Language/Polish/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation
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Polish alphabet is based on the Latin aplhabet, but also includes letters with diacritics:
- acute accent/kreska: ń, ś, ź, ć, ó
- overdot/kropka: ż
- tail/ogonek: ą, ę
- stroke: ł
Letters
- A a - a - /ä/
- Ą ą - ą - /ɔ̃/
- B b - be - /b/
- C C - ce - /t̪͡s̪/
- Ć ć - cie - /t͡ɕ/
- D d - de - /d̪/
- E e - e - /ɛ/
- Ę ę - ę - /ɛ̃/
- F f - ef - /f/
- G g - gie - /ɡ/
- H h - ha/cha - /x/
- I i - i - /i/
- J j - jot - /j/
- K k - ka - /k/
- L l - el - /l/
- Ł ł - eł - /w/
- M m - em - /m/
- N n - en - /n̪/
- Ń ń - eń - /ɲ̟/
- O o - o - /ɔ/
- Ó ó - ó zamknięte/ó z kreską - /u/
- P p - pe - /p/
- R r - er - /r/
- S s - es - /s̪/
- Ś ś - eś - /ɕ/
- T t - te - /t̪/
- U u - u - /u/
- W w - wu - /v/
- Y y - igrek - /ɘ̟/
- Z z - zet - /z̪/
- Ź ź - ziet - /ʑ/
- Ż ż - żet - /ʐ/
Digraphs and Trigaphs
- cz - czy
- dz - dzy
- dzi - dzi
- dż - dży
- dź - dzi
- sz - szy
- rz - rzy/ży
English equivalents
- a as in large
- b as in bed
- c as in pits
- d as in dog
- e as in bed
- f as in fingers
- g as in go
- i as in meet but shorter
- j as in yes
- k as in king
- l as in light
- ł as in will
- m as in men
- n as in not
- o as in long
- ó as in boot
- p as in spot
- s as in sea
- t as in start
- u as in boot
- w as in vow
- z as in zoo
Remember, that polish consonants are never aspirated!
Sounds without english equivalents
- ą - French français
- ć - cheap but softer
- cz - cheap but less softer
- dz - voised c
- dź - voised c but softer
- dż - John but less softer
- ę - nasal e
- ch/h - Scots loch or German macht
- ń - canyon but softer
- sz - sheep
- ś - sheep but softer
- rz/ż - vision but less softer
- ź - vision but softer
I after consonants and befor vowel
Letter i after consonats make it palatalized. It's like a adding y as in yes after the consonant (V - vowel):
- biV biały
- ciV ciepły (ciV = ćV)
- dziV dzień (dziV = dżV)
- fiV fiat
- giV gierka
- kiV kiedy
- miV mięso
- niV nienawiść (niV = ńV)
- piV pieprz
- siV siekiera (siV = śV)
- ziV ziemia (ziV = źV)