Pronouncing n and ń

What is the difference between these two when they are put in front of consonants or at the end of words such as...

Dzień
Dzien(I don't know if this is a real word but just for differentiating the pronunciation)

hańba
hanba(I don't about this either)

n is n just like in english.

ń is a soft n.. it sounds like the spanish like ñ. you flatten your tongue against the roof of your mouth from its postion when pronouncing n.

Ok, I think I understand.

I didn't think that the n or ń had any difference if it was at the end of words. I know how to say it if it was before a vowel (ń == ni) but not at the end of words.

Dziękuję

learning, Have you ever checked this out? http://say.expressivo.com/?lang=pl

I use it quite a bit. Even though most things I can pronouce after reading it a few times so it has a "flow" but sometimes I can't. I'll copy paste the word in and pow! nice flow.

But at the end of the words I'm with you on the n. You have many of the same questions I have.

I'm sure a master will chime in, but hope it helped, or at least will help someone.

From using that thing I hear the the dzień with the ń on the 'e' it is a little more curved sounding than dzien. In musical terms, I would say that the e in dzień has a legato, if I am making any sense. lol

Btw, does that machine pronounce fake words too?

ń is always 'ni', always.. sometime the n will sound like ń when it has an 'i' right after it; eg: nie (no)


i'm sure it tries. lol

ok I think I have it down..

n - just the 'n' sound..

ń - has a more 'en' sound before the actual n consonant sound comes out.

It'll try to tackle anything you throw at it. :) Real words sound a lot better though. I've noticed it even places the stress on the words where they should be. I don't know. I like it. I'll continue to use it.

reads good. :) i'd say the 'en' part is close but may not be exactly so if 'ń' is in the middle of the word or at the end.. it will depend on what's just before it.

I'm pretty sure in spoken language, the distinction isn't very clear. Unless of course it is in the beginning of vowels. But I do understand the difference in sound when you raise your tongue against the roof of your mouth when saying the ń and n. It is different.

Ń sounds more like N and J (the Polish one, not the English one) pronounced kind of at the same time, but with a kind of aftertaste of J.


How to say Gdańsk if you're a beginner or a donkey like me:
Gdansk - NO!
Gdanjsk - YES! (Until somone corrects me).

gdanysk?? ;) :D

G'day G'dañsk.

My Polish teacher kept making me repeat the name Gdańsk again and again as he tried to correct me. Every time I either gave it too much or too little Ń apparently. In the end, he left me with no choice other than to say that the people of Welwyń Gardeń City call it Danzig. Not very nice, I know.

I thought it was Gd(eye)nsk

that's it!!! osiolku. :D


gdah-nsk

ahh, any natives chime in? :)

^^^ wtf??

... and I have a time machine.

I meant because everyone has an opinion! Was light hearted. :)

Guerilla Polish for the struggling anglophone:

at the end of a word or before a consonant you can always pronounce ń as -jn (polish j)

Gdańsk sounds to English speakers almost like Gdajnsk (remember aj = eye) just blend the j and n more than seems natural)

If you have the ń at the end of a word and not the standard Polish or English 'n' then you must pay attention in the declension system as dzień becomes dnia in the genitive singular. The Polish town, Poznań becomes Poznania in the sense of ja jadę jutro do Poznania. The Polish letter ń can represent nouns of both masculine and feminine gender. When a noun ends in ń and is feminine the genitive is ni.