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 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 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. Stress Exercises 30x30px To Lesson 2