Lekcja szósta

Temat: Polskie głoski dziąsłowe. Przymiotniki – ciąg dalszy

Lesson six. Subject: The alveolar Polish sounds. The adjectives – continued

Klucz do ćwiczeń z lekcji poprzedniej

(Key to exercises from the previous lesson)

Correct plural forms are:

• alkohole, babcie, dłonie, historie, jesienie, kolacje, konie, świnie;
• kocice, oślice, owce, sadze, spódnice;
• dziady, dzwony, herbaty, hieny, hieroglify, kocury, kwiaty, rodziny, sinusy, siostry, ściany, zimy;
• babki, bańki, bluzki, choinki, córki, dźwigi, Gośki, Moniki, październiki, Uśki;
• ciała, mleka, piwa, słońca.

Correct adjective forms: miły paw, miła jazda, miły pan, miły dom, miłe słońce, miła wieś, miła oślica, miły tata, miły diabeł. Haven’t you forgotten about “exceptional” gender of wieś, tata?

Words hidden in the diagram: buk, fiołek, kocur, koń, kot, kwiat, mak, muł, ogród, owca, paw, pole, ptak, sad, słoń, sosna, suka, świerk, świnia.

You should continue only if you have done all the exercises well.

Kolejne polskie dźwięki (More Polish sounds)

Spółgłoska sz (The consonant sz)

The digraph sz always denotes the sound very near to the German sch; both are alveolar, pronounced with a spoon-like tongue, that produces characteristic rustle; the only difference is that the Polish sound is less (but still) rounded (pronounced with lips in similar shape when you are pronouncing the Polish u). It is also near to a Russian sound but is not velarized (Polish sz is light while the Russian one – dark). The similarity between Polish sz and English sh, French ch or Italian sci is significantly less.

Taking into consideration acoustic features we can say that the Polish sz is between English s and sh. For the Poles, the English sh seems to be between Polish sz and ś. English s and especially Spanish s are between Polish s and sz. It is very important for you to differentiate the three Polish sounds: s – sz – ś. If you have troubles, you must practice until you achieve sufficient results (you must be able to hear the differences between the sounds in any pairs). For now, I can only help you with my records that you will find on my grammar site.

The sound sz is hard (English sh, French ch, Italian sci are heard as soft by Poles!) so it likes the following y, not i rather. Examples: szyja ‘neck’, uszko ‘small ear’, koszula ‘shirt’, szal ‘shawl, smart scarf’, szalik ‘scarf’, szafa ‘wardrobe’, szafka ‘cupboard, bookcase, cabinet’, nasz ‘our, ours’, wasz ‘your, yours’ (pl.), dasz ‘you will give (sg.)’, dajesz ‘you are giving’, mysz ‘mouse’, szyna ‘rail’, sześć ‘six’ (distinguish sz from ś precisely!), Tomasz, Łukasz, Urszula.

There are few (borrowed) words that have the szi group. As always, the sz here must be a little soft (what is however unimportant). When before a vowel, the group is read [szj]. Examples spelt with szi are extremally rare (only special terms, e.g. szin, a name of a Hebrew letter), but a known example for szi is Chicago [szikago] (I remind you that bold means stressed). Never identify such softened sz with ś! It could lead to very funny situations – cf. Polish sika ‘is pissing’ ([śika]).

Szczelinowe s, sz, ś, ch (Fricatives s, sz, ś, ch)

We can talk of up to seven rows of non-labial fricatives in Polish. Let‘s look at voiceless ones only:

• hard s like in syn,
• (slightly) softened s (before [i, j]) in loanwords like in sinus [sinus],
• hard sz like in szyna,
• softened sz (before [i, j]) in loanwords like in szin,
• always soft ś like in siny [śiny],
• soft [h’.] (before i) like in Chiny,
• hard [h] like in chytry.

Notice that softened s and sz are only positional variants of normal, hard s, sz (we could discuss it on [h′] – [h]). Please say now: syn – sinus – szyna – szin – siny – Chiny – chytry – can you hear the differences?

Spółgłoski rz, ż (The consonants rz, ż)

Do you remember the pairs ó – u and ch – h? There is another pair of identically pronounced sounds in Polish, rz – ż. In my transcription system I will always use [ż]. The sound is a voiced counterpart to the sz and it is a little similar to English s in pleasure or to French j (the same sound is spelt there g in some positions). You must remember however that there is a difference between those sounds, the same as between English sh and Polish sz. The English and French sounds are between the Polish ż and ź. Even if rz and ż represent the same sound, their pronunciation differs when they stand after a voiceless consonant, see below.

Now some examples: może ‘maybe, perhaps’ and ‘he / she / it can’, morze ‘sea’ (it sounds the same like the previous one), duży ‘big’, dużo ‘many, much’, marzec ‘March’, wrzesień ‘September’, brzuch ‘belly, abdomen’, róża ‘rose’ ([ruża]), żubr ‘aurochs, Bison bonasus’ (there is only one syllable here!), Małgorzata, Grzesiek (diminutive of Grzegorz).

WARNING: in rare cases the group rz does not mark the sound [ż] but it is read [rz]: zamarza ‘he / she / it is freezing’ ([zamarza]). When before i, the group is read of course [rź]: mierzić ‘to disgust, to sicken, to pall on’ ([m′erźić]).

The group żi exists in very few loanwords only; before a vowels it means [żj]. The spelling rzi is unknown to me at all. Examples: żigolak ‘fancy-man, gigolo’, ażio ‘aggio’ ([ażjo]).

This sound undergoes the final devoicing: Grzegorz ([gżegosz]), bierz ‘take!’ ([b′esz]), też ‘also’ ([tesz]), wieprz ‘hog, he-pig, he-swine’. It becomes sz also before a voiceless: gorzki ‘bitter’ ([goszki]), nóżka ‘small leg’ ([nuszka]), łóżko ‘bed’ ([łuszko]; do not mix it with uszko!).

Reguła udźwięczniania (The rule of voicing)

When a voiceless is before a voiced, it becomes voiced. As the result, we have two voiced sounds. Examples are not very numerous: Afganistan [awgańistan]. Notice that the rule is analogous to the rule of devoicing. We could say that if two consonants stand side by side, the second one decides whether both are voiced or voiceless.

You have already known one exclusion: when a voiceless stands before the voiced w, the w becomes [f] (and we have no voicing). There is another exclusion: also [ż] spelt rz becomes [sz] after a voiceless, e.g. krzew ‘bush’ ([kszef]). But when spelt ż, it causes voicing of the previous consonant rather: także ‘also, as well’ [tagże].

Spółgłoski cz, dż (The consonants cz, dż)

They are affricates consisting with t + sz and d + ż respectively. We can say that cz is near the German tsch, it also resembles the English or Spanish ch, Italian ci or French tch to a certain degree, but the difference is the same as it was told above when describing the sz. The dż is the strict voiced counterpart of the cz and it is relatively rare even if it is present in some native words. Examples: czy ‘if, whether’, czas ‘time’, dżem ‘jam’, wnuczka ‘granddaughter’, styczeń ‘January’, czerwiec ‘June’, oczko ‘little eye’ (cf. oko ‘eye’), czapka ‘cap’, liczba ‘number’ ([lidżba], another example for the rule of voicing), paczka ‘parcel’, cztery ‘four’, klacz ‘mare, she-horse’, kaczka ‘duck’, kaczor ‘drake, he-duck’, cześć ‘hi, hello’ (mind the difference cz – ć!).

As cz, dż are hard (like sz, ż), they like the following y and they do not like the i rather. But sometimes in loanwords there are the groups czi, dżi however. They represent [czj], [dżj] when before a vowel. Examples: Czirokez ‘Cherokee’ ([czirokes]), dżin ‘gin’, lodżia ‘loggia’ ([lodżja]), glediczia ‘Gleditchia’ ([glediczja]), a name of a tree that has also another Polish name – iglicznia (like if ‘needle-tree’).

Unfortunately for your inexperienced tongue, affricates and fricatives like being together, forming tongue-twisting clusters. Practise now your tongue a little: szczur ‘rat’, móżdżek ‘cerebellum, brain’ ([mużdżek], diminutive of mózg ‘brain’ [musk]; please practice also the plural form móżdżki [muszczki]), drożdże ‘yeast’, czczy ‘empty, vain, futile’ (you must read two cz’s!), dżdżownica ‘earthworm, Lumbricus’ (two dż’s!). Like d+z, also d+ż may sometimes not form the affricate (I will write [d|ż] then), especially when spelt drz (but not only): drzewo ‘tree’ ([d|żewo]), budżet ‘budget’ ([bud|żet]). Similarly, we have instances for [tsz] (not [cz]), spelt trz, dsz, tsz (do you remember all the rules of voicing and devoicing?): trzy ‘three’ (do not mix it with czy!!!), przedszkole ‘kindergarten, infant school’ (pszetszkole]). Instead of [tsz], [d|ż] you can also speak [czsz], [dżż] with t, d assimilated to the next sound, e.g. drzewo [dżżewo], trzy [czszy]. Such pronunciation is common in the colloquial speech – if you find it easier, you may always use it. But never simplify such groups to simple cz, dż! It would be a serious error!

Upodobnienia spółgłosek (Consonantal assimilations)

Assimilations take place when two (or more) consonants stand side by side. As you know, all the consonants in a cluster must be either voiceless or voiced – it depends on the last one, e.g. móżdżki, in which the voiceless k causes both voiced ż and dż to become voiceless sz and cz. You know also two examples when the last one consonant in the cluster (rz or w) does not cause any changes, even quite the contrary – it changes itself depending on whether the previous one is voiceless or voiced.

Now we will take into consideration only fore-tongued consonants. If we ommit softened variants (as they are only variants), we can talk about three rows of them. Look at the table:

If any two of the above consonants adjoin, besides devoicing and voicing also other changes may take place. Whether they take place or not, it depends on the style of speech. In the colloquial, everyday’s language the assimilations are normal while during public pronouncement or very slow speech they are relatively rare. They are:

• Stops t, d before an affricate or sonorant (from the table) may, but do not need to become affricates of the proper row. For example trzy may be pronounced both [tszy] or [czszy]. As you can see, a dental stop before an alveolar fricative can become an alveolar affricate. Another example: wkrótce ‘soon’, read [fkrutce] or [fkrucce].
• Also other dentals (affricates, fricatives) may change their row depending on the next alveolar or postalveolar. For example bezsilny ‘powerless’ may be read both [beśśilny] or [besśilny] (without additionary assimilation).

Only dentals may change their place of articulation. You should avoid such assimilations of alveolars or postalveolars even if you thought the group is impossible to pronounce. Below there are some examples.

• alveolar + dental: nosorożce (nosoroszce, ż assimilated into sz but not into s!), plural to nosorożec ‘rhinoceros’, łyszczce, plural of łyszczec ‘Gypsophila, a name of a plant’;
• alveolar + postalveolar: skaczcie ‘jump! (pl.)’ (skaczće), patrzcie ‘look! (pl.)’ ([patszće] or [paczszće] but sz never assimilated to ć);
• postalveolar + dental: pieśce, pl. of piesiec ‘arctic fox, Alopex’, jeźdźcy ([jeśćcy]), pl. of jeździec ‘rider, horseman’;
• postalveolar + alveolar: jeźdźcze ([jeśćcze]), vocative form of jeździec.

Liczba mnoga – ciąg dalszy (The plural number – continuation)

Tematy na sz, rz, ż, cz, dż (Stems in sz, rz, ż, cz, dż)

Even if sz, rz, ż, cz, dż are hard and they can join the vowel y, plural forms of substantives which stems end in these vowels have the ending -e, e.g. kosz – kosze, wieprz – wieprze, klacz – klacze, olsza – olsze, róża – róże (the second name for ‘alder’ is olcha, pl. olchy). Now try to write some plurals by yourself: bagaż, bicz, burza, ciecz, deszcz, garaż, grosz, jeż, klucz, krzyż, mecz, nietoperz, plaża, pomarańcza, pryszcz, wieża. Check their meaning! Mean grosz – it is the Polish penny (or cent…). 1 złoty = 100 groszy (why 100 groszy even if the plural form of grosz is grosze – I will tell you later). For the curious ones: today, 14th of January 2002, 1 US dollar equals 4 zlotys, 1 € is 3.60 zlotys.

Powtórzenie (Repetition)

Now write plural forms of these substantives: brzuch, budżet, czapka, czas, drzewo, dżdżownica, dżem, glediczia, Grzegorz, iglicznia, kaczka, kaczor, koszula, krzew, liczba, łóżko, Łukasz, Małgorzata, morze, mózg, nóżka, oczko, paczka, przedszkole, róża, szafa, szafka, szal, szalik, szczur, szyja, szyna, Tomasz, Urszula, uszko, wieprz, wnuczka, żigolak, żubr. Do not worry, there are not instances of the fleeting e or the alternation ó : o here. Have you remembered what substantives have the -y, -i, -e, -a endings? And what about the plural form of men’s names?

Ruchome e – cd. (Fleeting e – continued)

When the fleeting e follows rz, it often changes into r. Memorize the plural forms: marzec – marce, orzeł – orły (check the meaning of the unknown word). You can find the fleeting e also in czerwiec, łyszczec, móżdżek, nosorożec, piesiec, styczeń, wrzesień – czerwce [czerfce], łyszczce, móżdżki [muszczki], nosorożce, pieśce, stycznie, wrześnie.

Rzeczowniki męskoosobowe – cd.

(Masculine-personal substantives – continued)

As you have learnt, there are also masculine-personal endings other than -owie. The ending -a in bracia is exceptional, the ending -i is more frequent. Do not mistake it for the -i instead of -y after k, g!!! The ending -i causes some changes of the preceding consonant, see gigant – giganci (t changes into ć spelt c before i due to spelling rules). Sometimes the change of the consonant can lead to a hard consonant that causes i to change y. Please take a look at the very important table:

Examples for masculine-personal plural forms with the ending -i (sometimes changed into -y): biskup – biskupi, Czirokez – Czirokezi [czirokeźi], also jeździec – jeźdźcy.

You must be very attentive with k, g. Memorize the paradox that y after k, g becomes i while i becomes y. The k, g themselves also change: into k′, g′ before y (which gives i) and into c, dz before i (which gives y). Look at the examples:

You can say Polak when meaning ‘Pole, Polishman’, but Polka when meaning ‘Pole, Polishwoman’. Do not mix these words with Polska ‘Poland’ and polski ‘Polish’. We will return to this problem later.

I told you that the masculine-personal ending -owie is present in normal speech while in colloquial speech you may sometimes use regular forms of plural. As diminutive forms of Christian names are colloquial of their meaning, you can say Tomki instead of Tomkowie. Also Grześki (from Grzesiek, the fleeting e) is more natural than Grześkowie. I am sure you know why the plural ending is -i, not -y here.

Other masculine-personal substantives ending in -ek, -ak or even -k often take the normal ending rather than these special ones like -owie, -i. So, we will rather say wnuki, żigolaki (although wnukowie, żigolacy are also possible). For żigolacy see the table above.

Rzeczowniki rodzaju żeńskiego zakończone na spółgłoskę

(Feminine substantives ending in a consonant)

As you have already known, there is a group of substantives of the feminine gender ending in soft consonants, not with -a in singular – they can end in c, dz, cz, dż, sz, ż, rz, l even if they are hard consonants. Consonantal feminines also form their plural form with the -e ending; of these you know ciecz, klacz, wieś now. But there is another plural ending of such substantives, -i – you know that there is an alternative form wsi. If the final ending is hard, this -i becomes y.

I am affraid you must remember which substantives that ending in a consonant are feminines – and you must remember which of them have the plural ending -i or -y. Use the table:

Liczba mnoga nieregularna (Irregular plurals)

Memorize the following irregular plural forms:

• dziecko [dźecko] – dzieci [dźeći],
• oko – oczy,
• ucho – uszy.

Note that the English rendering for dziecko – ‘child’ – has the irregular plural form as well (dzieci – ‘children’).

Przymiotniki (Adjectives)

You have already known what the gender is. In singular the form of the adjective depends on the gender of the substantive. The names of the genders: masculine, neuter, feminine are a little stipulated in many cases.

The category of gender exists in many European languages, even if it is absent in English. Latin and Old Greek had three genders, also German has three genders now. French, Italian, Spanish have two genders. The situation in Polish is much more complicated.

Even if there seems to be three genders in singular, they do not exist in plural (well, in principle…). Nevertheless, there are two forms of adjectives in plural: masculine-personal and non-masculine-personal. The second one has always the ending -e, usually the same as the singular neuter form. The first one is only used with some masculine substantives (not with all):

• they must denote men (not animals, things etc.);
• they must have one of special, masculine-personal endings.

The plural masculine-personal form of adjectives has always the ending -i which caused some consonantal changes and which can change into -y, see the table above. If the singular masculine form ends in -ni, -ci, -dzi, -si, -zi, -pi, -bi, -fi, -wi, -mi, -cy, -dzy, -czy, -dży, -rzy, -ży, the plural masculine-personal form is equal to it. If the singular masculine form ends in -szy, the plural masculine-personal form ends in -si (among those with -ży, only duży has a parallel alternation). Notice also softness of k, g before the ending -e. Some examples:

Even if some of the words above are not true adjectives but pronouns or numerals, their forms are like those of true adjectives – except some irregularities marked bold. And now, could you write all 5 forms of czczy, długi, gorzki, miły, pański, pełny, pusty, siny, stary, szósty, tamten, twój, wasz? Use the closest model from the table – and check the meaning! And try to formulate the rules. You will be able to check your trials later. I will also suggest some exercises of using of adjectives for you.

There are substantives in Polish that look like adjectives. You should know three examples: luty, złoty and dana. As they are declined like adjectives, their plural forms have the -e ending: lute, złote, dane. You can translate the plural dane as ‘data’; the singular dana means ‘a given value’. Of course luty, złoty are masculine, dana is feminine.

Liczebniki: jeden (Numerals: one)

The numaral jeden must be used in the proper form (see the table above), e.g. jedna dłoń, jeden pies, jedno pismo. Now write with full words: 1 autobus, 1 bluzka, 1 diabeł, 1 drzewo, 1 głowa, 1 kocica, 1 mysz, 1 paw, 1 przedszkole, 1 rak, 1 słońce. Can you write 1, 2, 3, 4 in Polish as well as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th?

Nazwy miesięcy (Names of the months)

Please list the Polish names of the months. Give both singular and plural forms. In fact, the plurals are used rarely. But they will very helpful for you in further lessons. You will be able to check if your list is correct in the next lesson. Have you noticed that we do not use capitals in the Polish names of the months?

Powiedz „cześć” po polsku! (Say “hello” in Polish!)

You are coming into a room and you can see anybody inside. What should you say? Well, if everybody in the room are your close friends, you can say: cześć!. But if you are entering into a shop, if there is even one person inside who is not your close friend, you shouldn’t use this form (even if “hello” were acceptable in English in this situation!). You should use dzień dobry! (during all day = the sun is still shining in the sky) or dobry wieczór! (if it is dark).

What does it mean “close friend”? Well, if you have met anybody in Poland and you want to address him in the unceremonious way, you should suggest it or ask if you may. If you both agree, you will be “close friends”… If you are a student, you can always say cześć to another student. You can also write cześć in your e-mail: there is a kind of special democracy on the Internet. But remember not to say cześć to a policeman, to a clerk or to a seller!

When you are taking your leave of anybody (or if somebody is leaving), choose one of three forms to say good-bye: cześć! (you have known when you are allowed), do widzenia! (if the sun is still on the sky) and dobranoc (it is dark). The last form comes from dobra noc ‘a good night’, but now it is one word – it means you should stress it [dobranoc]. If you said [dobra noc], it would mean ‘a good night’, not ‘good night!’. Mean not to say dzień dobry or dobry wieczór when you are leaving. Do not say do widzenia or dobranoc when you are meeting somebody, either. Only cześć is acceptable in both situations (of course, if you may use it).

Memorize also dzień ‘day’ – plural dnie or dni (the second form is now prevailing, the first is thought to be archaic), rano or ranek ‘morning’ – plural ranki, wieczór ‘evening’ – plural wieczory and noc ‘night’ (feminine! – hence dobra noc) – plural noce. Neither “good morning” nor “good afternoon” has a strict rendering in Polish – dzień dobry is used for both.

Find hidden words

Do you like diagrams with hidden words? Today I have something really special for you. This time forget animals and plants. Find at least 32 Polish words denoting things you can find in your room, clothes and objects that serve for various purposes (e.g. for mending clothes or breeding bees). The list of these words is given in the next lesson.

Have you reached your learning goals?

• You know how to read sz, rz, ż, cz, dż.
• You know the rule of voicing and the two exceptions.
• You know what consonants may assimilate.
• You can make plural forms of the new substantives.
• You know what changes take place when you add the -i and -y endings to stems with final k, g.
• You remember which substantives ending in a consonant are feminine an you know their plural forms.
• You can make all 5 forms of each adjective.
• You can use the numeral jeden properly.
• You can say “good morning” and “good-bye” in Polish in various situations.
• You can read the following new Polish words and you know what they mean: Afganistan, ażio, bagaż, bezsilny, bicz, bierz, boży, brzuch, budżet, burza, Chicago, chytry, ciecz, czapka, czas, czczy, czerwiec, cześć, Czirokez, cztery, czwarty, czy, dajesz, dasz, deszcz, dni, do widzenia, dobranoc, dobry, drożdże, drugi, drzewo, dużo, duży, dzieci, dziecko, dzień, dżdżownica, dżem, dżin, garaż, glediczia, gorzki, grosz, Grzegorz, Grzesiek, iglicznia, jeździec, jeż, kaczka, kaczor, klacz, klucz, kosz, koszula, krótki, krzew, krzyż, liczba, lodżia, łóżko, Łukasz, łyszczec, Małgorzata, marzec, mecz, mierzić, morze, może, mózg, móżdżek, mysz, myszy, nasz, nazwa, nietoperz, noc, nosorożec, nóżka, oczko, oczy, oko, olcha, olsza, orzeł, paczka, patrzcie, pełny, pierwszy, piesiec, plaża, Polak, Polka, Polska, polski, pomarańcza, pryszcz, przedszkole, pusty, ranek, rano, róża, rzecz, rzeczy, sika, skaczcie, styczeń, szafa, szafka, szal, szalik, szczelinowy, szczur, sześć, szin, szyja, szyna, także, też, Tomasz, trzeci, trzy, Urszula, uszko, uszy, wasz, wieczory, wieczór, wieprz, wieża, wkrótce, wnuczka, wrzesień, zamarza, złoty, żigolak, żubr.

Please repeat the material until you are sure you can do all what you should.