View source for Help:IPA/Polish

{{IPA key|H:IPA-PL|H:IPAP|H:IPAPL}}

The charts below show the way in which the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA) represents [[Polish language]] pronunciations in [[Wikipedia]] articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{tl|IPA}}, {{tl|IPAc-pl}}, and {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation#Entering IPA characters}}.

See [[Polish phonology]] for a more thorough look at the sounds of Polish.

{{horizontal TOC|nonum=yes}}

{| style="background: none"
|-----
| style="vertical-align:top;" |
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em; text-align: center;"
! colspan=4| [[Consonant]]s<ref>All [[voice (phonetics)|voiced]] [[obstruent]]s {{nowrap|{{IPA|/b, d, ɡ, v, z, ʐ, ʑ, d͡ʐ, d͡ʑ/}}}} are [[Final obstruent devoicing|devoiced]] to {{IPA|[p, t, k, f, s, ʂ, ɕ, t͡ʂ, t͡ɕ]}} respectively at the ends of words and in clusters ending in any unvoiced obstruents. Voiceless obstruents are voiced ({{IPA|/x/}} becoming {{IPAblink|ɣ}}, etc.) in clusters ending in any voiced obstruent except {{IPA|/v/}} and {{IPA|/ʐ/}} (when spelled with ''rz''), which are then themselves devoiced.</ref>
|-
! [[Help:IPA|IPA]] !! [[Polish alphabet|Polish]]!! Example !! English approximation
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|b}}</big>
| b
| {{audio|pl-bardzo.ogg|'''b'''ardzo|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''b'''ike
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɕ}}</big>
| ś, s(i)<ref name="soften"/>
| {{audio|pl-Jaś.ogg|Ja'''ś'''|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''sh'''e
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|d̪|d}}</big>
| d
| {{audio|pl-dawno.ogg|'''d'''awno|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''d'''oor
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|d͡z}}</big><ref name="affricate"/>
| dz
| {{audio|pl-dzban.ogg|'''dz'''ban|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |be'''ds'''
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|d͡ʑ}}</big><ref name="affricate"/>
| dź, dz(i)<ref name="soften"/>
| {{audio|pl-dziadek.ogg|'''dzi'''adek|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''j'''eep<ref name="postalveolar"/>
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|d͡ʐ}}</big><ref name="affricate"/>
| dż
| {{audio|pl-Dżakarta.ogg|'''Dż'''akarta|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''j'''ug<ref name="postalveolar"/>
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|f}}</big>
| f
| {{audio|pl-foka.ogg|'''f'''oka|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''f'''eist
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɡ}}</big>
| g
| {{audio|pl-grać.ogg|'''g'''rać|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''g'''irl
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɡ˖|ɡʲ}}</big>
| g(i)<ref name="soften"/>
| {{audio|pl-Giewont.ogg|'''Gi'''ewont|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |ar'''g'''ue
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɣ}}</big>
| ch, h
| {{audio|LL-Q809 (pol)-Olaf-klechda.wav|kle'''ch'''da|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |''Spanish'' ami'''g'''o
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|j}}</big>
| j, i<ref name="soften"/>
| {{audio|pl-jak.ogg|'''j'''ak|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''y'''es
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|j̃}}</big><ref>Allophone of {{IPA|/ɲ/}} before [[Fricative consonant|fricatives]].</ref>
| ń
| {{audio|LL-Q809 (pol)-Olaf-Gdańsk.wav|Gda'''ń'''sk|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |po'''i'''nt
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|k}}</big>
| k
| {{audio|pl-krowa.ogg|'''k'''rowa|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |s'''c'''am
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|k̟|kʲ}}</big>
| k(i)<ref name="soften"/>
| {{audio|pl-kierowca.ogg|'''ki'''erowca|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |s'''k'''ew
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|l}}</big>
| l
| {{audio|pl-lampa.ogg|'''l'''ampa|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''l'''ion
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|m}}</big>
| m<ref name="nasalvowel"/>
| {{audio|pl-morze.ogg|'''m'''orze|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''m'''ile
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|n̪|n}}</big>
| n<ref name="nasalvowel"/>
| {{audio|pl-nad.ogg|'''n'''ad|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''N'''ile
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɲ̟|ɲ}}</big>
| ń, n(i)<ref name="nasalvowel"/><ref name="soften"/>
| {{audio|pl-nie.ogg|'''ni'''e|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |ca'''ny'''on
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ŋ}}</big><ref>Allophone of {{IPA|/n/}} before a [[velar consonant|velar]] {{IPA|/ɡ, k, x/}} in some cases.</ref>
| n<ref name="nasalvowel"/>
| {{audio|pl-mango.ogg|ma'''n'''go|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |doi'''ng'''
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|p}}</big>
| p
| {{audio|pl-policja.ogg|'''p'''olicja|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |s'''p'''ike
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɾ|r}}</big>
| r
| {{audio|pl-różowy.ogg|'''r'''óżowy|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" | ''American English'' a'''t'''om
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|s̪|s}}</big>
| s
| {{audio|pl-smak.ogg|'''s'''mak|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''s'''ign
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ʂ}}</big>
| sz
| {{audio|pl-szybko.ogg|'''sz'''ybko|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''sh'''ore<ref name="postalveolar">Polish makes a distinction between [[Retroflex consonant|retroflex]] and [[Alveolo-palatal consonant|alveolo-palatal]] consonants, both of which sound roughly like the English postalveolars {{IPA|/ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/}}. The retroflex sounds are pronounced "hard", with the tip of the tongue approaching the [[alveolar ridge]] and the blade of the tongue somewhat lowered, and the alveolo-palatal sounds are "soft", realized with the middle of the tongue raised, adding a bit of an {{angbr|ee}} sound to them.</ref>
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|t̪|t}}</big>
| t
| {{audio|pl-tak.ogg|'''t'''ak|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |s'''t'''ow
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|t͡ɕ}}</big><ref name="affricate"/>
| ć, c(i)<ref name="soften">The letter {{angbr|i}}, when it is followed by a vowel, represents a pronunciation like a {{angbr|j}} or a "soft" pronunciation of the preceding consonant (so {{Lang|pl|pies}} is pronounced as if it were spelt *''pjes''). It has the same effect as an [[acute accent]] on alveolar consonants ({{angbr|s}}, {{angbr|z}}, {{angbr|c}}, {{angbr|dz}}, {{angbr|n}}) so {{Lang|pl|się}}, {{Lang|pl|cios}} and {{Lang|pl|niania}} are pronounced as if they were spelt *''śę'', *''ćos'', *''ńańa''. A following {{angbr|i}} also softens consonants when it is itself pronounced as a vowel: {{Lang|pl|zima}}, {{Lang|pl|ci}} and {{Lang|pl|dzisiaj}} are pronounced as if they were spelled *''źima'', *''ći'', *''dźiśaj''. The phonemes represented by {{angbr|(c)h}}, {{angbr|g}} and {{angbr|k}} are most often analyzed as soft (i.e. [[palatalization (phonetics)|palatalized]]) before {{angbr|i}} and {{angbr|ie}} and as hard (i.e. followed by a full {{IPA|[j]}}) before {{angbr|ia}}, {{angbr|io}}, {{angbr|iu}}.</ref>
| {{audio|pl-cierpki.ogg|'''ci'''erpki|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''ch'''eer<ref name="postalveolar"/>
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|t͡s}}</big><ref name="affricate"/>
| c
| {{audio|pl-całkiem.ogg|'''c'''ałkiem|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |ca'''ts'''
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|t͡ʂ}}</big>{{#tag:ref|Polish contrasts [[affricate]]s {{IPA|/t͡s, d͡z, t͡ɕ, d͡ʑ, t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ/}} with stop–fricative clusters: for example, {{wikt-lang|pl|czysta}} {{audio-IPA|Pl-czysta.ogg|[ˈt͡ʂɨsta]|help=no}} "clean" versus {{wikt-lang|pl|trzysta}} {{audio-IPA|Pl-trzysta.ogg|[ˈtʂɨsta]|help=no}} "three hundred".|name=affricate}}
| cz
| {{audio|pl-czy.ogg|'''cz'''y|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''ch'''ild<ref name="postalveolar"/>
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|v}}</big>
| w
| {{audio|pl-wartość.ogg|'''w'''artość|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''v'''ile
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|w}}</big>
| [[L with stroke|ł]]
| {{audio|pl-ładny.ogg|'''ł'''adny|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''w'''ay
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|x}}</big>
| ch, h
| {{audio|pl-chleb.ogg|'''ch'''leb|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |''[[Scottish English|Scottish]]'' lo'''ch'''
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|x̟|xʲ}}</big>
| ch(i), h(i)<ref name="soften"/>
| {{audio|pl-historia.ogg|'''h'''istoria|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |'''h'''uge
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|z̪|z}}</big>
| z
| {{audio|pl-zebra.ogg|'''z'''ebra|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" |rai'''s'''in
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ʑ}}</big>
| ź, z(i)<ref name="soften"/>
| {{audio|pl-ziarno.ogg|'''zi'''arno|help=no}}
|align=left rowspan=2|vi'''si'''on, a'''z'''ure<ref name="postalveolar"/>
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ʐ}}</big>
| ż, rz
| {{audio|pl-rzadko.ogg|'''rz'''adko|help=no}}
|}
| style="vertical-align:top;" |
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em; text-align: center;"
! colspan=4 | [[Vowel]]s
|-
! [[Help:IPA|IPA]] !! [[Polish alphabet|Polish]] !! Example !! English approximation
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ä|a}}</big>
| a
| {{audio|pl-tam.ogg|t'''a'''m|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" | f'''a'''ther
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɛ}}</big>
| e
| {{audio|pl-krem.ogg|kr'''e'''m|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" | b'''e'''t
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɛ̃}}</big>
| [[ę]]<ref name="nasalvowel"/>
| {{audio|LL-Q809_(pol)-Olaf-kęs.wav|k'''ę'''s|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" | ''French'' v'''in'''
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|i}}</big>
| i<ref name="soften"/>
| {{audio|pl-piwo.ogg|p'''i'''wo|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" | '''ea'''t
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɘ|ɨ}}</big>
| y
| {{audio|pl-my.ogg|m'''y'''|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" | m'''i'''ll
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɔ}}</big>
| o
| {{audio|pl-rok.ogg|r'''o'''k|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" | '''o'''ff
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|ɔ̃}}</big>
| [[ą]]<ref name="nasalvowel">The letters {{angbr|[[ą]]}} and {{angbr|[[ę]]}} represent the [[nasal vowel]]s {{IPA|/ɔ̃, ɛ̃/}} except when they are followed by a [[stop consonant|stop]] or [[affricate consonant|affricate]], in which case they represent oral vowels {{IPA|/ɔ, ɛ/}} followed by a [[nasal consonant]] [[homorganic]] with the following stop or affricate: {{Lang|pl|kąt}} {{IPA|[ˈkɔnt]}}, {{Lang|pl|gęba}} {{IPA|[ˈɡɛmba]}}, {{Lang|pl|ręka}} {{IPA|[ˈrɛŋka]}}, {{Lang|pl|piszący}} {{IPA|[piˈʂɔnt͡sɨ]}}, {{Lang|pl|pieniądze}} {{IPA|[pjɛˈɲɔnd͡zɛ]}}, {{Lang|pl|pięć}} {{IPA|[ˈpjɛɲt͡ɕ]}}, {{Lang|pl|jęczy}} {{IPA|[ˈjɛnt͡ʂɨ]}} (as if spelled *''kont'', *''gemba'', *''renka'', *''piszoncy'', *''pieńondze'', *''pieńć'', *''jenczy'').</ref>
| {{audio|pl-wąż.ogg|w'''ą'''ż|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" | croiss'''an'''t
|-
| <big>{{IPA link|u}}</big>
| u, [[ó]]
| {{audio|pl-duży.ogg|d'''u'''ży|help=no}}
| style="text-align:left;" | p'''oo'''l
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em; text-align: center;"
! colspan=3 | Other symbols used for Polish
|-
! IPA !! Explanation
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |<big>{{IPA link|ˈ}}</big>
| Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable), usually the penultimate syllable of a word.
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |<big>{{IPA link|ˌ}}</big>
| Secondary stress (placed before the stressed syllable).
|-
| style="text-align:center;" |<big>{{IPA link|.}}</big>
| Syllable break.
|}
|}

==See also==
*{{clc|Pages with Polish IPA|pages}}

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite journal |last=Jassem |first=Wiktor |title=Polish |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/8CDD2C699493A69A40A5E7D923629574/S0025100303001191a.pdf/polish.pdf |journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association |year=2003 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=103–107 |doi=10.1017/S0025100303001191 }}
* {{Cite book| last=Sadowska| first=Iwona| title= Polish: A Comprehensive Grammar| year=2012| publisher=[[Routledge]]| location=Oxford; New York |isbn=978-0-415-47541-9}}

== External links ==
* {{Wikibooks-inline|Polish/Polish pronunciation}}

{{IPA keys}}
{{Polish language}}