The charts below show the way in which theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Polish pronunciations in Wiktionary entries.
Allvoicedobstruents/b, d, ɡ, v, z, ʐ, ʑ, dʐ, dʑ/ are devoiced (so/d/ becomes/t/, etc.)at the ends of words andin clusters ending in any unvoiced obstruents/p, t, k, f, s, x, ʂ, ɕ, tʂ, tɕ/. The voiceless obstruents are voiced (/x/ becoming[ɣ], etc.) in clusters ending in any voiced obstruent except/v/, and/ʐ/ (when spelled with ⟨rz⟩), which are themselves devoiced in this case.
| Consonants |
|---|
| IPA | Polish | Example | English approximation |
|---|
| b | b | bardzo | bike | | ɕ | ś, s(i)[1] | Jaś | she | | d | d | dawno | door | | d͡z[2] | dz | dzban | beds | | d͡ʑ[2] | dź, dz(i)[1] | dziadek | jeep[3] | | d͡ʐ[2] | dż | Dżakarta | jug[3] | | f | f | foka | feist | | ɡ | g | grać | girl | | j | j, i[1] | jak | yes | | k | k | krowa | scam | | l | l | lampa | lilt | | ɫ(Middle Polish) | ł | łapać | lion | | m | m | morze | mile | | n | n | nad | Nile | | ɲ | ń, n(i)[1] | nie | canyon | | p | p | policja | spike | | r | r | różowy | (General American), withflapping: atom | | r̝(Middle Polish) | rz | przyglądać | Ryukyu | | s | s | smak | sign | | ʂ | sz | szybko | shore[3] | | t | t | tak | stow | | t͡ɕ[2] | ć, c(i)[1] | cierpki | cheer[3] | | t͡s[2] | c | całkiem | cats | | t͡ʂ[2] | cz | czy | child[3] | | v | w | wartość | vile | | w | ł | ładny | way | | w̃ | ą, ę[4] | kęs | long | | x | ch, h | chleb | hello | | z | z | zebra | zebra | | ʑ | ź, z(i)[1] | ziarno | vision, azure[3] | | ʐ | ż, rz | rzadko |
| | Other symbols used for Polish |
|---|
| IPA | Explanation |
|---|
| ˈ | Primary stress (placed before the stressed syllable), usually the penultimate syllable of a word. | | ˌ | Secondary stress (placed before the stressed syllable). | | . | Syllable break. |
|
- ↑1.01.11.21.31.41.51.6The letter ⟨i⟩, when followed by a vowel, represents a pronunciation like a ⟨j⟩ or a "soft" pronunciation of the preceding consonant (sopies is pronounced as if it were spelt ⟨pjes⟩). It has the same effect as anacute accent on an alvoelar consonant (⟨s⟩, ⟨z⟩, ⟨c⟩, ⟨dz⟩, ⟨n⟩). Thus,się,cios andniania are pronounced as if they were spelled ⟨śę⟩, ⟨ćos⟩, ⟨ńańa⟩. A following ⟨i⟩ also softens consonants if it is pronounced as a vowel. Thus,zima,ci anddzisiaj are pronounced as if if they were spelled ⟨źima⟩, ⟨ći⟩, ⟨dźiśaj⟩.
- ↑2.02.12.22.32.42.5Polish contrastsaffricates/t͡s, d͡z, t͡ɕ, d͡ʑ, t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ/ with stop–fricative clusters: for example,czysta[ˈt͡ʂɨs.ta], "clean", versustrzysta[ˈtʂɨs.ta], "three hundred".
- ↑3.03.13.23.33.43.5 Polish makes contrasts betweenretroflex andalveolo-palatal consonants, both of which sound similar to the English postalveolars/ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ/ The retroflex sounds are pronounced "hard" with the front of the tongue raised, and the alveolo-palatal sounds are "soft" with the middle of the tongue raised, adding a bit of an "ee" sound to them.
- ^ The lettersą andę are used to represent/ɔw̃/ and/ɛw̃/ before/s, z, ʂ, ʐ, x/, and, in case ofą, word-finally.
