Appendix:Polish pronunciation

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AP:pron:pl

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]	dż	Dżakarta	jug^[3]
f	f	foka	feist
ɡ	g	grać	girl
ɣ	ch, h	niechby	(Spanish) amigo
j	j, i^[1]	jak	yes
k	k	krowa	scam
l	l	lampa	lion
m	m	morze	mile
n	n	nad	Nile
ɲ	ń, n(i)^[1]	nie	canyon
ŋ	n	mango	long
p	p	policja	spike
r	r	różowy	(General American) atom
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
w̃	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	vision, azure^[3]

Vowels
IPA	Polish	Example	English approximation
a	a	tam	father
ɛ	e	krem	bet
i	i^[1]	piwo	eat
ɨ	y	my	mill
ɔ	o	rok	off
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.

Explanatory notesEdit

↑ ^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 consonants (⟨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⟩.
↑ ^2.0 ^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".
↑ ^3.0 ^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.
^ 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.

[soften-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 consonants (⟨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⟩.

[affricate-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".

[postalveolar-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.

[nasalvowels-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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Appendix:Polish pronunciation

See alsoEdit

Explanatory notesEdit