Bits of Polish

Or, the most intimidating part of the Polish sound system. Seriously, even writing about them – and I’ve been able to pronounce them for years, so I pretty much take them for granted – feels intimidating.

So let’s all face them and get intimidated.

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CH – chodnik, chemia
pavement, chemistry

In modern standard Polish, ch is pronounced identically to h. It obviously makes the pronunciation aspect easier while messing up the simplicity of the spelling at the same time… For most Polish schoolkids, learning when to use ch and h is a painful process involving hours of writing mind-bogglingly boring dictations. The same goes for rz and ż, and for u and ó.

CZ – czas, czerwony
time, red

This sound is pronounced similarly to the English ch in chalk. It’s not exactly the same sound, though, and you should try not to confuse it with ć, which sounds softer.

DZ – dzwon, dzban
bell, jug

This is a voiced variant of c. The letters this digraph comprises give a clue as to how it’s pronounced: as an affricate (a plosive and a fricative in rapid succession) of /d/ and /z/. Take an English word with these sounds – for example sounds – and focus on the final consonants. Try to pronounce them one after the other very quickly, so that they no longer sound as /d/ and /z/ but rather as one sound.

DŹ – dźwięk, dźwig
sound, crane (machine)

This is a voiced variant of ć. Try not to confuse it with ć or dż!

DŻ – dżem, dżdżownica
jam, earthworm

This is a voiced variant of cz. It sounds more or less like the English j in Joe.

RZ – rzecz, rząd
thing, row

You pronounce it identically to ż – practically the same as the s in leisure or pleasure.

SZ – szary, szpilka
gray, pin

This is a voiceless variant of rz or ż. It’s easily confusable with ś.