Polish :: The Alphabet kingary.net
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Since I've been sharing a few of the joys of Polish, I thought perhaps I'd start with the basics. That way, when you non-Poles encounter a word with a mouthful of consonants in my ramblings, you'll have a vague idea as to the pronunciation.

a "farm" pronounced with a British accent
ą a nasal vowel, similar to "ouch!" without the final "ch"
b same as English
c "ts," as in "cats"
ć soft "ch" sound
d same as English
e same as English
ę vaguely similar to "en", as in "ten"
f same as English
g same as my name
h peaty, Scottish pronunciation of "loch"
i long "e" as in "feet"
j same as English
k same as English
l same as English
ł same as English "w"
m same as English
n same as English
ń same as English with a slight "i" sound, as in "fit"
o same as English
ó similar to the vowel sound in "you"
p same as English
r same as English, though rolled
s same as English
ś similar to "sh" with a slight "i" sound as "she"
t same as English
u same as vowel sound in "you"
w same as English "v"
y same as English
z same as English
ź similar to "ż", though I can't really tell the difference
ż same as English sound "si" as in "vision"

In addition, there are some clusters that appear with some frequency.

cz a hard "ch" sound
ci similar (or even identical) to "ć"
rz similar (or even identical) to "ż"
zi similar (or even identical) to "ż"
szcz like "fresh cheese."
sz a hard "sz" sound
si similar (or even identical) to "ś"
ch similar (or even identical) to the Polish "h"
prz not even going to try with this one . . .
ść similar to "szcz" but with significantly less spittle

But what would a language lesson be without some kind of exercises? Don't try to pronounce these words with anyone in, say, a ten-foot radius, though.

uwzględnić take into consideration
chrząszcz beetle
powstrzymania repression, suppression
czcić adore; worship
przeciwległy opposite
brzemieć sound, ring
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