Round 2: The Polish Alphabet – Digraphs (Dwuznaki)
Posted by: Katarzyna
A, B, C. Easy as 1, 2, 3. Simple as do, re, me…
Well, maybe not as simple as do re mi. The Polish language is a beautiful language, but it is a very difficult one to learn and, ultimately, understand. Though I was born of two Polish native-speakers, with Polish as my first language, I can honestly say I have struggled to learn some of the intricacies of the language over the years. But, at the same time, it’s what truly makes the Polish so unique and a real pleasure to know.
So on with it. I covered the letters and their pronunciation last blog. In that post, I also referred to a group of letter combinations that represent a single sound. These are called digraphs, or dwuznaki. The fun part of these dwuznaki is that they usually make a sound that completely differs from the sound of the individual letters that form that digraph.
In Polish, there are seven digraphs. Here they are listed with their pronunciation.
ch sounds like h as in happy
cz sounds like ch as in chat
dz sounds like dz in Dads
dź sounds like j in jeans
dż sounds like dzh in adjective
rz sounds like zh in treasure
sz sounds like sh in shape
For the dż pronunciation, the word adjective is the closest English word I could find that most closely replicated the Polish sound.
So, what is interesting about these digraphs is that there are some exceptions. For example, the rz combo makes the zh sound like in treasure MOST of the time. However, there are some instances where the r and z letters are pronounced individually and not like a digraph. The sound that they make then is like in the word Tarzan.
Some of these digraphs have other digraphs that mimic their sound. For example, the si combination in Polish makes the same sound as the sz digraph. Also, the dź digraph sound, which sounds like j in jeans, can be copied with the trigraph dzi in Polish; the one that is used all depends on the context of the word. Which begs the question, how do you know which one to use? Like a good episode of LOST, I think I will leave this question hanging for another episode… one that focuses on spelling.
There is one last item I would like to cover. I was sure I would have gotten a question regarding it, but I did not. Maybe readers are not interested. Or maybe you’re afraid to ask. Either way, I am going to put my two cents in on the topic anyway, mostly because I remember asking the question. In the Polish alphabet, there are three letters missing that an English-speaker would easily catch. The letters Q (ku), V (fau) and X (iks) do not exist in the Polish alphabet. However, the Polish language has adopted a lot of marketing words that do contain these letters. In Polish pronunciation, there really is no need for them. Typically, these marketing words are adopted and given a Polish twist. In Polish, the sound for the letter Q is replaced with K or KW (ex. kwiz), V is replaced with W (ex. wino) and the letter X is replaced with KS (ex. ekstra).
For example, let’s take the word extra. In English, it means additional. In Polish, it’s a slang term that means exceptional. My cousins, if they like one of the photos I post, will comment, “Ekstra“! Essentially, they take the common foreign word and spell it as it would be pronounced in Polish. Very smart – very Polish 
So that’s my spin on digraphs. I hope it has been helpful. And to go back to a comment I made back on one of my earlier posts, I am going to close with some Disco Polo. I like to think of these guys as the Polish equivalent of the Backstreet Boys. They are zespół “Bojs” or “Boys”, and this song is “Ekstra“! Plus, this video is just hilarious. So practice your digraphs, then close the door, pull the curtains shut and dance around the pokój to this song blasted LOUD!
Click here to view the embedded video.
Do następnego czytania…
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Posted by: Katarzyna
Tags: chat dz, culture, digraph, digraphs, Dwuznaki, dzh, Ekstra, Grammar, letter, letter combinations, polish alphabet, Polish Language, post, Vocabulary
