Appendix:Polish pronunciation

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Polish pronunciations in Wiktionary entries.

All voiced obstruents /b, d, ɡ, v, z, ʐ, ʑ, dʐ, dʑ/ are devoiced (so /d/ becomes /t/, etc.) at the ends of words and in clusters ending in any unvoiced obstruents /p, t, k, f, s, x, ʂ, ɕ, tʂ, tɕ/. The voiceless obstruents are voiced (/x/ becoming [ɣ], etc.) in clusters ending in any voiced obstruent except /v/, and /ʐ/ (when spelled with ⟨rz⟩), which are themselves devoiced in this case.

Consonants
IPA Polish Example English approximation
b b bardzo bike
ɕ ś, s(i)[1] Jaś she
d d dawno door
d͡z[2] dz dzban beds
d͡ʑ[2] dź, dz(i)[1] dziadek jeep[3]
d͡ʐ [2] akarta jug[3]
f f foka feist
ɡ g grać girl
j j, i[1] jak yes
k k krowa scam
l l lampa lilt
ɫ (Middle Polish) ł łapać lion
m m morze mile
n n nad Nile
ɲ ń, n(i)[1] nie canyon
p p policja spike
r r różowy (General American), with flapping: atom
(Middle Polish) rz przyglądać Ryukyu
s s smak sign
ʂ sz szybko shore[3]
t t tak stow
t͡ɕ[2] ć, c(i)[1] cierpki cheer[3]
t͡s[2] c całkiem cats
t͡ʂ[2] cz czy child[3]
v w wartość vile
w ł ładny way
ą, ę[4] kęs long
x ch, h chleb hello
z z zebra zebra
ʑ ź, z(i)[1] ziarno vision, azure[3]
ʐ ż, rz rzadko
Vowels
IPA Polish Example English approximation
a a tam father
ɒ (Middle Polish) á produkcyja caught
ɛ e krem bet
e (Middle Polish) é achtel bait
i i[1] piwo eat
ɨ y my mill
ɔ o rok off
o (Middle Polish) ó pomóc so
u u, ó duży boot
Other symbols used for Polish
IPA Explanation
ˈ Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable), usually the penultimate syllable of a word.
ˌ Secondary stress (placed before the stressed syllable).
. Syllable break.

See also

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Explanatory notes

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 The letter ⟨i⟩, when followed by a vowel, represents a pronunciation like a ⟨j⟩ or a "soft" pronunciation of the preceding consonant (so pies is pronounced as if it were spelt ⟨pjes⟩). It has the same effect as an acute accent on an alvoelar consonant (⟨s⟩, ⟨z⟩, ⟨c⟩, ⟨dz⟩, ⟨n⟩). Thus, się, cios and niania are pronounced as if they were spelled ⟨śę⟩, ⟨ćos⟩, ⟨ńańa⟩. A following ⟨i⟩ also softens consonants if it is pronounced as a vowel. Thus, zima, ci and dzisiaj are pronounced as if if they were spelled ⟨źima⟩, ⟨ći⟩, ⟨dźiśaj⟩.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Polish contrasts affricates /t͡s, d͡z, t͡ɕ, d͡ʑ, t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ/ with stop–fricative clusters: for example, czysta [ˈt͡ʂɨs.ta], "clean", versus trzysta [ˈtʂɨs.ta], "three hundred".
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Polish makes contrasts between retroflex and alveolo-palatal consonants, both of which sound similar to the English postalveolars /ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ/ The retroflex sounds are pronounced "hard" with the front of the tongue raised, and the alveolo-palatal sounds are "soft" with the middle of the tongue raised, adding a bit of an "ee" sound to them.
  4. ^ The letters ą and ę are used to represent /ɔw̃/ and /ɛw̃/ before /s, z, ʂ, ʐ, x/, and, in case of ą, word-finally.