl.

d˝ j aw d˝ez jazz, rad˝a rajah

The letters dê and dzi- are pronounced the same. The combination dzi- is

used before a vowel. The letters dz before i are pronounced like dê/dzi-.

The sound of dê / dzi- , pronounced with the mouth in the position of English

"y", is different from that of d˝ , pronounced with the mouth in the position of

English "r".

e e ver ten this (masc.), ale but , Edek Eddie

´ s en se g´Ê goose, t´skniç long for

The sound ´ is pronounced like em , except that the lips or tongue are not

completely closed to pronounce the m , leaving a nasal resonance instead. At

the end of a word, the letter ´ is normally pronounced the same as e :

naprawd´ "naprawde".

f elt

farba paint, lufa rifle-barrel, blef bluff

g et

guma rubber, noga leg, foot

gi-

bu g y ou

gie∏da stock-market, magiel mangle

h all

hak hook, aha aha!

Pronounced the same as ch (see above), the letter h appears mainly in words

of foreign origin.

i ch ee k list letter, ig∏a needle

j y ou, bo y jak as , raj paradise, zajàc hare

k k eg kot cat, rok year, oko eye

ki- li ke y ou kiedy when, takie such (neut.)

l l ove las forest, dal distance, fala wave

∏ w ag, bo w ∏eb animal head , by∏ he was, o∏ówek pencil

mi- har m y ou miara measure, ziemia earth

m m oth mama mama, tom volume

n n ot noc night, pan sir, ono it

ni- ca ny on nie no, not , nigdy never

ƒ ca ny on koƒ horse, haƒba disgrace

The letters ƒ and ni- are pronounced the same. The combination ni- is used

before a vowel. The letter n before i is pronounced like ƒ/ni- .

o p o ke pot sweat, osa wasp, okno window

ó t oo t ból pain, o∏ówek pencil

The letter ó is pronounced the same as u .

p p up pas belt, strap, ∏apa paw, cap billy-goat

pi- sto p y ou piana foam, ∏apie he catches

r a rr iba (Span.) rada advic, kara punishment, dar gift

The sound r is pronounced by trilling the tip of the tongue, as in Spanish or

Italian.

rz plea s ure rzeka river, morze sea

The letter-combination rz is pronounced the same as ˝ ; see below.

s s ad sam the same (masc.), pas belt, rasa breed

si- sh eep siano hay , sito sieve

sz sh ark szal frenzy, dusza sou,

Ê sh eep oÊ axle , kwaÊny sour , Êpi he sleeps

The letters Ê and si- are pronounced the same. The combination si- is used

before a vowel. The letter s before i is pronounced like Ê/si-. The sound of

Ê / si- , pronounced with the mouth in the position of English "y", is different

from that of sz , pronounced with the mouth in the position of English "r".

t t op tam there, data date , kot cat

u t oo t but shoe , tu here, ucho ear

w v at wata cotton wadding, kawa coffee

y i ll dym smoke , ty you (sg.)

z z oo zupa soup, faza phase

zi- a z ure ziarno grain , zima winter

ê a z ure wyraêny distinct, êle badly

˝ plea s ure ˝aba frog, pla˝a beach

The letters ê and zi- are pronounced the same. The combination zi- is used

before a vowel. The letter z before i is pronounced like ê/zi-. The sound of

ê / zi- , pronounced with the mouth in the position of English "y", is different

from that of ˝ , pronounced with the mouth in the position of English "r".

Polish sounds

NOTES ON SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION

1. The Polish alphabet has no Q, V or X, although these letters may be

found in transcriptions of foreign names, and in a few borrowed words, e.g.

video , pan X Mr. X. .

2. Polish vowels a, e, i, y, o, u ( ó ) are all pronounced with exactly the

same short length, achieved by not moving the tongue or the lips after the

onset of the vowel, as happens, for example, in English vowel-sounds ee

( knee ), oe ( toe ), oo ( boot ). Only the nasal vowels are pronounced long, the

length being due to rounding the lips and pronouncing the glide "w" at the

end: sà .

3. Polish consonant sounds may be pronounced slightly differently

according to position in a word. Most importantly, voiced consonant sounds

b, d, dz, g, rz, w, z, ê, ˝ are pronounced as unvoiced sounds ( p, t, c, k, sz, f,

s, Ê, sz , respectively) in final position. For example, paw is pronounced "paf";

chodê is pronounced "choç".

voiced

bd z

g rzwz

voiceless

k sz

4. The letters à and ´ are usually pronounced like on / om or en / em ,

respectively, before consonants. For example, làd is pronounced "lont"; dàb

is pronounced "domp"; t´py is pronounced "tempy"; d´ty is pronounced

"denty"; and so on. Before ç and dê , ´ and à are pronounced eƒ / oƒ : ch´ç

"cheƒç", làdzie "loƒdzie". Before k and g , à and ´ may be pronounced as o

or e plus the English ng sound: màka , pot´ga . The vowels à and ´ are

usually denasalized before l or ∏ : zdj´li "zdjeli", zdjà∏ "zdjo∏".

5. The stress in a Polish word falls on the next-to-last syllable: sprawa

SPRA-wa , Warszawa War-SZA-wa , gospodarka go-spo-DAR-ka ,

zadowolony za-do-wo-LO-ny . As these examples show, Polish syllables

tend to divide after a vowel. Words in - yka take stress on the preceding

syllable: mateMAtyka, MU-zyka . The past-tense endings -yÊmy / iÊmy , -

yÊcie /- iÊcie do not cause a shift in place of stress: BY-∏yÊ-my .

6. SPELLING RULES:

a. So-called kreska consonants ( ç , dê , ƒ , Ê , ê ) are spelled with an acute

mark only at word-end and before consonants; otherwise, they are spelled as

c, dz, s, z, n plus a following i : dzieƒ "dêeƒ", nie "ƒe". Before the vowel i

itself, no extra i is needed: ci "çi" to you.

b. Certain instances of b, p, w, f, m are latently soft, meaning that they

will be treated as soft (in effect, as if kreska consonants) before vowels. In the

spelling, they will be followed by i . Compare paw peacock , plural pawie

( paw'-e ) peacocks.

c. The letter y can be written only after a hard consonant (see below) or

after c , cz , dz , rz , sz , ˝ . The letter i after the consonants c, dz, n, s, z always

indicates the pronunciations ç , dê , ƒ , Ê , ê , respectively. Only i , never y , may

be written after l or j .

d. The letter e is usually separated from a preceding k or g by i ,

indicating a change before e of k , g to k' , g' : jakie , drogie .

e. The letter j is dropped after a vowel before i : stoj´ I stand but stoisz

you stand .

SOUND CHANGES

1. When describing word formation, some consonants are counted as

hard (H) and others as soft (S):

H pb f wmt dszn ∏ r k g ch

S1 p' b' f'

w' m' ç dê Ê ê ƒ l

rz c dz sz j

cz ˝

Hard consonants can soften before certain endings. For example, r goes to rz

before the Locative singular ending -'e , as in biur-'e: biurze office (from

biuro ) .

As noted, the consonants p, b, f, m, w at the end of a word may turn out

to be soft ( p', b', f', m', w' , spelled pi-, bi-, fi-, mi-, wi- ), when not at the end

of a word; cf. paw peacock , pl. pa wi e.

2. One often observes vowel changes within Polish words depending on

whether endings are added to them. The most important such changes

involve an alternation between o and ó , ´ and à , io / ia and ie , and between

e and nothing (fleeting or mobile e ). These changes may be observed in the

singular and plural forms of the following nouns: stó∏ sto∏y table-tables , zàb

z´by tooth-teeth , sàsiad sàsiedzi neighbor-neighbors , ch∏opiec ch∏opcy boy-boys,

pies psy dog-dogs.

PRACTICE WITH POLISH SOUNDS

Here is a corpus of one- and two-syllable words on which to practice

Polish sounds.

a akta, bak, dal, dama, las, mak, mam, mapa, nas, pan, pas, rak, sam,

tak, tam.

e czek, flet, krem, lecz, lek, mech, mi∏e, nerw, nie, sen, ser, skecz, ster,

ten, test, ulice.

i biç, bis, film, kino, klin, lis, mi, mit, nitka, piç, pisk, wilk.

y by∏y, byt, cyrk, ∏yk, mi∏y, my, pysk, py∏, ryk, sto∏y, styk, syn,

typ, wy, wyç.

o blok, bok, koc, ko∏o, kot, lok, los, lot, molo, rok, sok, to, tom.

u / ó ból, bruk, buk, but, dó∏, druk, duch, król, kruk, mu, mus,

nó˝, ruch, t∏um, trup, tu, wó∏, wór.

a, e, i, y, o, u/ó

à dàs, Êpià, gàszcz, jà, kàsek, mà˝, plàs, siàÊç, sà, sàsiad, Âlàsk,

wàchaç, wàski, wà˝.

à=om dàb, gàbka, go∏àb, g∏àb, kàpaç, k∏àb, ràbaç, skàpy, tràba,

zàb, zràb.

à=on b∏àd, chcàcy, kàt, làd, màdry, pràd, rzàd, sàd, stàd, wàtpiç,

zajàc, ˝àdza.

à=oƒ bàdê, b∏àdziç, dàç, màciç, tràciç.

à=o h

wyst´p.

´=en b∏´dny, kol´da, m´tny, n´dza, okr´t, p´d, p´dzel, r´ce, t´cza,

t´dy, t´tno, wi´c.

´=eƒ ch´ç, p´dziç, pi´ç, s´dzia, zi´ç, w´dziç.

´=e h

h brz´k, b∏´kit, kr´gi, l´k, m´ka, n´ka, pot´ga, pr´ga, r´ka,

s´k, t´gi, w´giel.

´=e (optionally, in final position) chc´, drog´, Êpi´, gr´, id´, imi´,

kr´, kupi´, mog´, musz´, rami´, da si´, t´.

´, à

p kupa, mapa, pal, pan, pas, p´d, pole, ptak, py∏, spaç, wyspa, zupa.

p' / pj kupi´, piaç, piana, piasek, piàty, piç, pieg, pies, pion, Êpiew.

b bal, bas ból, buk, by∏, gbur, gleba, gruby, ryba, ˝aba, ˝eby.

b' / bj bia∏y, biç, biel, biodro, biust, g∏´bia, nabia∏.

b=p Arab, babcia, chleb, drab, gàbka, grób, grzyb, klub, obcy,

rób, rybka, szyb, szybki, szybszy, zàb.

f bufon, fabryka, fakt, fala, faza, film, fina∏, frant, graf, kefir, lufa, sofa,

torf, traf.

f' / fj fikuÊ, fio∏ek, fiakr, lufie.

w g∏owa, dwa, kawa, krowa, ∏awa, mewa, suwak, wàs, wa∏, wà˝, wbiç,

wdól, wiza, wór.

w=f chwast, chwila, czwarty, krówka, kwas, lew, ∏awka, nerw, paw,

rów, szwagier, szwy, wko∏o, wpis, wsyp, wszelki, wszy, wszyscy, zawsze.

w' = wj dwie, kawior, wiadro, wiara, wie, wiedza, wiek, wielki,

wi´zieƒ, wioska, wiotki, wi´c.

h bàk, ciàg, ciàgle, kràg, ∏àka, màka, pajàk, pàk, pociàg,

przeciàg, pstràg, wàchaç.

´ ci´˝ki, cz´Êç, cz´sto, g´Ê, g´sty, j´zyk, k´s, mi´so, m´ski, pi´Êç,

w´ch, w´ze∏, wi´zieƒ, wi´ê.

´=em b´ben, d´by, g∏´bia, kr´py, post´p, s´p, t´py, wst´p,

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