Silesian/Pronunciation
Lesson 1 - Silesian alphabet and pronunciation
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
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
| Vowel | IPA | Pronunciation | English equivalent / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aa | a | Open front unrounded vowel.ogg | Like in father, but shorter |
| Ãã | ã | 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 | Open-mid front unrounded vowel.ogg | Like in bet |
| Ii | i | Close front unrounded vowel.ogg | Like in cheese, but shorter |
| Oo | ɔ | Open-mid back rounded vowel.ogg | Like in boy |
| Ŏŏ | ou̯ / åu̯ | Diphthong ow.ogg | Diphthong similar to "ow" in "cow". In some regions, pronounced like "o". |
| Ōō | [o] ~ [u] | 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 | Labialized initial o.ogg | Labialized initial "o" sound. In most Silesian dialects, appears where other systems use "uo", "ło", or "ò". |
| Õõ | õ | Nasalized o.ogg | Nasalized o. In some regions, pronounced like "o" and may be replaced by "o" in writing. |
| Uu | u | Close back rounded vowel.ogg | Like in boot |
| Yy | ɨ | Close central unrounded vowel.ogg | Like in lip, but with the tongue further back |
Consonants
| Vowel | IPA | Pronunciation | English equivalent / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bb | b | Voiced_bilabial_plosive.ogg | Like in babble |
| Cc | t͡s | 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 | Voiced alveolar plosive.ogg | Like in done |
| Ff | f | Voiceless labiodental fricative.ogg | Like in fun |
| Gg | g | 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
| 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
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.