The Polish alphabet

Polish has used the Latin alphabet since the Middle Ages. But it had to be adopted because of its rich inventory of sounds. About 45 phonemes had to be represented by 24-26 letters. At that time, letter combinations like sz and diacritic marks like ą were created.

It is said that Polish pronunciation is difficult, but it is not true 😉 Polish consonant system is similarly difficult as German or English, and vowels are even simpler. Moreover, Polish is homogenous and there is no big difference between pronunciation of educated people from different regions.

Polish has many international words for example: komputer, uniwersytet, hotel, jeans. You will find more about internationalisms in the next post, because now I want to present you polski alfabet, which is obviously the Polish Alphabet.

Letter	IPA	Example	Meaning	Comment
A a	a	start	start	like English a in father
Ą ą	ɔ̃	są	they are	sounds similar to the vowel in French bon
B b	b	banan	banana	like English b in boy
C c	ʦ̑	centrum	centre	like English ts in bats
Ć ć	tɕ͡	być	to be	sounds similar to ch in English cheap, but softer
D d	d	dom	house	like English d in dog
E e	ɛ	telefon	telephone	like English e in met
Ę ę	ɛ̃	język	language	sounds similar to the vowel in French vin
F f	f	faks	fax	like English f in fax
G g	g	gala	gala	like English g in gala
H h	x	hotel	hotel	sounds similar to ch in English loch
I i	i	imię	name	like English ee in see
J j	j	jacht	yacht	like English y in yacht
K k	k	kot	cat	like English k in kite
L l	l	lekcja	lesson	like English l in last
Ł ł	w	łazienka	bathroom	sounds similar to w in English wine
M m	m	moment	moment	like English m in moment
N n	n	numer	number	like English n in number
Ń ń	ɲ	koń	horse	like English n in new or cognac
O o	ɔ	organizacja	organisation	like English o in order
Ó ó	u	ósmy	eighth	like English oo in pool
P p	p	plan	plan	like English p in plan
R r	r	rano	morning	like English r in red
S s	s	system	system	like English s in system
Ś ś	ɕ	środa	Wednesday	sounds similar to sh in English sheep, but softer
T t	t	tekst	text	sounds similar to t in English text, but without aspiration
U u	u	ulica	street	the same sound as ó, like English oo in pool
W w	v	woda	water	like English v in van
Y y	ɨ	syn	son	sounds similar to i in bit
Z z	z	zebra	zebra	like English z in zebra
Ź ź	ʑ	źle	badly	sounds similar to s in English Asia, but softer
Ż ż	ʒ	żona	wife	sounds similar to s in vision
Letter combinations
ch	x	chleb	bread	the same sound as h, sounds similar to ch in English loch
ci	tɕ͡	ciasto	cake	the same sound as ć, sounds similar to ch in English cheap, but softer
cz	ʧ̑	czas	time	sounds similar to ch in English chop, but harder
dz	ʣ̑	dzwon	bell	sounds similar to ds in English breads
dzi	d͡ʑ	dziecko	child	sounds similar to j in English jeans, but softer
dź	d͡ʑ	dźwięk	sound	the same sound as dzi, sounds similar to j in English jeans, but softer
dż	ʤ̑	dżentelmen	gentleman	sounds similar to g in English gentleman
ni	ɲ	nie	no	the same sound as ń, like English n in new
rz	ʒ	rzecz	thing	the same sound as ż, sounds similar to s in vision
si	ɕ	siostra	sister	the same sound as ś, sounds similar to sh in English sheep but softer
sz	∫	szafa	wardrobe	sounds similar to sh in English shop, but harder
zi	ʑ	zima	winter	the same sound as ź, sounds similar to s in English Asia, but softer