Pronouncing Polish: Introductory Notes

Polish can be a daunting language to pronounce. The written language is full of consonant clusters, strange-looking accents and long words! But once you learn some of the basic rules, it really is quite doable for everyone. Here are a few introductory quick tips to remember, which we will cover during our session too.

• The vowels are very Italianate and more forward in the mouth than Russian, for example. So be careful not to fall into the Slavic trap of pronouncing too far back in your throat.

• A sound that is very important to learn is the “Y” vowel, which you will see frequently in Polish. This vowel should be pronounced like the [I] in the words “GIVE” or “LIVE”, and NOT a closed [i] or [e] or [E]. This mistake is one of the most common giveaways from English speakers when they are attempting Polish.

• When you run into consonant clusters, you want to slide through them quickly and avoid obvious shadow vowels between those consonants.

• Avoid diphthongs with your open vowels.

• When you see the consonant cluster “rz” and the dotted “ż”, they are the same sound [ʒ], like in the French word “je”. So when you see “rz”, you will not roll the ‘r’.

• The dreaded hook! This is the accent you will often see beneath the vowels “a” and “e”: Here they are: ą and ę – The hook accent changes the pronunciation of these vowels, so please pay attention to the proper pronunciation in the recording(s) of the text that you received / will receive. There is a nasalization at the end of the phonation and if there is a consonant following the hooked vowel, you add an “N” sound at the end.