The Polish alphabet consists of 32 letters.
The following 24-letter version is used in letter games and in nursery rhymes. A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, R r,
S s, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Z z. The following 32- letter version of the Polish alphabet,used in dictionaries :
A a, a, B b,C c, C c, D d, E e , e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, L l, M m, N n, n,
O o, ó, P p, R r, S s, S s, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Z z, Z z, Z z
The Polish language also makes use of diagraphs, that is, sounds spelled with two letters:
Ch ch, Cz cz, Dz dz, Rz rz, Sz sz
There are 5 soft (palatal) consonants, and we put a small diagonal line above them:
C c, Dz dz, n, S s, Z z
Note: there is no word which would begin with the letter n.
We can also above the letter z :
Z z, Dz dz
As far as pronunciation of Polish consonants is concerned, some of them are pronounced approximately the same as in English:
b -/b/- pronounced as in beer ; the pronunciation of the isolated letter(e.g. used in saying the alphabet from a to z )is be, as in better;
d - /d/- pronounced as in desk; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is de, as in desk;
f -/f/- pronounced as in food; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is ef, as in English alphabet, that is as in effort;
g -/g/- pronounced as in good; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is gie, approximately as in guess or as in British pronunciation of gear;
m -/m/- pronounced as in moon; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is em, as in English alphabet, that is, as in empty;
n -/n/- pronounced as in no; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is en, as in English alphabet, that is, as in end;
s -/s/- pronounced as in miss; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is es, as in the English alphabet, that is, as in essay;
z -/z/- pronounced as in zebra; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is zet , as in zed with a voiceless ending /zet/.
Some of the consonants in Polish are only slightly different from English:
p, t and k - /p/, /t/, /k/ - are unaspirated, that is, pronounced with less explosion of air than in English; pronounced as pork , tin and kind ; the pronunciation of the isolated letters is pe as in pepper, te as in tell and ka as in calm;
h - /h /- is more fricative than the English h ; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is ha , as in ham;
l - /l/ - pronounced with the tongue touching the hard palate, just behind the teeth; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is el, as in elephant;
r - /r/ - is trilled, that is, pronounced with a vibration of the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge (just behind the upper teeth); the pronunciation of the isolated is er, as in error.
Some consonants have a different spelling than in English, but the sound is similar to other English consonants:
l -/w/- the “barred l” is pronounced as the English letter w, as in wet, the pronunciation of the isolated letter is el(ehw);
w - /v/- is pronounced as the English letter v, as in very; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is wu /vu:/ (voo);
c - /ts/ - is pronounced as in the word Switzerland; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is ce, also as in Switzerland;
j - /j/ - is pronounced as the English letter y, as in yet; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is jot, as in yacht /jat/.
There are also consonants which sounds is used in English, but they do not exist in the same shape in English.
c - pronounced as in cheers; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is cie (chyeah);
n - /nj/- pronounced as in onion; the pronunciation of the isolated letter is en (ehnj);
s - pronounced as in sheep; the pronunciation of isolated letter is es, as in a sheep;
z - pronounced as in vernisage; the pronunciation of isolated letter is zet;
z - pronounced as in pleasure; the pronunciation of isolated letter is ziet.
The Polish language has 8 vowels: 6 oral vowels: a, e, i, o, u ( ó), y and 2 nasal vowels: e and a.
a - central, open; similar to a in hard ;
e - front,half open; similar to e in pet ;
y - front, half close; similar to i in tin ;
i - front, close; similar to the name of the letter e, as in he ;
o - back, open; similar to o in pot or to oa as in load, only wthout the diphthong;
u - back, closed; similar to oo in took.The sound u has two different spellings: u and ó (an o with diagonal line,which originated from double o). Both u and ó are pronounced identically.
For Summer 2008 Polish language course information and course calendar, click here.
For Winter 2008 Polish language course information and course calendar, click here.
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