Polish Grammar: Sadowska Languages

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Polish Alphabet
Letter	International Phonetic Alphabet	American English Approximation	American English Example	Polish Example
Aa	a	ah	as in father	fala (wave)
Ąą	ɔ^w̃	on	(nasalized vowel) as in the French word bon	są (they are)
Bb	b	b	as in boy	banan (banana)
Cc	ts͡	ts	as in bats or as in notes	noc (night)
Ćć	tɕ͡	ch	soft/palatalized (tongue against roof of mouth), as in cheer	robić (to do)
Dd	d	d	as in dog	dobry (good)
Ee	ɛ	eh	as in met	tekst (text)
Ęę	ɛ^w̃	en	(nasalized vowel) as in the French word fin; when "ę" is the final letter of a word it tends to be pronounced like "e"	język (language)
Ff	f	f	as in fun	fajka (pipe)
Gg	g	g	as in good	góra (mountain)
Hh	x	kh	as in the Scottish word loch (same pronunciation as "ch")	handel (commerce)
Ii	i	ee	as in see	lis (fox)
Jj	j	y	as in yes	jutro (tomorrow)
Kk	k	k	as in kite	królik (rabbit)
Ll	l	l	as in last	lampa (lamp)
Łł	w	w	pronounced approximately like the English letter "w"	mały (small)
Mm	m	m	as in may	mapa (map)
Nn	n	n	as in no	noc (night)
Ńń	ɲ	ni	as in onion	koń (horse)
Oo	ɔ	o	as in no	noga (leg)
Óó	u	oo	as in cool (same pronunciation as "u")	ósmy (eighth)
Pp	p	p	as in pan	praca (work)
Qq	k	q	only in foreign words, as in status quo	Quo vadis? (a novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz)
Rr	r	r	as in room	rano (morning)
Ss	s	s	as in sit	sobota (Saturday)
Śś	ɕ	sh	soft/palatalized (tongue against roof of mouth), as in sheet	środa (Wednesday)
Tt	t	t	as in tap	tam (there)
Uu	u	oo	as in cool (same pronunciation as "ó")	ulica (street)
Vv	v	v	only in foreign words, as in via	via (via)
Ww	v	v	as in van	wino (wine)
Xx	ks͡	x	only in foreign words, as in Pax Romana	Pax Romana
Yy	ɨ	ih	as in whim	syn (son)
Zz	z	z	as in zoo	zupa (soup)
Źź	ʑ	zh	soft/palatalized (tongue against roof of mouth), as in Indonesia	późno (late)
Żż	ʐ	zh	hard/unpalatalized, as in measure	życie (life)

Other Letter Combinations
Letters	International Phonetic Alphabet	American English Approximation	American English Example	Polish Example
ch	x	kh	as in the Scottish word loch (same pronunciation as "h")	chleb (bread)
ci	tɕ͡ or tɕ͡i	ch	soft/palatalized (tongue against roof of mouth), as in cheer	ciało (body)
cz	tʂ͡	ch	hard/unpalatalized, as in chair	czas (time)
dz	dz͡	dz	as in pads	dzwon (bell)
dzi	dʑ͡ or dʑ͡i	j	soft/palatalized, as in jeans (same pronunciation as "dź")	dziecko (child)
dź	dʑ͡	j	soft/palatalized, as in jeans (same pronunciation as "dzi")	dźwięk (sound)
dż	dʐ͡	j	hard/unpalatalized, as in jam (mainly found in words of foreign origin)	dżem (jam)
ni	ɲ or ɲi	ni	as in onion (same pronunciation as "ń")	niebo (sky)
rz	ʐ	zh	hard/unpalatalized, as in measure (same pronunciation as "ż"); note: on rare occasion the "r" and "z" are pronounced separately (marznąć - to freeze)	morze (sea)
si	ɕ or ɕi	sh	soft/palatalized (tongue against roof of mouth), as in sheet (same pronunciation as "ś")	siedem (seven)
sz	ʂ	sh	hard/unpalatalized, as in show	szynka (ham)
zi	ʑ or ʑi	zh	soft/palatalized (tongue against roof of mouth), as in Indonesia (same pronunciation as "ź")	zielony (green)