The Polish Alphabet and Sounds, Moje pliki, Szkoła, nauka, Język polski jako obcy
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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, ˝.
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
cz
ch
alk
czas
time,
gracz
player,
t´cza
rainbow
ç
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
f
elt
farba
paint,
lufa
rifle-barrel,
blef
bluff
g
g
et
guma
rubber,
noga
leg, foot
gi-
bu
g y
ou
gie∏da
stock-market,
magiel
mangle
h
h
all
hak
hook,
aha
aha!
13
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
14
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
ê
˝
voiceless
pt
c
k sz
f
s
Ê
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
"cheč",
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.
15
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
S2
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.
16
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.
17
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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