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 written in Polish
ah	as in palm, 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

Respelling	English sound	How it's 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 Scots loch; if you can't pronounce it, then the h in hoe is also close	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 better, especially in American English	r
s, ss	as in sauce	s
sh	as in shush	sz; si, ś
t	as stay	t
ts	as in tots	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 pleasure	rz, ż; zi, ź

Syllables and stress

Syllables are separated with dots (·). Stressed syllables are underlined.

Examples

See if it gets any easier.

• groch z kapustą (cabbage with peas)
  • pronounced: gRawH  skah·pooss·tawm
• 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·kWah  s 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