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Chapter 1
Pronunciation and Spelling
1.1 Alphabet
The Polish alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet.
Aa Ąą Bb Cc Ćć Dd Ee Ęę Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Łł Mm Nn Ńń Oo Óó Pp Qq Rr Ss Śś Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Źź Żż
The letters q, v, and x appear in words of foreign origin and are sometimes not listed as part of the Polish alphabet. For alphabetization, each letter is ordered separately; troska precedes trójca in the dictionary (unlike French where élixir precedes elle).
In Polish, the letter x is called “iks,” y is called “igrek,” and z is called “zet.”
There are 12 letter combinations that can be pronounced as a single sound:
ch, ci, cz, dz, dź, dż, ni, rz, si, sz, zi, and dzi.
Table 1.1 Polish alphabet
Table 1.2 Letter combinations
1.2 Vowels
1.2.1 Oral
Polish has seven letters that represent oral vowels: a, e, i, o, ó, u, and y. Two of these letters represent the exact same sound and are pronounced identically: ó and u.
The primary pronunciations of the oral vowels are as follows (based on a comparison with general American English pronunciation and Received Pronunciation in England). In general, Polish vowels are shorter in duration than English vowels.
a | as in father | fala ‘wave’ [fala] |
A is pronounced in Polish with the tongue in the front of the mouth, rather than in the back as in English.
e | as in met | tekst ‘text’ [tzkst] |
i | as in beet | lis ‘fox’ [lis] |
I in Polish is pronounced like the vowel sound in the English word “beet,” but the Polish i is shorter in duration.
o | as in no | noga ‘leg’ [nwga] |
An approximation of the Polish o in general American English pronunciation is the first part of the “o” sound in the word “no.” However, the American English “o” is a diphthong, consisting of two sounds together. To approximate the Polish o, start to say “no” but stop short before completing the word. Additionally, the Polish o is pronounced with the tongue further toward the bottom of the mouth than in American English.
The Polish o is pronoun...
