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Posts by triuo  

Joined: 22 Nov 2010 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: -
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triuo   
22 Nov 2010
Language / Pronunciation of vowels at the end of a word [28]

Hi,

I've just started learning Polish and am currently just trying to learn the basics.

According to the various pronunciation guides I've looked at, the letter "y" in Polish is approximately like the "i" in the English word "ill", and the Polish "e" is like the "e" in the English word "ten".

However, I've noticed that when these vowels appear at the end of a word, the "y" sounds (to me) like an English "eh", and the "e" sounds something like a short "a".

So, to my ears: "dobry" sounds like "dobreh", and "dobre" sounds similar to "dobra".

I'm sure I'm not imagining this (I've checked the pronunciation on this site: oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/tts_example.php), but there's been no mention of it in the course I'm following.

Could anyone please give me some advice on this because I'm trying to learn the different case endings and don't want to end up pronouncing them incorrectly.

Thanks a lot.
triuo   
22 Nov 2010
Language / Pronunciation of vowels at the end of a word [28]

Hi Ksysia, thanks for the reply!

I'm still a bit confused though because you mentioned about "dobry with a schwa", but I thought that the "y" in Polish was always pronounced like the "i" in the English word "bin"?

I found these couple of sound clips on Wiktionary:

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dobry
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miejsce

To me, the "y" at the end of the "dobry" sounds like "eh" (not like the "i" in "bin") and the "e" at the end of "miejsce" sounds almost like "a" (not like the "e" in "ten") , and I've noticed exactly the same thing with other words that end in those vowels.

I'd like to get these pronunciations clear in my head but I'm not sure if I'm mishearing the vowel sounds, or if they change with the position in the word, or if my own English dialect doesn't distinguish very clearly between certain vowel sounds, or... something else.

Any more advice much appreciated. Cheers!
triuo   
22 Nov 2010
Language / Pronunciation of vowels at the end of a word [28]

Nikt: Okay, but that's what I'm saying (which is why I'm asking the question...) because it contradicts what I've read in various pronunciation guides. Maybe you could you explain how it sounds? Thanks.
triuo   
22 Nov 2010
Language / Pronunciation of vowels at the end of a word [28]

Cheers, but in that vid it actually gives "bin" as an example of how the Polish "y" sounds.

EDIT: Just checked the 2nd vid and in those examples the "y" does sound almost like an English "i" to me, even when at the end of the word.
triuo   
22 Nov 2010
Language / Pronunciation of vowels at the end of a word [28]

Nikt: Ok man, I trust you ;). In the audio of the course I've been doing it doesn't sound like "i" to me either. For example, the pronouns "ty", "my", "wy" sound more or less like "teh", "meh", "veh" to my ears, but then in that video the "y" a the end of "łysy" sounded more like "i"... So I'm still kind of confused :-/. Cheers for the help anyway.

Vincent: thanks for the link, it's the same vid as the 2nd one nikt posted.
triuo   
23 Nov 2010
Language / Pronunciation of vowels at the end of a word [28]

Thanks Polish Tutor and Vincent for your advice :).

It's funny about the small "p" at the start of "przepraszam" because I'd already spent a while listening to that word and told myself it must be a silent letter, hehe. Hopefully I'll get more to grips with the pronunciation soon...