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Lesson one. Subject: Basic rules concerning the spelling and the pronunciation
Polish sounds different than English, so the first thing you will need is to learn pronouncing of the Polish sounds. It will not be very difficult if you read all my instructions and follow them.
On the other my site, you will be able to find some records of true Polish speech (just follow the grammar page till the end…). By the way, if you have any problems with the grammar, there you will find the solution.
Polish a is central and low, like Spanish or Italian. French a can be also very similar to Polish. It is intermediate between German a’s in Stadt and Staat. When you say I in English, the first part is also very similar to the Polish a. It is not so back as English a in father and it is never so front as a in fat. It also resembles the o, u in mother, us, uncle in the British variant of the language – but you must open your mouth wider.
Never pronounce the vowel like the English a in a book! Polish vowels are never reduced – both stressed or unstressed sound the same. And of course you must always pronounce it. Look at the English word read in he read it yesterday – you pronounce it just like red! It means, the letter a in read is mute. It would be impossible in Polish. There are no mute letters in Polish – you must read them all.
Oh, it is so simple. The m sounds very similar in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish… You will have no problems.
As a rule, Polish words have the second from the end syllable stressed. Many Spanish or Italian words are stressed in the same way. Now you can say your first Polish word: mama ‘mum, mom, mummy, … ’ (the marks ‘ ’ are for meanings). The pronunciation should be [mama] with the stressed syllable marked as bold.
The letter j always symbolizes the same sound as the letter y in English! Never read the English j (or French, Spanish, etc.). Polish j sounds like the German one.
In fact, the sound is not so “tight” as the English y (in yes for example). We say that the Polish j is a semi-vowel, not a real consonant. Your new word is ja – it means ‘I, me’.
Now read other Polish words: jama ‘cave, lair’, maj ‘May’ (say it like English my, not like May!), Maja (rare female name).
When you say the English t, d, s, z, n, your tongue touches your gums – because these English consonants are alveolar. Their Polish counterparts are all dental – your tongue should touch your teeth (or, better, the border between your teeth and gums). The alveolar pronunciation of s, z is treated as a defect of speech. You should try to avoid it in Polish.
Keep in your mind that s means always s (like in see, say, yes) and never z. English s in is, houses, doors is read like z – it would be impossible in Polish.
English (or German) t is more intensive than d (compare e.g. English ten : den) and it often has an h-like add-on at its end (aspiration). Polish sounds are never aspirated. The difference between t and d is not in intensity but in voicing – t is voiceless while d is voiced – the same as in French or Italian. Of course the same difference is between s and z. Spanish d is fricative sometimes (the tongue is not touching the teeth) – the thing that could never happen in Polish, in any position; besides, it is very near to the Polish one.
English or German weak consonants are often only partially voiced in initial position. It is the thing that never happens in Polish where d is fully voiced.
Now read some new words: ta ‘this (woman)’, da ‘he / she will give’, tata ‘dad, daddy’, tam ‘there’, mata ‘mat (plaited)’, mat ‘(check)mate’, data ‘date’ (do not read it like English data! – it was my last warning), San (name of a river), dana ‘given value’, jazda ‘a ride, a drive, driving’, zasada ‘rule’.
When two same letters go together, you should pronounce two sounds. In fact, you may also read one longer sound, but never simplify them to one short, normal sound. Read: Anna (female name), sanna ‘sledging’.
Do you remember what is the difference between t and d? The same is between p and b as well as between k and g. Never add the aspiration to Polish p, k. Remember that you should use k in Polish in all instances, never use c or q. And always read the g like in get, never like in gem. Your should practice those new sounds using these words: baba ‘(old) woman’ (colloquial), matka ‘mother’, paka ‘big parcel’ (coll.), mak ‘poppy (Papaver)’, gaza ‘gauze’, pan ‘mister, sir’, panna ‘miss’, tak ‘yes; so’.
The letter w always symbolizes the same sound as the letter v in English – we have similar situation in German. Do not read here the English w (but see also ł below)! The f is like the English f (or ph – we do not use this digraph in Polish). Read: waza ‘vase’, faza ‘phase’, fama ‘rumour’, wanna ‘bath(-tub)’, kawa ‘coffee’.
When a voiced true consonant (like (Polish!) w, z, b, d, g) stands on the end of the phrase (before a pause), it always becomes voiceless. So, you must read sad ‘orchard, tree garden’ like [sat], staw ‘pond’ like [staf], jaz ‘(mill-)dam’ like [jas], wab ‘decoy!, attract!’ like [wap], mag ‘magus, magician’ like [mak]. Remember that j is a semi-vowel, and that m, n are nasals – they do not undergo similar changes and remains voiced word-finally, e.g. dam ‘I will give’, daj ‘give!’.
The rule of the devoicing is not a real problem. It is very regular and we do not need to mark it in a special way – you will always know how to pronounce words with final w, z, b, d, g (and others, of which you will learn a bit later). But you may have problems when writing Polish words: [mak] can be both for mag or mak. In fact, also many Polish children have problems at school with the spelling – but wait, you have not known about true orthographic problems so far.
Now almost all Poles read ł in the same way as English w. That is why łan ‘corn-field’ sounds very similarly to British one. Here are some other words with ł: łapa ‘paw, foot of a beast, flipper’, łapka ‘small paw’ and ‘(mouse)trap’, łatka ‘small patch’, mała ‘small (e.g. girl)’, pałka ‘cudgel, staff, bat’.
Of course, you must read the ł in the same manner in every position, even before a consonant – unlike in English! See that English “paw” is read using a kind of “o” and no “w” can be heard. On the other hand, Polish pał- in pałka is read with normal Polish a and ł (= English w). Read always just like it is written unless I say that you should read otherwise. For now, the only rule you know to read unlike the spelling is the rule of final devoicing.
Well, Polish is a Slavic language while English is a Germanic one. Of course there is a number of words that were borrowed from Latin or Greek in both languages (I am sure you will understand the Polish words radio, teatr, inspiracja, atlas, autobus, …). But native Polish and English words look very different even if scholars could see some resemblance in some instances – e.g. Polish dwa and English “two” (be careful when reading the Polish word – w sounds (like always) as English v!).
There are some words that look the same in both languages but they mean different things and, as a rule, they have different pronunciation. Some examples: paw ([paf] – I hope you have not forgotten the rule) means ‘peacock’, not ‘paw’ (in Polish łapa), bat means ‘whip’, not ‘bat’ (in Polish nietoperz (flying animal) – don’t try to read it as yet), data means ‘date’, not ‘data’ (in Polish dane) and so on.
Please pay attention to this table of spelling equivalents:
| Polish | English | French | Spanish | German |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ł | w | ou (Louis, oui) | u (bueno) | u (Nikaragua) |
| w | v | v | (not present) | w |
| j | y | i, y (bien, yeux) | i (bien) | j |
| y | (not present) | (not present) | (not present) | (not present) |
You will learn about the meaning of the y in the fourth lesson.
Have you paid your attention to the Polish words łapa and łapka? Can you see the suffix k? It is a diminutive suffix. Perhaps you are surprised that the suffix goes before the final a – it is so because the a is an ending, the final element of a word that changes during declension. English is very poor with endings, Polish has a great number of them. You will learn them one by one in the following lessons.
Could you guess what pała means in Polish? Of course – ‘big staff’! And łata? It is simple – I hardly have to tell you. Notice that Polish likes consonants clusters – pk in łapka is one of the easiest to speak. Such clusters may be at the beginning of the word (up to 5 consonants!) as well as at its end (up to 4 consonants). Don’t worry, Poles have troubles with them sometimes, too.
Please repeat the material until you are sure you can do all what you should.
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