Symbols used
in Polish spelling,
phonetic and phonology

Previous partBack to the first page

Warning: if you see boxes instead of the symbols: f́, ȯ, ȵ, ɛ, t͇, y̨, ɨ̃, ʦ̑, please acquaint yourself with the content of this page. In order to see all symbols used here, you must have had installed Code2000, Code2001, Code2002 or TITUS Cyberbit Basic fonts. Other Unicode fonts, including Arial Unicode and Lucida Sans Unicode, don’t contain all necessary glyphs.

In the following table national letters used in Polish spelling are presented, together with symbols used for phonological and phonetic transcriptions for recordings of the Polish language in the Slavistic alphabet (AS) and in the IPA system. Unicode codes of the symbols in the decimal and hexadecimal systems are also given. Interpunction marks, §, etc. have been omitted.

  Code Meaning
10 16
international characters in Polish spelling
A 65 U+0041 central low vowel [a] (front low vowel [ä] between soft consonants)
a 97 U+0061
B 66 U+0042 voiced labial stop [b], palatalized [b′] (also [p] when assimilated)
b 98 U+0062
C 67 U+0043 voiceless dental affricate [c], palatalized [c′], [ć] ([ʒ] when assimilated), ch [x x́ γ], cz [č ǯ č′]
c 99 U+0063
D 68 U+0044 voiced dental stop [d], palatalized [d′], [t ḍ]; dz [ʒ ʒ́ dz ʒz c], [ǯ č ǯ′ ḍž ǯž], [ʒ́ ć dź ʒ́ź]
d 100 U+0064
E 69 U+0045 front mid vowel [e] (mid-high [ė] between soft consonants)
e 101 U+0065
F 70 U+0046 voiceless labio-dental fricative [f], palatalized [f′] (also [v] when assimilated)
f 102 U+0066
G 71 U+0047 voiced velar stop [g] or prevelar stop [ǵ] (also [k] when assimilated)
g 103 U+0067
H 72 U+0048 voiceless velar or prevelar fricative [x], [x́] (also [γ]); in borderland pron. [γ γ́ x], [ɦ ɦ′ h]
h 104 U+0068
I 73 U+0049 front high vowel [i], [j], [ji] (after a vowel), palatalization of the preceding consonant
i 105 U+0069
J 74 U+004A palatal semivowel [j]
j 106 U+006A
K 75 U+004B voiceless velar stop [k] or prevelar stop [ḱ] (also [g] when assimilated)
k 107 U+006B
L 76 U+004C alveolar lateral [l], palatalized [l′]
l 108 U+006C
M 77 U+004D labial nasal [m m̦], palatalized [m′]
m 109 U+006D
N 78 U+004E dental nasal [n] or alveolo-palatal nasal [ń] ([n̦ ṇ ń ŋ́ ŋ w̃] when assimilated)
n 110 U+006E
O 79 U+004F back mid rounded vowel [o] (mid-high [ȯ] between soft consonants)
o 111 U+006F
P 80 U+0050 voiceless labial stop [p], palatalized [p′] (also [b] when assimilated)
p 112 U+0070
Q 81 U+0051 only in words of foreign origin
q 113 U+0071
R 82 U+0052 alveolar vibrant [r r̦], palatalized [r′]; rz [ž š rz]
r 114 U+0072
S 83 U+0053 voiceless dental fricative [s], palatalized [s′], [ś] (also [z] when assimilated); sz [š ž]
s 115 U+0073
T 84 U+0054 voiceless dental stop [t], palatalized [t′] (also [d ṭ] when assimilated)
t 116 U+0074
U 85 U+0055 back high rounded vowel [u], between soft consonants [ü], semivowel [w]
u 117 U+0075
V 86 U+0056 only in words of foreign origin
v 118 U+0076
W 87 U+0057 voiced labio-dental fricative [v], palatalized [v′] (also [f] when assimilated)
w 119 U+0077
X 88 U+0058 only in words of foreign origin
x 120 U+0078
Y 89 U+0059 central high unrounded [y]
y 121 U+0079
Z 90 U+005A voiced dental fricative [z], palatalized [z′], [ź] (also [s] when assimilated)
z 122 U+007A
national characters
ó 211 U+00D3 [u] (in Old Polish [ȯ])
ó 243 U+00F3
Ą 260 U+0104 nasal diphthong [ow̃] (also [om on oṇ oń oŋ́ oŋ o] when assimilated)
ą 261 U+0105
Ć 262 U+0106 voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate [ć] (also [ʒ́] when assimilated)
ć 263 U+0107
Ę 280 U+0118 nasal diphthong [ew̃] (also [em en eṇ eń eŋ́ eŋ e] when assimilated)
ę 281 U+0119
Ł 321 U+0141 labiovelar semivowel [w w̦], in older pronunciation velarized dental lateral [ł ł̦]
ł 322 U+0142
Ń 323 U+0143 alveolo-palatal nasal [ń ń̦] (also [j̃] when assimilated)
ń 324 U+0144
Ś 346 U+015A voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative [ś] (also [ź] when assimilated)
ś 347 U+015B
Ź 377 U+0179 voiced alveolo-palatal fricative [ź] (also [ś] when assimilated)
ź 378 U+017A
Ż 379 U+017B voiced alveolar affricate [ž] (also [š] when assimilated)
ż 380 U+017C
symbols used in transcription
c 99 U+0063 IPA: voiceless palatal stop (incorrectly AS [ḱ])
AS: voiceless dental affricate (= IPA [ʦ̑])
h 104 U+0068 IPA/AS: voiceless laryngeal fricative
AS: (imprecisely) voiced (= IPA [ɦ])
x 120 U+0078 IPA/AS: voiceless velar fricative (= AS [χ])
ã 227 U+00E3 IPA/AS: nasal a (= AS [ą])
ä 228 U+00E4 AS: front a (= IPA [æ] or [a̟])
æ 230 U+00E6 IPA: front a (= AS [ä])
ç 231 U+00E7 IPA: voiceless palatal fricative (incorr. AS [x́])
õ 245 U+00F5 AS: nasal o (= AS [ǫ], IPA [ɔ̃])
ü 252 U+00FC AS: advanced (central) u (= IPA [ʉ])
ą 261 U+0105 AS: nasal a (= IPA [ã])
č 269 U+010D AS: voiceless alveolar affricate (= IPA [ʧ̑])
ė 279 U+0117 AS: narrow e (= IPA [e])
ę 281 U+0119 AS: nasal e (= IPA [ɛ̃])
ĩ 297 U+0129 IPA/AS: nasal i (= AS [į])
į 303 U+012F AS: nasal i (= IPA [ĩ])
ŋ 331 U+014B IPA/AS: nasal velar sonorant
š 353 U+0161 AS: voiceless alveolar fricative (= IPA [ʃ])
ũ 361 U+0169 IPA/AS: nasal u (= AS [ų])
ų 371 U+0173 AS: nasal u (= IPA [ũ])
ž 382 U+017E AS: voiced alveolar fricative (= IPA [ʒ])
ǫ 491 U+01EB AS: nasal o (= IPA [ɔ̃])
ǯ 495 U+01EF AS: voiced alveolar affricate (= IPA [ʤ̑])
ȯ 559 U+022F AS: narrow o (= IPA [o])
ȵ 565 U+0235 IPA: nasal alveolo-palatal sonorant (= AS [ń])
ɔ 596 U+0254 IPA: half-open back rounded vowel (=AS [o])
ɕ 597 U+0255 IPA: voiceless alv.-palatal fricative (= AS [ś])
ɛ 603 U+025B IPA: half-open front vowel (= AS [e])
ɟ 607 U+025F IPA: voiceless palatal stop (incorrectly AS [ǵ])
ɦ 614 U+0266 IPA/AS: voiced laryngeal fricative
ɨ 616 U+0268 IPA: high unrounded central vowel (= AS [y])
ɫ 619 U+026B IPA: velarized dental lateral (= AS [ł])
ɲ 626 U+0272 IPA: nasal palatal sonorant (incorrectly AS [ń])
ʃ 643 U+0283 IPA: voiced alveolar fricative (= AS [š])
ʉ 649 U+0289 IPA: high central rounded vowel (= AS [ü])
ʎ 654 U+028E IPA: palat lateral (incorrectly AS [l′])
ʑ 657 U+0291 IPA: voiced alveolo-palatal fricative (= AS [ź])
ʒ 658 U+0292 IPA: voiced alveolar fricative (= AS [ž])
AS: voiced dental affricate (= IPA [ʤ̑])
ʝ 669 U+029D IPA: voiced palatal fricative (incorr. AS [γ́])
ʣ 675 U+02A3 IPA: voiced dental affricate (= AS [ʒ])
ʤ 676 U+02A4 IPA: voiced alveolar affricate (= AS [ǯ])
ʥ 677 U+02A5 IPA: voiced alveolo-palatal affricate (= AS [ʒ́])
ʦ 678 U+02A6 IPA: voiceless dental affricate (= AS [c])
ʧ 679 U+02A7 IPA: voiceless alveolar affricate (= AS [č])
ʨ 680 U+02A8 IPA: voiceless alv.-palatal affricate (= AS [ć])
ʲ 690 U+02B2 IPA: palatalization (= AS [′])
697 U+02B6 AS: palatalized consonant (= IPA [ʲ])
 ́ 769 U+0301 AS: soft cons.: [ḱ ǵ x́ γ́ ʒ́] (= IPA [ ̟] or [ʲ])
 ̃ 771 U+0303 IPA/AS: nasal vowel: [ɛ̃ ẽ ɔ̃ ɨ̃] (= AS [ ̨])
 ̇ 775 U+0307 AS: vowel with higher articulation: [ė ȯ]
 ̑ 785 U+0311 IPA: arch in affricates [ʦ̑ ʣ̑ ʧ̑ ʤ̑ ʨ̑ ʥ̑]
 ̟ 799 U+031F IPA: fronted articulation (= AS [ ́])
 ̣ 803 U+0323 AS: alveolar articulation: [ṭ ḍ ṇ] (= IPA [ ͇])
 ̥ 805 U+0325 IPA: voiceless articulation (= AS [ ̦])
 ̦ 806 U+0326 AS: voiceless articulation (= IPA [ ̥])
 ̨ 808 U+0328 AS: nasal vowel: [y̨] (= IPA [ ̃])
 ̯ 815 U+032F AS: semivowel ([i̯] = IPA [j]; [u̯] = IPA [w])
 ͇ 839 U+0347 IPA: alveolar articulation (= AS [ ̣])
 ͡ 865 U+0361 IPA: arch in affricates [t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡ɕ d͡ʑ]
γ 947 U+03B3 IPA/AS: voiced velar fricative
χ 967 U+03C7 AS: voiceless velar fricative (= IPA [x])
7869 U+1EBD AS: nasal e (= AS [ę], IPA [ɛ̃])
7929 U+1EF9 AS: nasal y (= AS [y̨], IPA [ɨ̃])


Continuation: Polish phonemes


Main pagePolish grammar

2008-02-21