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| Remarks | Examples | Pronunciation | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| A voiceless become voiced before a voiced. | prośba | /proźba/ | request |
| This process does not occur before semivowels, sonants, “rz”, “w”. | misja | /misja/ | mission |
| masło | /maswo/ | butter | |
| intro | /intro/ | intro (to a game) | |
| butla | /butla/ | demijohn, big bottle | |
| ketmia | /ketmja/ | ketmia, hibiscus | |
| setny | /setny/ | hundredth | |
| przetnie | /pšetńe/ | he will cut (across) | |
| bitwa | /bitfa/ | battle | |
| Voiced spirants, affricates and stops become voiceless word-finally and before a voiceless – see in further pages. | |||
| Sonants and /w/ can become voiceless when word-finally after a voiceless, initially before a voiceless, or between two voiceless consonants. The other semivowels never occur in these positions. | piekł | /p′ekw̭/ | he was baking |
| łkać | /w̭kać/ | sob | |
| płcie | /pw̭će/ | sexes | |
| wiatr | /v′atr̭/ | wind | |
| rtęć | /r̭teńć/ | mercury, quicksilver | |
| krtań | /kr̭tań/ | larynx | |
| myśl | /myśḽ/ | thought, idea | |
| lśnić | /ḽśńić/ | sparkle, shine | |
| plwocina | /pḽfoćina/ | sputum, spittle | |
| rytm | /rytm̭/ | rhythm | |
| mknąć | /m̭knońć/ | speed, rush | |
| kosmki | /kosm̭ḱi/ | villi (in intestines) | |
| hafn | /xafṋ/ | hafnium | |
| piosnka | /p′osṋka/ | light music song | |
| pieśń | /p′eśṋ́/ | song, lilt | |
| There is no aspiration in Polish at all. It means that the voiceless stops and affricates have no aspiration (unlike in English). Also the letter “h” means the spirant /x/, not the aspiration. | |||
| The cluster “rz” means /ž/ (when assimilated, also /š/). But the pronunciation is /rz/ or /rź/ in several words. | marznąć | /marznońć/ | freeze; be frozen |
| mierzić | /m′erźić/ | disgust; pall | |
| The clusters “dz”, “dź”, “dż” means affricates, but in some words they denote two sounds. See affricates. | |||
| When the prefix ends in “s”, “z” or “d”, it assimilates to the following dental, alveolar or postdental consonant. See spirants and affricates. | |||
| Groups of /t, d/ plus /s, z, š, ž, ś, ź/ never identify with /c, ʒ, č, ǯ, ć, ʒ́/. The stops /t, d/ become affricates in these positions (in very slow speaking they may remain stops). See affricates. | |||
| When the prefix ends in a consonant and the main word begins from a vowel, there is no strict link between them. It means there is no palatalization for example. See vowels and semivowels: /i, j/. | |||
| Examples for palatalization – see vowels and semivowels: /i, ′, j/. |
2009-02-04