[HPFGU-OTChatter] Difficult pronouncing

[Amanda Geist]

Prz:

> I don't think that there is such sound in English language like 'z' (in
> the matter of fact it is 'z' with dot above)  as in the word 'zolw'
(w).

Amanda now:
There's not, you're right. And damn, I didn't see that it was an elwa in
that one. This is going to be one of those words like "trzy," isn't it, that
I can't say to save my life. Let me try again:

z sound = the first sound in Zsa Zsa or the end of garage
o = oo, like in wood
l = not a letter L. Polish took its alphabet from the Germans, and the
Germans, not having a /w/ sound, had used the "w" for /v/. The Poles,
therefore, also use the "w" for /v/. However, Polish *does* have a /w/
sound, and they were fresh out of letters, so they invented one, a crossed
"L", which looks like an "L" with a slash overtyped.
Unfortunately, when Polish is typed over into English, they just type the
elwas as letter L, which was the mistake I made in my other attempt to
pronounce this, because I didn't know it was an elwa. So:
l = /w/
and because you read all that,
w = /v/
Put all together:
/Zsoowv/--I'm hearing "Zhoowf," or the sound I'd make if I tripped over this
tortoise in the wee hours of the morning and landed on my posterior. (don't
forget it's /oo/ like in wood, not boo)

Prz:
> Most difficult to pronounce for Poles is the sound 'th' as in 'the' --
> there is no such sound in Polish.

Nor Irish. Nor most languages; it's apparently one of the more
difficult/unusual sounds. That's part of the accent in those and other
languages, that the /th/ is not pronounced. Although it can be, with
practice--I can produce the sounds called for by the consonant cluster
"szcz," which took *quite* a bit of work (and laughter from my husband). I
can also pronounce the "LL" of Welsh, a fact of which I am quite proud.

Prz:
> Man is by nature a political animal. (Aristotle, Politics)

My husband says that there's a saying somewhere that if you put two Poles on
a desert island, you'll end up with three political parties....

~Amanda