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Pronunciation difference between Ź and Ż / RZ


spell of bliss  
13 Aug 2006 /  #1
wat is the difference between in pronunciation between - and Ż? i think all you can do is explain how to make them is the sounds are different. btw, how do u say Ń?
krysia  23 | 3058  
13 Aug 2006 /  #2
O.K. Hmmm. How can I make this simple to understand. The letter ż might sound like the "g" like in "genre" and the other letter "z" like "Zsa Zsa" like in "Zsa Zsa Gabor" or like "Dr. Zhiwago". Yes, stupid examples but..... The letter 4; could sound like in the word "coin".

That's the closest I came up with.
hello  
13 Aug 2006 /  #3
It's like w Szczebrzeźnie chrzążcz brzmi w tżcinie.

:)
andybk  
8 Jan 2007 /  #4
Merged:How to say Polish rz?

just a question about how to say polish rz is it like polish sz or ś or completely different, can any one help proszę:)
Maya  1 | 51  
8 Jan 2007 /  #5
duno how 2 write it down, am not sure if it will help u anyway but its the same pronauciation as other polish letter 'ż' as in word Żaba ...soz if i hvnt helpd much
WannaLearn  
9 Jan 2007 /  #6
try Ivona speech synthesiser (google it) she'll tell you:)
Dagmara  1 | 38  
15 Jan 2007 /  #7
like "g" in "genre"
Thiaren  
21 Jan 2007 /  #8
Well, maybe not like in "genre" cause "g" is like polish "dż"
If you know a little french try saying "je taime" (i love). "j" sounds exactly like polish "rz"
in english it's hard to find a word like this
Kamyk  2 | 61  
25 Jan 2007 /  #9
try saying mea[su]re or plea[su]re - that's the sound of polish rz/ż

polish sz - english [s]ure
polish ś - ?? cannot think of any right now :(
FISZ  24 | 2116  
25 Jan 2007 /  #10
SZ and ś are similar, but the shape of the mouth is different...hard to explain. You can see the differences/similarities here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_phonology
Amathyst  19 | 2700  
25 Jan 2007 /  #11
how the French would pronunce the very begining of June...dz
Eurola  4 | 1898  
25 Jan 2007 /  #12
I think it would sound more like in 'Je t'aime" (not sure of the exact spelling), which sound more like polish 'że'
Moonika01  - | 9  
20 Apr 2007 /  #13
Maybe it will help u :
Ż - is the same like for example english word PLEASURE
DŻ - like in JUST word, but a bit harder spoken ;-)
RZ - sounds the same as Ż
;-)
Karima  3 | 50  
20 Apr 2007 /  #14
between rz and ż isnt any deferent. is saund simialr like in french word 'je taime' like j

I think it would sound more like in 'Je t'aime

sorry i didnt noticed it :(
xXlisaXx  8 | 182  
20 Apr 2007 /  #15
i wrote out as 'jur' to get the phonic sound
angela  
21 Apr 2007 /  #16
rz and z with a dot

if you lay your tongue flat on the floor of your mouth and say je in je t'aime or su in pleasure you will get the sound.

sz is sh tonge at floor of mouth s accent is sh tongue raised a little towards palete.
Grzechu  
23 Apr 2007 /  #17
In many words in polish when 'rz' is after consonant you pronounce it like polish 'sz'. Fo example word 'krzyż' (cross) or 'trzcina' (cane)

... and polish 'sz' is english 'sh' like in word shattered
glowa  1 | 291  
23 Apr 2007 /  #18
rz sounds like g in 'genre'
Grzechu  
23 Apr 2007 /  #19
That's generally true, but not always... above I have given some examples of polish words where they are pronounced as 'sh'
glowa  1 | 291  
23 Apr 2007 /  #20
yeah, I know, I read it and indeed you're right. but the one I wrote is the simplest comparison to and English sound I could come up with

and t seems to work best when it comes to describing the 'rz','ż' sounds.
Magg  
2 May 2007 /  #21
after voiceless consonant!!! this is phonetical assimilation.

BTW ś-ź, ć-dź, ń, are palatal sounds. The middle of your tongue softly touch the palate.
glowa  1 | 291  
2 May 2007 /  #22
Well, maybe not like in "genre" cause "g" is like polish "dż"
If you know a little french try saying "je taime" (i love). "j" sounds exactly like polish "rz"
in english it's hard to find a word like this

yeah and 'genre' is exactly such a word.
z_darius  14 | 3960  
3 May 2008 /  #23
Only in the name Tarzan.

There is more. Some examples:

marznąć - to freeze
zmarzlina - frozen (matter)
obmierzły - repulsive
mirza - an old title used of Old Persian princes and nobility
superzespół - supergroup
erzjański - one of the languages used in Mordva (Russia)
przemarzać - to freeze through
mierzić - to irritate, to repulse, to cause negative feelings

In all these "rz" is pronounced as two sounds.
Seanus  15 | 19666  
8 May 2008 /  #24
I was wrong, there is more of an A in Wrocław. Maybe I lazily and errantly pronounce it with an O. vrot-swov just sounds easier.
BubbaWoo  33 | 3502  
8 May 2008 /  #25
thank you for clearing that up S... although i was looking forward to a lesson in vowel sounds ;-)
trix  
10 May 2008 /  #26
To be precise, in 'przemarzać' the first 'rz' is pronounced as 'ż', the second consists of two separate sounds. 'Superzespół' is a compound word, first word ending with 'r' and the second starting with 'z', so it's not really a good example :)
vlk  - | 19  
14 May 2008 /  #27
I guess there's no problem with k and p, while rz is a little fussy. It's often pronounced as "su" in "pleasure", while sometimes as a sound similar to Czech ř as in Dvořák. I noticed many Poles often confuse it with ż...

Well, maybe not like in "genre" cause "g" is like polish "dż"
If you know a little french try saying "je taime" (i love). "j" sounds exactly like polish "rz"
in english it's hard to find a word like this

In this case it would be as in English "pleasure", though it's not exactly like rz, still very close.
rz varies between ż (morze), sz (zaparz) and cz (trzy)...
Krzysztof  2 | 971  
14 May 2008 /  #28
I noticed many Poles often confuse it with ż

because there's NO difference in the basic pronounciation of "rz" and "ż", so many people with writing disorders don't know which one to use (although the rules are taught at schools, some people just get confused).

In many positions within a word/sentence, rz/ż are pornounced as "sz".
vlk  - | 19  
14 May 2008 /  #29
because there's NO difference in the basic pronounciation of "rz" and "ż"

Exactly. What is funny is that I never mix these up (I'm Czech) and correct the Poles. It looks very clear to me, "rz" comes where we have "ř", while "ż" comes where we have "ž" :-)
Gab  - | 133  
22 Jun 2008 /  #30
HI,

Does anybody know a phonetic transcription system of Polish for non-Polish speakers?
Maybe we should ask prof. Miodek? Maybe he wrote a book about it or something?

It's actually "W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" LOL Not that it makes it any easier :)

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