Silesian/Pronunciation
Lesson 1 - Silesian alphabet and pronunciation
[edit | edit source]It's really important to learn the material from this lesson very carefully. If you learn to pronounce the words incorrectly, you'll do it forever! So, let's start with the alphabet of the Silesian language. Each time I will add the IPA signs so as to give you the exact pronunciation without recording it.
Silesian alphabet
[edit | edit source]There are also some digraphs in the Silesian language, which don't have a place in the standard alphabet.
All right, I'm sure that you don't even have any idea how to read these strange lines and carons above the letters. Carefully read the next chapters — vowels and consonants — and learn how to do that!
Vowels
[edit | edit source]| Vowel | IPA | Pronunciation | English equvalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aa | a |  Open front unrounded vowel.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in father, but shorter |
| Ee | ɛ | Open-mid front unrounded vowel.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in bet |
| Ii | i | Close front unrounded vowel.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in cheese, but shorter |
| Oo | ɔ | Open-mid back rounded vowel.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in boy |
| Uu | u | Close back rounded vowel.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in French vous |
| Ůů | o | Close-mid back rounded vowel.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in more |
| Yy | ɨ | Close central unrounded vowel.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in unstressed roses |
Consonants
[edit | edit source]| Vowel | IPA | Pronunciation | English equvalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bb | b | Voiced_bilabial_plosive.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in babble |
| Cc | ts | Voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate.oga (help·info)
|
Like in cats, but making only one sound |
| Ćć | tɕ | (no sound) | Like in cheese, but more with -y sound |
| Čč | tʂ | (no sound) | Like in church, with the tongue curled or pulled back |
| Dd | d | Voiced alveolar plosive.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in done |
| Ff | f | Voiceless labiodental fricative.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in fun |
| Gg | g | Voiced velar plosive.ogg (help·info)
|
Like in girl |
Digraphs
[edit | edit source]Notes
[edit | edit source]Stress
[edit | edit source]Usually, stress falls onto the prelast syllable, eg. Amerika (America). There are of course some exceptions. The nouns which end with -cyjo, -syjo, -zyjo, -ńijo have two variants of accentuation, eg. the word informacyjo (information) can be said informacyjo or informacyjo. What's interesting, some words of Greek and Latin origin, of which the accentuation is irregular in Polish, is normal in Silesian, eg. matematyka (mathematics) in Polish would be matematyka, the Silesian people say it usually as matymatyka.