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Silesian/Pronunciation

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Lesson 1 - Silesian alphabet and pronunciation

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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. In total there are two common alphabets used, further on I will teach the Ślabikŏrzowy szrajbōnek , which has more resources online and a lot of books writte in it. Each time I will add the IPA signs so as to give you the exact pronunciation without recording it.

Silesian alphabet

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Aa
Ãã
Bb
Cc
Ćć
Dd
Ee
Ff
Gg
Hh
Ii
Jj
Kk
Ll
Łł
Mm
Nn
Ńń
Oo
Ŏŏ
Ōō
Ôô
Õõ
Pp
Rr
Ss
Śś
Tt
Uu
Ww
Yy
Zz
Źź
Żż

There are also some digraphs in the Silesian language, which don't have a place in the standard alphabet.

Au au
Ch ch
Cz cz
Dz dz
Dź dź
Dż dż
Rz rz
Sz sz

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

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Vowel IPA Pronunciation English equivalent / Notes
Aa a About this sound Open front unrounded vowel.ogg Like in father, but shorter
Ãã ã About this sound Nasalized a.ogg Nasalized a (like in French “sans”). In some regions, pronounced like "a" and can be replaced by "a" in writing.
Ee ɛ About this sound Open-mid front unrounded vowel.ogg Like in bet
Ii i About this sound Close front unrounded vowel.ogg Like in cheese, but shorter
Oo ɔ About this sound Open-mid back rounded vowel.ogg Like in boy
Ŏŏ ou̯ / åu̯ About this sound Diphthong ow.ogg Diphthong similar to "ow" in "cow". In some regions, pronounced like "o".
Ōō [o] ~ [u] About this sound Continuation of old Polish o.ogg Continuation of old Polish "ó" (historically a long "o"). In modern Silesian dialects, often pronounced between [o] and [u].
Ôô o̞ʷ About this sound Labialized initial o.ogg Labialized initial "o" sound. In most Silesian dialects, appears where other systems use "uo", "ło", or "ò".
Õõ õ About this sound Nasalized o.ogg Nasalized o. In some regions, pronounced like "o" and may be replaced by "o" in writing.
Uu u About this sound Close back rounded vowel.ogg Like in boot
Yy ɨ About this sound Close central unrounded vowel.ogg Like in lip, but with the tongue further back


Consonants

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Vowel IPA Pronunciation English equivalent / Notes
Bb b About this sound Voiced_bilabial_plosive.ogg Like in babble
Cc t͡s About this sound Voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate.oga Like in cats, but making only one sound
Ćć t͡ɕ (no sound) Like in cheese, but more with -y sound
Dd d About this sound Voiced alveolar plosive.ogg Like in done
Ff f About this sound Voiceless labiodental fricative.ogg Like in fun
Gg g About this sound Voiced velar plosive.ogg Like in girl
Hh x (no sound) Like in Scottish ch in "loch"
Jj j (no sound) Like in yes
Kk k (no sound) Like in cat
Ll l (no sound) Like in light
Łł w (no sound) Like in water
Mm m (no sound) Like in mother
Nn n (no sound) Like in nose
Ńń ɲ (no sound) Like in Spanish ñ in "mañana"
Pp p (no sound) Like in pet
Rr r (no sound) Like in run
Ss s (no sound) Like in sun
Śś ɕ (no sound) Like in she, but with the tongue further forward

alternatively try smiling and saying sh

Tt t (no sound) Like in tap
Ww v (no sound) Like in van
Yy ɪ (no sound) Like in in
Zz z (no sound) Like in zoo
Źź ʑ (no sound) Like in j in "measure", but voiced
Żż ʐ (no sound) Like in s in "measure", but voiced

Digraphs

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Diagraphs IPA Pronunciation English equivalent / Notes
AU au au (no sound) Diphthong like in "how"
CH ch x (no sound) Like in Scottish ch in "loch"
CZ cz t͡ʂ (no sound) Like in church, with the tongue curled or pulled back
DZ dz d͡z (no sound) Like in ds in "beds"
DŹ dź d͡ʑ (no sound) Like in j in "measure", but voiced
DŻ dż d͡ʐ (no sound) Like in j in "jam", but voiced
EU eu eu (no sound) Diphthong, try saying e and u close together
RZ rz ʐ~ʂ (no sound) Like in s in "measure", but voiced
SZ sz ʂ (no sound) Like in she

Notes

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Silesian orthography uses two systems: Steuer's alphabet and Ślabikŏrzowy szrajbōnek. The latter has become the de facto standard and is widely used today.

The orthography for the Ślabikŏrzowy szrajbōnek accounts for dialectal variations. For instance, the sound represented by Ŏŏ can vary between regions, being pronounced as /ɔu/ in Opole and /ɔ/ elsewhere.

Punctuation rules in Silesian are similar to those in other Latin based eastern European languages like Polish, Czech or Slovak. Furthermore, Capitalization is used at the beginning of sentences and for proper nouns.

Stress

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Exercises

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To Lesson 2