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Written by Magdalena Styś
Some of us dream of running a marathon, others — of writing a book or conducting a symphony. While I know nothing about running and very little about books and symphonies, if your dream is to learn how to pronounce Szczebrzeszyn, making that dream come true somewhat falls into my skillset.
Despite the keysmash-esque appearances, pronouncing Polish words is not actually that difficult of a skill to master. One of the biggest advantages of the Polish spelling system is its consistency — unlike English, which will sometimes use the same letter to represent three different sounds (case in point: Pacific Ocean,) Polish letters and digraphs stay relatively consistent in their pronunciation. Moreover, acquiring the skill of reading Polish words out loud reaps multiple benefits, including gaining a new party trick and being showered with praise by every Polish person whose full name you can pronounce. With an understanding of the spelling conventions and a bit of practice, you, too, will be able to talk about your Polish friend Małgosia from the small town of Szymankowszczyzna.
Consonants
While the consonant inventory of Polish is definitely larger than that of some other world languages, the good news is this: many letters in the Polish script are pronounced the way someone familiar with the Latin script would expect them to – <b> makes a [b] sound, <m> makes an [m] sound, etc. Here are some notes on the consonant sounds you should pay more attention to:
<c>
IPA: [t͡s] (voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate)
Description: The letter <c> in the Polish script represents a sound rarely heard in English, but common in many other languages, including Czech, Hungarian and Romanian. If you’re unsure how to pronounce it, try to pronounce “ts” very quickly and listen to an example here.
Example word: córka [t͡suɾka] (daughter)
<cz>
IPA: [t͡ʂ] (voiceless retroflex affricate)
Description: Congrats, you just learned your first Polish digraph! Soon enough you’ll master many more of them. The digraph <cz> also appears in Russian; it’s slightly similar to the <tch> sound in the English word watch; you can listen to an example here.
Example word: czeski [t͡ʂɛski] (Czech)
<ć> and <ci>
IPA: [t͡ɕ] (voiceless alveopalatal affricate)
Description: You can find this sound in Dutch words ending in -tje, such as jongetje. Listen to a recording here.
Example word: ciemno [t͡ɕɛmnɔ] (dark)
<dz>
IPA: [d͡z] (voiced alveolar affricate)
Description: You can find this sound in many other Slavic languages, including Russian and Czech; you can initially try to make it by saying “dz” very quickly. Listen to a recording here.
Example word: dzwon [d͡zvɔn] (bell)
<dż>
IPA: [d͡ʐ] (voiced retroflex affricate)
Description: This digraph represents a sound very similar to the sound represented by <dg> in the English word <dodge>. Listen to a recording here.
Example word: dżuma [d͡ʐuma] (bubonic plague)
<dź> and <dzi>
IPA: [d͡ʑ] (voiced alveopalatal affricate)
Description: This sound will be best explained by listening to a recording.
Example word: dziura [d͡ʑuɾa] (dark)
<g>
IPA: [g] (voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate)
Description: The Polish letter <g> is not pronounced as in the English word genre or page, but like the /g/ in gag.
Example word: góra [guɾa] (mountain)
<h> and <ch>
IPA: [x] (voiceless velar fricative)
Description: Both the Polish letter <h> and the digraph <ch> are pronounced like the <ch> in the German word Buch; listen to an example here.
Example word: holenderski [xɔlɛndɛɾski] (Dutch); chorwacki [xɔɾvat͡ski] (Croatian)
<j>
IPA: [j] (voiced palatal approximant)
Description: Pronounced not like the <j> in the English joke, but like the <y> in the English word you.
Example word: ja [ja] (I)
<ł>
IPA: [w] (voiced labial-velar approximant)
Description: Pronounced like the <w> in the English word west (or word, for that matter.)
Example word: łotewski [wɔtɛvski] (Latvian)
<ń> and <ni>
IPA: [ɲ] (voiced palatal nasal)
Description: The sound represented by the letter <ń> or the digraph <ni> can be found in many word languages, including many Slavic languages, but also Italian, French and Japanese. Listen to a recording here.
Example word: nie [ɲɛ] (no)
<r>
IPA: [ɾ] (alveolar tap)
Description: Although it’s closer to what we colloquially call the “rolled r” (or alveolar trill) than the English pronunciation of <r>, it’s not exactly the same sound: the Polish <r> is pronounced like the <r> in the Spanish word bravo or <dd> in the American English pronunciation of shudder. Listen to an example here.
Example word: rampa [ɾampa] (ramp)
<rz> and <ż>
IPA: [ʐ] (voiced retroflex fricative)
Description: Just like in the case of <h> and <ch>, the letter <ż> and the digraph <rz> are pronounced the same. The sound they represent is relatively uncommon in the world’s languages and slightly resembles the <g> sound in the English word genre; listen to an example here.
Example word: żona [ʐɔna] (wife)
<sz>
IPA: [ʂ] (voiceless retroflex fricative)
Description: Like its voiced counterpart, this sound isn’t very common; it slightly resembles the <sh> sound in the English word shock. Listen to an example here.
Example word: szok [ʂɔk] (shock)
<ś> and <si>
IPA: [ɕ] (voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative)
Description: <ś> is one of those sounds that makes most non-Polish speakers quiver in fear. The best way to learn it is to listen to a recording.
Example word: siano [ɕanɔ] (hay)
<w>
IPA: [v] (voiced labiodental fricative)
Description: The Polish letter <w> is not pronounced like the <w> in the English word worth, but like the <v> in the word violin.
Example word: włoski [vwɔski] (Italian)
<ź> and <zi>
IPA: [ʑ] (voiced alveolo-palatal fricative)
Description: Like its voiceless counterpart, this one is just a doozy. Listen to a recording here.
Example word: źródło [ʑɾudwɔ] (source; spring)
Vowels
Thankfully, Polish vowels are much less complicated than the consonants! There are also much fewer vowels in Polish than in, for instance, English.
<a>
IPA: [a] (open central unrounded vowel)
Description: The Polish <a> is pronounced like the <a> in the German word hallo.
Example word: mama [mama] (mom)
<e>
IPA: [ɛ] (open-mid front unrounded vowel)
Description: Pronounced like the <e> in the English word bed.
Example word: lek [lɛk] (medication)
<i>
IPA: [i] (close front unrounded vowel)
Description: Pronounced like the <ee> in the English word speed.
Example word: gitara [gitaɾa] (guitar)
<o>
IPA: [ɔ] (open-mid back rounded vowel)
Description: Pronounced like the <o> in the German word stoppen. Listen to a recording here.
Example word: kot [kɔt] (cat)
<u> and <ó>
IPA: [u] (close back rounded vowel)
Description: Both the <u> and <ó> in the Polish script are pronounced like the <u> in the German word du.
Example word: rura [ɾuɾa] (pipe), stój [stuj]
<y>
IPA: [ɨ] (close central unrounded vowel; may be slightly lowered in speech)
Description: This sound is a bit similar to the <i> sound in English words like shopping or reading. Listen to a recording here.
Example word: syn [sɨn] (son)
The most tricky part of Polish vowel pronunciation might be the nasal vowels — while present in many languages around the world, they’re often difficult to learn for those who don’t already have them in their personal sound inventories. Thankfully, you only need to know two nasal vowels:
<ą>
IPA: [ɔ̃] (open-mid back unrounded nasal vowel)
Description: Pronounced like the final sound in the French croissant. Listen to a recording here.
Example word: pączek [pɔ̃t͡ʂɛk] (donut; bud)
<ę>
IPA: [ɛ̃] (open-mid unrounded nasal vowel)
Description: Pronounced slightly similarly to the final sound in the French word pain. Listen to a recording here.
Example word: lęk [lɛ̃k] (fear)
Stress + positional variations
Ironically enough, putting stress on Polish words is relatively straightforward and not stressful at all. In most cases, the stress in the word will fall on the penultimate syllable. Exceptions to the rule, when the stress will fall on the antepenultimate syllable, include:
some loanwords, particularly those ending in -yka and -ika; e.g., muzyka (eng. music) will be pronounced as [m’uzɨka]
verb inflections ending in -iśmy, -yśmy (signifying past tense first person plural), -iście and -yście (signifying past tense second person plural); e.g., czytaliśmy (eng. we were reading) will be pronounced as [t͡ʂɨt’aliɕmɨ]
Polish exhibits final obstruent devoicing: for instance, the word chleb (bread) will be pronounced with a [p] sound at the end ([xlɛp]). Similarly, in obstruent clusters, the voicing of the first consonant will assimilate to the voicing of the second consonant; for instance, the word łódka (small boat) will be pronounced with a [t] instead of a [d] ([wutka]).
Test yourself
Now that I bombarded you with theory, it’s time to apply this cognitive overload into practice: here are a few Polish words for you to practice reading, increasing in difficulty. If you want to check yourself for correctness, search the (Polish) words here or here.
pies (dog)
presja (pressure)
ręka (hand)
matematyka (mathematics)
cześć (hello)
siła (strength)
poświęcenie (sacrifice)
święto (holiday)
dźwięk (sound)
współcześnie (currently; in contemporary times)
powiedzieliśmy (we said)
Powodzenia!
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