Guide to Polish Alphabet with Pronunciation

Educational

Guide to Polish Alphabet with Pronunciation

polish alphabet

ABECADŁO – the POLISH ALPHABET

It is not a secret that Polish language is a difficult one to learn. Even Polish native speakers make mistakes. As the Polish alphabet has more letters than the English one and the pronunciation is not easy, learning Polish alphabet may be challenging for the foreigners.

Our task for today is to make it easier for you to learn the Polish alphabet and the right pronunciation.

The most important information about the Polish alphabet:

  1. ABECADŁO is a different name for the ALPHABET.
  2. It is based on the Latin alphabet.
  3. It has 6 more letters than  the English alphabet.
  4. It contains 9go intriguing characters: 
    Ą, Ć, Ę, Ł, Ń, Ó, Ś, Ź, Ż
Polish alphabet illustration

Today we will focus on the Polish alphabet and its letters.

Look at that sentence. This is a pangram. It contains all of the Polish letters!
Pójdźże kiń tę chmurność w głąb flaszy.

*English example of a pangram:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

PRONUNCIATION IN POLISH ALPHABET

It’s time to focus on the right pronunciation of the letters which are in the Polish alphabet.

(English equivalent)
A (a)/ä/large
Ą (ą)/ɔ̃/denouement; nasal o
B (b)/b/bed
C (c)/t̪͡s̪/pits
Ć (ć)/t͡ɕ/chips
D (d)/d̪/door
E (e)/ɛ/bell
Ę (ę)/ɛ̃/nasal e; slightly lengthened e
F (f)/f/four
G (g)/ɡ/go
H (h)/x/hike
I (i)/i/feet
J (j)/j/yellow
K (k)/k/key
L (l)/l/lollipop
Ł (ł)/w/will
M (m)/m/more
N (n)/n̪/night
Ń (ń)/ɲ̟/canyon
O (o)/ɔ/dog
Ó (ó)/u/good
P (p)/p/parrot
R (r)/r/similar to the sound written as R in many languages
S (s)/s̪/snake
Ś (ś)/ɕ/sheep
T (t)/t̪/start
U (u)/u/food
W (w)/w/vow
Y (y)/ɘ̟/bit
Z (z)/z̪/zebra
Ź (ź)/ʑ/vision (alveolo-palatal)
Ż (ż)/ʐ/vision

The Polish language also has 7 digraphs.
Let us take a look at their pronunciation.

CHhalloween
CZchallenge
DZlads
jealous
adjust
RZtreasure
SZshadow

LETTERS AND EXAMPLES IN POLISH ALPHABET

Let’s take a closer look at the Polish alphabet and the letters when they appear:

  • at the beginning, 
  • in the middle 
  • and at the end of the words.
    (some letters do not appear in all 3 cases)
A (a)ALFABETPORANEKKORONA/alphabet, morning, crown
Ą (ą)BRĄZOWYCHCĄ/brown, they want
B (b)BIEGAĆGRABIEKLUB/to run, rake, club
C (c)CUKIEREKPRACAKAC/candy, job, hangover
Ć (ć)ĆMAZAĆMAĆ/moth, cataract, to go
D (d)DOMBUDOWAĆGRAD/house, to build, hail
E (e)EKIERKAWIEMNIE/set square, I know, not
Ę (ę)FALAGĘSTYLUBIĘ/thick, I like
F (f)FALARAFAKLIF/wave, reef, cliff
G (g)GÓRYMOGĘG/mountains, I can, horn
H (h)HAKBOHATERDRUH/hook, hero, comrade
I (i)IGŁAMIŁYDRZWI/needle, nice, door
J (j)JABŁKOPAJĄKJ/apple, spider, my
K (k)KOLORPOLSKIJAK/colour, Polish, how
L (l)LODYMALINABAL/ice cream, raspberry, ball
Ł (ł)ŁÓDŹMAŁYWAŁ/boat, small, embankment
M (m)MATKAKAMIEŃDAM/mother, stone, I will give
N (n)NOCMANIAKKOKON/night, maniac, cocoon
Ń (ń)/ɲ̟/SŁOŃCEWOŃ/sun, aroma
O (o)OKULISTAMORZEDZIECKO/oculist, sea, child
Ó (ó)ÓSMYBÓL/8th, pain
P (p)PALECGŁUPITELESKOP/finger, stupid, telescope
R (r)ROBIĆBARDZODAR/to do, very, gift
S (s)SUKIENKAMASMUS/dress, massage, mousse
Ś (ś)ŚLIWKAMAŚĆKTOŚ/plum, ointment, somebody
T (t)TAKPŁYTAKOT/yes, disc, cat
U (u)ULKULATABU/hive, sphere, taboo
W (w)WIRZABAWKAKREW/moil, toy, blood
Y (y)YETIDYMPALMY/yeti, smoke, palms
Z (z)ZEBRADZWONEKRAZ/zebra, bell, once
Ź (ź)ŹREBAKDŹWIGMAŹ/foal, crane, slime
Ż (ż)ŻABAWAŻKAJEŻ/frog, dragonfly, hedgehog

DIFFERENCES IN POLISH LANGUAGE

Let’s look at the most important differences between the English and Polish alphabet and try to learn them.

  • The Polish language has 8 vowel sounds. 
  • The English language has 22 vowel sounds. 
  • There is no English equivalent of any of the Polish vowels.
  • The Polish language has no weak vowels.
  • Polish words with double consonants are difficult to pronounce for English speakers, as they tend to treat them as one consonant. /horror, lasso…/

TEST YOUR TONGUE WITH POLISH LANGUAGE

Before you start, look at the Polish alphabet once again and try to remember the right pronunciation.

TASK 1.

Read the lines 4 times, starting slowly and ending up reading them as fast as you can.

Ą Ą Ć R Ą Ą Ć R Ą Ą Ć R Ą Ą Ć R Ą Ą Ć R

K C G G K C G G K C G G K C G G K C G G 

Z Ź Ż Y Z Ź Ż Y Z Ź Ż Y Z Ź Ż Y Z Ź Ż Y

U O Ó W U O Ó W  U O Ó W  U O Ó W  

B P P T B P P T B P P T B P P T B P P T

Ś S E I Ś S E I Ś S E I Ś S E I Ś S E I Ś S E I

TASK 2.

Play your favourite song and try to sing the Polish alphabet to its melody.
(Don’t miss this task, we can hear you;) )

TASK 3.

Solve a test in order to check if you remember the most important information about the Polish alphabet and the right pronunciation.

  1. ………………………….. is a different name for ALPHABET.
    Abecede
    Abecadło
    Abededeło
  1. The Polish alphabet ……..is based on the Latin alphabet.
    Is
    Isn’t
  1. Which letters have the same pronunciation?
    S and Ś
    U and Ó
    Ż and Ź
  1. Which sentence is correct?
    The Polish language has 8 vowel sounds and the English language has 23 vowel sounds.
    The Polish language has 6 vowel sounds and the English language has 22 vowel sounds.
    The Polish language has 8 vowel sounds and the English language has 22 vowel sounds.
    The Polish language has 6 vowel sounds and the English language has 23 vowel sounds.
  1. The Polish language has no weak vowels.
    true
    false

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