THE

POLISH ALPHABET AND SOUNDS Here is the Polish alphabet: a, , b, c, , d, e, , f, g, h, I, j, k, l, , m, n, , o, , p, r, s, , t, u, w, y, z, , . APPROXIMATE LETTER ENGLISH SOUND EXAMPLE a father tak thus, so, yes, raz once dome s they are, w snake The sound is pronounced like om, except that the lips or tongue are not completely closed to pronounce the m, leaving a nasal resonance instead. b big bok side, aby so that bi- beautiful bieg course, run, race, tobie to you c fits co what, noc night, taca tray ch hall chata cottage, ucho ear, dach roof The sound of ch is much raspier and noisier than English h. ci- cheek ciasto cake, cicho quiet cz chalk czas time, gracz player, tcza rainbow cheek cho although, nimi thread (Inst. pl.) The letters and ci- are pronounced the same. The combination ci- is used before a vowel. The letter c before i is pronounced like /ci-. The sound of /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 do data date, lada counter dz odds cudzy foreign, wodze reins dzi- jeans dziadek grandfather, ludzie people d jeans wiedma witch. ludmi people-Instr.pl. d jaw dez jazz, rada rajah The letters d and dzi- are pronounced the same. The combination dzi- is used before a vowel. The letters dz before i are pronounced like d/dzi-. The sound of d/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 ever ten this (masc.), ale but, Edek Eddie sense g goose, tskni long for xiv

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 felt farba paint, lufa rifle-barrel, blef bluff g get guma rubber, noga leg, foot gi- bug you gieda stock-market, magiel mangle h hall hak hook, aha aha! Pronounced the same as ch (see above), the letter h appears mainly in words of foreign origin. i cheek list letter, iga needle j you, boy jak as, raj paradise, zajc hare k keg kot cat, rok year, oko eye ki- like you kiedy when, takie such (neut.) l love las forest, dal distance, fala wave wag, bow eb animal head, by he was, owek pencil mi- harm you miara measure, ziemia earth m moth mama mama, tom volume n not noc night, pan sir, ono it ni- canyon nie no, not, nigdy never canyon ko horse, haba disgrace The letters and ni- are pronounced the same. The combination ni- is used before a vowel. The letter n before i is pronounced like /ni-. o poke pot sweat, osa wasp, okno window toot bl pain, owek pencil The letter is pronounced the same as u. p pup pas belt, strap, apa paw, cap billy-goat pi- stop you piana foam, apie he catches r arriba (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 pleasure rzeka river, morze sea The letter-combination rz is pronounced the same as ; see below. s sad sam the same (masc.), pas belt, rasa breed si- sheep siano hay, sito sieve sz shark szal frenzy, dusza sou, sheep o axle, kwany sour, pi he sleeps The letters and si- are pronounced the same. The combination si- is used before a vowel. The letter s before i is pronounced like /si-. The sound of /si-, pronounced with the mouth in the xv

position of English "y", is different from that of sz, pronounced with the mouth in the position of English "r". t top tam there, data date, kot cat u toot but shoe, tu here, ucho ear w vat wata cotton wadding, kawa coffee y ill dym smoke, ty you (sg.) z zoo zupa soup, faza phase zi- azure ziarno grain, zima winter azure wyrany distinct, le badly pleasure aba frog, plaa beach The letters and zi- are pronounced the same. The combination zi- is used before a vowel. The letter z before i is pronounced like /zi-. The sound of /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

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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 () 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: s. 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, , are pronounced as unvoiced sounds (p, t, c, k, sz, f, s, , sz, respectively) in final position. For example, paw is pronounced "paf"; chod is pronounced "cho". voiced b d dz g rz w z voiceless p t c k sz f s sz 4. The letters and are usually pronounced like on/om or en/em, respectively, before consonants. For example, ld is pronounced "lont"; db is pronounced "domp"; tpy is pronounced "tempy"; dty is pronounced "denty"; and so on. Before and d, and are pronounced e/o: ch "che", ldzie "lodzie". Before k and g, and may be pronounced as o or e plus the English ng sound: mka, potga. The vowels and are usually denasalized before l or : zdjli "zdjeli", zdj "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 -ymy/imy, -ycie/-icie do not cause a shift in place of stress: BY-y-my. 6. SPELLING RULES: a. So-called kreska consonants (, d, , , ) 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: dzie "de", nie "e". Before the vowel i itself, no extra i is needed: ci "i" to you. xvii

 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. 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 , d, , , , 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 p b f w m t d s z n r k g ch S1 p' b' f' w' m' d 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. pawie. 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 , and , 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: st stoy table-tables, zb zby tooth-teeth, ssiad ssiedzi neighbor-neighbors, chopiec chopcy boy-boys, pies psy dog- dogs.

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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, mie, nerw, nie, sen, ser, skecz, ster, ten, test, ulice. i bi, bis, film, kino, klin, lis, mi, mit, nitka, pi, pisk, wilk. y byy, byt, cyrk, yk, miy, my, pysk, py, ryk, stoy, styk, syn, typ, wy, wy. o blok, bok, koc, koo, kot, lok, los, lot, molo, rok, sok, to, tom. u/ bl, bruk, buk, but, d, druk, duch, krl, kruk, mu, mus, n, ruch, tum, trup, tu, w, wr. a, e, i, y, o, u/ ds, pi, gszcz, j, ksek, m, pls, si, s, ssiad, lsk, wcha, wski, w. =om db, gbka, gob, gb, kpa, kb, rba, skpy, trba, zb, zrb. =on bd, chccy, kt, ld, mdry, prd, rzd, sd, std, wtpi, zajc, dza. =o bd, bdzi, d, mci, trci. =oh bk, cig, cigle, krg, ka, mka, pajk, pk, pocig, przecig, pstrg, wcha. ciki, cz, czsto, g, gsty, jzyk, ks, miso, mski, pi, wch, wze, wizie, wi. =em bben, dby, gbia, krpy, postp, sp, tpy, wstp, wystp. =en bdny, kolda, mtny, ndza, okrt, pd, pdzel, rce, tcza, tdy, ttno, wic. =e ch, pdzi, pi, sdzia, zi, wdzi. =eh brzk, bkit, krgi, lk, mka, nka, potga, prga, rka, sk, tgi, wgiel. =e (optionally, in final position) chc, drog, pi, gr, id, imi, kr, kupi, mog, musz, rami, da si, t. , p kupa, mapa, pal, pan, pas, pd, pole, ptak, py, spa, wyspa, zupa. p'/pj kupi, pia, piana, piasek, pity, pi, pieg, pies, pion, piew. b bal, bas bl, buk, by, gbur, gleba, gruby, ryba, aba, eby. b'/bj biay, bi, biel, biodro, biust, gbia, nabia. xix

b=p Arab, babcia, chleb, drab, gbka, grb, grzyb, klub, obcy, rb, rybka, szyb, szybki, szybszy, zb. f bufon, fabryka, fakt, fala, faza, film, fina, frant, graf, kefir, lufa, sofa, torf, traf. f'/fj fiku, fioek, fiakr, lufie. w gowa, dwa, kawa, krowa, awa, mewa, suwak, ws, wa, w, wbi, wdl, wiza, wr. w=f chwast, chwila, czwarty, krwka, kwas, lew, awka, nerw, paw, rw, szwagier, szwy, wkoo, wpis, wsyp, wszelki, wszy, wszyscy, zawsze. w'=wj dwie, kawior, wiadro, wiara, wie, wiedza, wiek, wielki, wizie, wioska, wiotki, wic. w'=f' wiek, wier, kwiat, kwit, wiadom, wiat, wierk. p, b, f, w t data, kot, kto, lot, nuta, pot, ptak, sto, tak, tam, ten, test, to, tu, tdy, tom, torf. d db, d , dar, deska, dmucha, dom, dym, dysk, dug, duto, moda, nuda, pudel, udo. d=t brd, brud, gwizd, kdka, ld, dka, lud, ogrd, opad, prd, radca, sad, trud, wdka, wdka. s kos, kusy, las, list, los, masa, nos, osa, sen, seks, serek, sk, sl, st, sus, sup, wosk. z Azja, faza, gazda, glizda, kaza, koza, kuzyn, poza, waza, wiza, zebra, zefir, zenit, zero, zodiak. z=s bezcen, gaz, gruz, guz, gwizd, guz, mrz, obraz, okaz, raz, rozkaz, rozkad, wzki, wz. t, d, s, z k bok, buk, jak, kapa, klon, kmin, kolarz, kosy, kret, kto, kuma, kura, kos, okno, oko, sok. k' bukiet, kiedy, kie, kier, kiermasz, kiesze, kiosk, likier, loki, okien, rokiem, pakiet. g gaz, gbur, gos, gol, goy, gra, guma, guz, gba, g, gadki, gmina, ga, Magda, noga, toga, waga. g=k bg, cug, ug, ng, dog, mig, pug, prg, rg, stg. g' gieda, gilza, gitki, magia, magiel, nagi, nogi, ogier, ogie, szwagier. ch/h cham, chata, chop, chd, dach, hak, handel, herb, huk, jacht, kuchta, pcha, suchy, tchrz. xx k, g, ch

 c baca, caus, cay, cel, cena, co, crka, Cygan, dziecko, heca, koc, miesic, nacja, noc, ocet, racja, taca, wicej, zajc. dz cudzy, drodzy, dzban, dzwon, miedza, midzy, nadzy, nodze, sadza, wadze, wodze. dz=c jedz, jedzcie, jedzmy, ksidz, posadzka, rydz, widz, wdz. cz becze, czapka, czart, czas, czek, czosnek, czu, czynsz, lecz, mecz, mocz, oczy, tkacz, toczy, uczy, wstecz. d dem, dez, jed, miady, mdek, rada. /ci- ciasno, ciasto, cicho, ciebie, cie, ciocia, cho, ma, wier, kry, ka, la, rt, sie. =d choby d/dzi- wiedma, dziso, dzie, dzib, dzik, dziadek, Jadzia, jedzie, jedzi. d= chod, chodmy, Jadka, id, idmy, kad. c, dz, cz, d, , d sz daszek, dusza, kruszy, muszka, rzesza, susza, szafa, szaszyk, sza, szaas, szum, szyk, szyszka, tusz, uszy, wasz. szcz bluszcz, Bydgoszcz, jeszcze, niszczy, paszcz, puszcza, szczaw, szczery, szczk, szczscie, zwaszcza. rz/ drzazga, oe, morze, moe, ra, rzd, rzeka, rzepa, rzesza, rzsa, rysko, szerzy, suy, tec, wierzba, aba, art, eby, ona, upan, utki, wawy, ycie. /rz=sz chrzan, chrzszcz, krzak, krzeso, ko, upie, n, przez, str, trzy. /si- oso, o, mi, no, pro, nasion, siatka, siano, siatka, miga, nieg, roda, wiato, wir, siebie, stru, Zosia. = koba, proba. /zi- kol, rzeba, trzewy, ziarno, ziemia, zima, ziel, ziba, dzicze, dbo, rebak, rdo. = buka, grb, le, pa, rze, wie, znale. sz, /rz, , m dama, dom, duma, jama, lampa, mdry, mapa, mleko, mot, moda, mtny, tam, tom, wiedma. m'/mj chmiel, imi, miara, miasto, miaki, miejsce, mig, mid, miska, plemi, ziemia. xxi

n ano, bon, czyn, knot, nagi, nos, nu, nuta, ndza, pan, rana, sen, ten, ton, wnet. /ni- ani, bania, bonie, haba, kania, kiesze, ko, le, nie, niucha, pani, skro, to, ucze, wo. r akr, bbr, br, bra, dar, gra, kret, nora, pora, rada, ratusz, rondo, rwa, ryba, rka, skra, wr. j bj, boja, czajka, czyj, daj, dzisiaj, hojny, ja, jajko, jak, jeszcze, joda, ju, maj, mija, raj, rj, sj, strj, szyja, wojna. boto, byy, da, jabko, ka, koda, ad, eb, oso, ut, yk, ysy, mg, pyta, py, st, suse, ty, w. m, n, , r, j, CONTRASTING HARD AND SOFT 'HUSHING' CONSONANTS : cz ci : czy. leci : leczy. le : lecz. zajci : zajczy. ciesz : czesz : sz siny : szyny. prosi : prosz. ko : kosz. : /rz ziarna : arna. buzia : burza. wiezie : wiee. : cz, : sz, : /rz CLASSROOM EXPRESSIONS fine thank you more loudly, louder loud(ly) one more time better in my opinion by heart for example next (person) no xxii

dobrze dzikuj goniej gono jeszcze raz lepiej moim zdaniem na pami na przykad nastpny nie

niedobrze niewyranie pisemnie po angielsku po polsku prawie dobrze prosz wietnie tak teraz dobrze to nic to prawda ustnie w porzdku wedug mnie wyranie z pamici zadanie na jutro zupenie dobrze

not right indistinctly in writing in English in Polish almost right please, you're welcome, here great yes now it's right that's nothing that's right orally O.K., all right according to me clearly, distinctly from memory tomorow's assignment completely fine wyraenia

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 Co to znaczy? What does that mean? Czy s jakie pytania? Are there any questions? Czy wszystko jest jasne? Is everything clear? Ile jeszcze mamy czasu? How much time do we have left? Jak to bdzie po polsku How will that be in Polish (po angielsku)? (in English)? Jak to si pisze (mwi)? How does one write (say) that? Ju koczymy. We're almost finished. Kto jest nastpny? Who is next? Kto moe to powiedzie po polsku? Who can say that in Polish? Kto teraz chce czyta? Who wants to read now? Ktra godzina? What time is it? Mam pytanie. I have a question. Mamy jeszcze duo czasu. We still have a lot of time. Nie mamy zbyt duo czasu. We don't have too much time . Nie rozumiem. I don't understand. Nie wiem. I don't know. Nie zgadzam si. I agree. Prosz nie otwiera ksiek. Please don't open your books. Prosz nie zamyka ksiek. Please don't close your books. Prosz o uwag. May I please have your attention. Prosz odpowiedzie na pytanie. Please answer the question. Prosz otworzy ksiki. Please open your books. Prosz pomyle. Please think for a moment. Prosz posucha. Please give a listen. Prosz powtrzy. Please repeat. Prosz to lepiej przytogowa. Please prepare this better. Prosz to powiedzie po polsku. Please say that in Polish. Prosz to zapisa w zeszytach. Please take this down in your notebooks. Prosz tumaczy. Please translate. Prosz zamkn ksiki. Please close your books. Prosz? I beg your pardon? What? Rozumiem. I understand, I see. To jest dobre pytanie. That's a good question. xxiv

INSTRUCTIONS, QUESTIONS, RESPONSES

To jest trudne pytanie. To nie nie wane. Wiem. Zgadzam si

That's a difficult question. That's not important. I know. I agree. instrukcje

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