Key:Polish pronunciation respelling

As can be expected in an English-language blog about the history of mostly Polish cuisine, it does mention a fair number of Polish words and names. The Polish language is notoriously tricky for native English speakers to pronounce, which is why I provide pronunciation respelling for some of the Polish words.

The scheme I use is a kind of compromise: it's as close to actual Polish pronunciation as you can get using only those sounds that exist in English. In some cases, two sounds that are distinct to Polish speakers, are approximated by the same English sound. The goal here isn't to make you sound like a native Polish speaker; it's just to help you not butcher Polish words beyond recognition.

The respelling scheme I use is meant to be as intuitive to English speakers as possible, but here's an explanation of the symbols anyway.

Vowels

All Polish vowels, stressed or not, are of uniform length, with no long vowels, diphthongs or schwas. Some of them sound similar to long vowels in English, but are pronounced shorter.

Respelling	English sound	How it's typically written in Polish
ah	as in balm, only shorter	a
aw	as in bought, only shorter	o
e, eh	as in bet	e
ee	as in beet, only shorter	i
i, ih	as in bit	y
oo	as in boot, only shorter	ó, u

Consonants

Most Polish consonants are quite easy to pronounce on their own. The problem is that they tend to cluster in ways in which they don't in English. It may help to insert very short uh sounds in between the consonants, but ideally, they shouldn't be there.

Respelling	English sound	How it's typically written in Polish
b	as in bob	b
ch, tch	as in church	cz; ci, ć
d	as in dad	d
dz	as in dads	dz
f	as in foe	f
g, gh	as in gag	g
H	as in how Scots pronounce loch; if you can't pronounce it, then the h in how is close enough	ch, h
j	as in judge	dż; dzi, dź
k	as in skunk	k
l	as in lolly	l
m	as in mom	m
n	as in nun	n; ń
p	as in spy	p
R	as in how Americans pronounce better or how Scots pronounce sorry	r
s, ss	as in sauce	s
sh	as in shush	sz; si, ś
t	as stay	t
ts	as in dots	c
v	as in vie	w
W	as in wow	ł, u
y	as in yeah	i, j
z	as in zoo	z
zh	as in measure	rz, ż; zi, ź

Syllables and stress

Syllables are separated with dots (·). The stressed syllable (virtually always the last but one in a word) is underlined.

Examples

See if it gets any easier. If you want to listen to how these example should be pronounced, then click here and then on the speaker button on the right.

• baba czekoladowa (chocolate Bundt cake)
  • pronounced: bah·bah  cheh·kaw·lah·daw·vah
• groch z kapustą (cabbage with peas)
  • pronounced: gRawH  skah·pooss·tawm
• ciasto rabarbarowe (rhubarb cake)
  • pronounced: chahss·taw  Rah·bahR·bah·Raw·veh
• piwo z sokiem malinowym (beer with raspberry syrup)
  • pronounced: pee·vawss  saw·kyem  mah·lee·naw·vim
• wódka żołądkowa gorzka (bitter herbal vodka)
  • pronounced: voot·kah  zhaw·Wawnt·kaw·vah  gawsh·kah
• świąteczny barszcz z uszkami (Christmas borscht with small dumplings)
  • pronounced: shfyawn·tetch·nih  baRshch  zoosh·kah·mee
• chleb pszenno-żytni (wheat-and-rye bread)
  • pronounced: Hlep  pshen·naw·zhit·nee
• ćwikła z chrzanem (beet-and-horseradish relish)
  • pronounced: chfee·kWahss  H sh ah·nem
• źdźbło żubrówki (a blade of bison grass)
  • pronounced: zh j b W aw  zhoob·Roof·kee

And finally, the best-known Polish tongue twister:

• W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie (In [the town of] Szczebrzeszyn, a beetle is buzzing in the reed)
  • pronounced: f sh ch eh·b zh eh·shih·nyeh  H sh awn sh ch  b zh mee  f t sh ch ee·nyeh