{"id":777,"date":"2010-05-06T01:38:21","date_gmt":"2010-05-06T01:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=777"},"modified":"2010-05-10T03:09:36","modified_gmt":"2010-05-10T03:09:36","slug":"the-polish-alphabet-alfabet-polski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/the-polish-alphabet-alfabet-polski\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to Basics – The Polish Alphabet (Alfabet Polski)"},"content":{"rendered":"

So today, I think I am going to put a little musical spin on my post. Most of you probably have seen the movie, The Sound of Music<\/em>. Pretend I am using my best Maria voice (You don’t want to hear me sing live — trust me!)…<\/p>\n

“Let’s start at the very beginning
\nA very good place to start
\nWhen you read you begin with A-B-C…”<\/p>\n

That’s right, it’s time to get our alphabet on. The Polish alphabet, alfabet polski<\/strong>, has a total of 32 letters. Broken down, there are 23 consonants (sp\u00f3\u0142g\u0142osek<\/strong>) and nine vowels (samog\u0142osek<\/strong>). The alphabet also includes seven digraphs (dwuznaki<\/strong>), (ch<\/strong>, cz<\/strong>, dz<\/strong>, d\u017a<\/strong>, d\u017c<\/strong>, rz<\/strong>, sz<\/strong>), which I will cover in a separate alphabet lesson in the future.<\/p>\n

For this post, I am going to cover the letters and their pronunciation below. The pronunciation is the letter or letters underlined after the “sounds like”. Also, I found a site that does a good job with providing audible pronunciation, so if you would like to hear all these, you can listen to them here:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.polish-translators.com\/wymowa.html<\/a><\/p>\n

A<\/strong> sounds like ta<\/span>da<\/span>
\n\u0104<\/strong> sounds like son<\/span>g (exception is sounds like bom<\/span>b before the letters ‘b’ or ‘p’ – a nasal vowel)
\nB<\/strong> sounds like b<\/span>all
\nC<\/strong> sounds like Fitz<\/span>
\n\u0106<\/strong> sounds like ch<\/span>ild
\nD<\/strong> sounds like d<\/span>og
\nE<\/strong> sounds like be<\/span>t
\n\u0118<\/strong> sounds like ben<\/span>d (exception is sounds like phlegm<\/span> before the letters ‘b’ or ‘p’ – a nasal vowel)
\nF<\/strong> sounds like f<\/span>an
\nG<\/strong> sounds like g<\/span>ame
\nH<\/strong> sounds like Loch<\/span> Ness Monster
\nI<\/strong> sounds like bee<\/span>
\nJ<\/strong> sounds like y<\/span>ell
\nK<\/strong> sounds like k<\/span>iss
\nL<\/strong> sounds like l<\/span>ips
\n\u0141<\/strong> sounds like w<\/span>ish
\nM<\/strong> sounds like m<\/span>other
\nN<\/strong> sounds like n<\/span>et
\n\u0143<\/strong> sounds like onio<\/span>n (essentially a ny pronunciation)
\nO<\/strong> sounds like do<\/span>t
\n\u00d3 <\/strong>sounds like bu<\/span>sh
\nP<\/strong> sounds like p<\/span>eanut
\nR<\/strong> sounds like r<\/span>ed
\nS<\/strong> sounds like s<\/span>ee
\n\u015a<\/strong> sounds like sh<\/span>op
\nT<\/strong> sounds like t<\/span>ag
\nU<\/strong> sounds like too<\/span>l
\nW<\/strong> sounds like v<\/span>an
\nY<\/strong> sounds like ti<\/span>p
\nZ<\/strong> sounds like z<\/span>oo
\n\u0179<\/strong> sounds like <\/strong>Zs<\/span>a Zs<\/span>a Gabor
\n\u017b<\/strong> sounds like treas<\/span>ure<\/p>\n

So, I don’t circle my sons around me like Maria does the von Trapp children, play my guitar or sing the letters for the boys. But I really wish I could. Seriously. I wish I could sing and play the guitar. But I know songs and music are wonderful tools in helping learn a language. And, in some of my earlier memories of watching cartoons (bajki<\/strong>) in Poland, I remember hearing a song that went through the alphabet. Sadly, the only parts of the song that I remembered were the first line, “Abecad\u0142o z Nieba spad\u0142o…<\/strong>” and then part of the refrain, “mama tata, mama tata<\/strong>“. Years ago, this would have been difficult to find if you didn’t know a Pole who was familiar with it. However, thanks to the power of Google, those phrases are enough for me to have found the song. I found the song at [ www.sluchaj.to<\/a> ], which offered a free download. I have played it for my boys in our “lessons”, and it gives me great pleasure to share it with you all. Here is the song:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/sluchaj.to\/mp3\/Abecad\u0142o_z_Nieba_spad\u0142o_Arka_Noego\/1-fayolka-1PbdXnChpD8<\/a><\/p>\n

I am also including the lyrics (tekst piosenki<\/strong>) in case you want to sing along:<\/p>\n

1. Abecad\u0142o z Nieba spad\u0142o
\nabecad\u0142o z Nieba spad\u0142o
\nA-jak Abracham
\nB-jak B\u00f3g
\nC-jak cuda
\ni d-jak duch
\nE-jak Ewangelia
\nF-to Fiat
\nG-jak grzech
\ni historia na H<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ref.:<\/strong>
\nabecad\u0142o z Nieba spad\u0142o
\ni s\u0142owa dwa: mama, tata, mama, tata<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.Abecadlo z Nieba spad\u0142o<\/strong>
\nabecadlo z Nieba spad\u0142o
\nI-to idziemy
\nJ-jak Jezus
\nK-jak Kr\u00f3l
\ni L-jak lew
\n\u0141-to \u0142aska
\nM-mama
\nN-jak Niebo
\ni opoka na O<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ref.:<\/strong>
\nAbecad\u0142o z Nieba spad\u0142o
\ni s\u0142owa dwa: mama, tata, mama, tata
\ni s\u0142owa dwa:mama, tata, mama, tata.<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>
\nAbecad\u0142o z Nieba spad\u0142o
\nabecad\u0142o z Nieba spad\u0142o
\nP-jak Piotr
\nR-jak rado\u015b\u0107
\nS-jak s\u0142owo
\ni T-jak tata
\nU-jak u\u015bmiech
\nW-jak wiara
\nXYZ-ko\u0144czy alfabet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ref.:<\/strong>
\nabecad\u0142o z Nieba spad\u0142o
\ni s\u0142owa dwa: mama, tata, mama, tata.
\nAbecad\u0142o z Nibea spad\u0142o
\ni s\u0142owa dwa: mama, tata, mama, tata
\ni s\u0142owa dwa: mama, tata, mama, tata<\/strong><\/p>\n

That’s all for now for the alphabet. As my oldest son would say, “that’s enough talking Polska for today”. Obviously, we haven’t gotten to too many grammar lessons yet. In good time, w odpowiednim czasie<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Do nast\u0119pnego czytania\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So today, I think I am going to put a little musical spin on my post. Most of you probably have seen the movie, The Sound of Music. Pretend I am using my best Maria voice (You don’t want to hear me sing live — trust me!)… “Let’s start at the very beginning A very…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-777","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t