# Accents in Polish



## Akiyz

I'm a native speaker of the Polish language, hovewer I have spent some time on foreing grounds (mostly the USA) trying to learn their language. What has intrigued me in the English language is that to whatever English speaking country you go to you can hear many different regional accents and dialects.
And native English speakers are great in pointing out one's origin based on how he or she pronounces their words.

So I brought myself to the question - does the Polish language have different accents?
To be more specific - is the accent in Gdansk different to the one in Krakow? Or do Szczecinians pronounce words in a different manner than people in Rzeszow?

And I'm not talking about people whose first language was for example Kashubian, and then they learned Polish so their accent was influenced by the Kashubian language. Neither am I refering to regional differences in word meanings such as pole/dwor. I'm asking if for example accents in Poznan sound a little german. Or if people in the eastern part of the country talk with a slight russian tone.


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## Greg from Poland

I'm quite far from being an accent specialist, but what I have observed from my experience is that inhabitants of Kujawy do have a different accent; they speak in a different way indeed.
I used to speak with that accent too, but now, long after the removal, I seem to have dropped it.

People who live in Slask speak in a distinct - and I would say somehow similar to those from Kujay - manner as well.


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## NotNow

According to the following link, the differences among Polish dialects are slight compared to the differences among English dialects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_dialects


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## majlo

I would second Greg's opinion about the Silesian accent. As for the rest, I've never noticed any discernible differences while staying outside my home town (though my experience in travelling around Poland isn't too great). 
I'm reading a book now in which Jerzy Stuhr refers to regional dialects, such as Cracowian dialect, and it made impression like there were quite big differences between them.
I've noticed differences in vocabulary and grammar, but that's a different pair of shoes.


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## arturolczykowski

> different pair of shoes


If you write in English stick to English idioms... ;-)


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## Greg from Poland

arturolczykowski said:


> If you write in English stick to English idioms... ;-)



If you write in English*, *stick to the punctuation rules. 

Take it easy.


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## SYLVIU

One Italian girl have told me that I have different accent than my friend. That it sounds somehow like singing when I am talking  I am from Cracow and my friend is from Warsaw.


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## arturolczykowski

> If you write in English, stick to the punctuation rules.




You got me!
Punctuation isn't my forte, never been even in Polish... ;-)
"Different pair of shoes" just seems funny... I didn't mean anything mean....


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## majlo

I don't know why but I was convinced that "different pair of shoes" was a fully-fledged English idiom. I must've enforced it back in my college days. It turns out I was wrong.
Idioms, punctuation, we all have our weak points.


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## fragile1

There are differences. 
For example, if you listen to how people from Krakow pronounce the word "Kra'kow" or you ask them:where are you from?, you will hear:Jestem z  'Kra'kowa'. 
Maybe the accent is not so hard, but I can hear if people are from Krakow, Poznan, Katowice or the region of Zakopane (I mean people speak Polish not 'gwara goralska'), Suwalki and Bialystok together - they realy sing they language.
I am from Wroclaw, and as far as I know, we are heared by another Poles like people from 'zza Buga'.
Sory for mistakes in advance


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## zapedowski

I was told that in Lwów they singsong and say tajoj.


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## marco_2

fragile1 said:


> There are differences.  For example, if you listen to how people from Krakow pronounce the word "Kra'kow" or you ask them:where are you from?, you will hear:Jestem z  'Kra'kowa'.  Maybe the accent is not so hard, but I can hear if people are from Krakow, Poznan, Katowice or the region of Zakopane (I mean people speak Polish not 'gwara goralska'), Suwalki and Bialystok together - they realy sing they language. I am from Wroclaw, and as far as I know, we are heared by another Poles like people from 'zza Buga'.


  It's a melody of the past, unfortunately. I'm from Wroclaw too and I think that people born after WW 2 here speak standard Polish (the same must be in Szczecin or Olsztyn) - it's because our ancestors came from various regions of Poland and their mother vernaculars mixed up, especially in big cities. I remember how surprised I was when during my holidays I used to meet my peers from Zamość or Przemyśl and I heard them speak with very strong eastern accent.


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## zapedowski

Some people appear to have an extraordinarily acute ear for accents. It may be a gift. Like having an acute ear for music?


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## marco_2

I must agree. And such people, if they also are good at singing, can imitate other people's accents.


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## dreamlike

marco_2 said:


> It's a melody of the past, unfortunately. I'm from Wroclaw too and I think that people born after WW 2 here speak standard Polish (the same must be in Szczecin or Olsztyn) - it's because our ancestors came from various regions of Poland and their mother vernaculars mixed up, especially in big cities. I remember how surprised I was when during my holidays I used to meet my peers from Zamość or Przemyśl and I heard them speak with very strong eastern accent.


Having spent my entire life in eastern Poland, I'd be interested to know what it is exactly that you mean by a "strong eastern accent"? What is our speech characterized by, to the ears of those who come from different regions of Poland? Is it perhaps the peculiar intonation that we employ, as I have once heard?


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## jasio

dreamlike said:


> Having spent my entire life in eastern Poland, I'd be interested to know what it is exactly that you mean by a "strong eastern accent"? What is our speech characterized by, to the ears of those who come from different regions of Poland? Is it perhaps the peculiar intonation that we employ, as I have once heard?



Melody, intonation, rhythm, way of pronouncing certain phonemes, especially vowels, using voiced "h" and distinguishing between "h" as in "hamak" and "ch" as in "cham", using soft (softened) "l'" instead of a regular "l", pronouncing an Eastern/old Polish/theatrical/noble/Ruthenian dental 'ł' rather than labial "ł" ( = avoiding "wałczenie"). Not all of them are always together, and I don't think I identified all the differences, but this is more or less the catalogue. 

Today I spoke to a lady from Podlasie - and I spotted her Eastern origin almost immediately, although I was not good enough to recognize the exact region. The most characteristic feature of her pronunciation was a prolonged and narrowed "y", she also pronounced "e" noticeably narrower than the standard Polish, there were also some other features which were less characteristic.

BTW - a good start for you could be listening carefully to someone speaking good, standard Polish and trying to compare his pronunciation with your neighbours to spot the differences. Or looking to a book about Polish phonology.


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## dreamlike

Thank you for your answer, Jasio. From the standpoint of a born-and-bred inhabitant of Eastern Poland, I find the things you've described to be very curious. I can't say I find many, or even any, of these features in my speech, but then again I try hard to speak good Polish, whatever the circumstances.


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## jasio

dreamlike said:


> I find the things you've described to be very curious *interesting*. I can't say I find many, or even any, of these features in my speech, but then again I try hard to speak good Polish, whatever the circumstances.


Why do you consider dialects or regional variants NOT being a "good Polish"?


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## dreamlike

Granted, using "curious" in lieu of "interesting" or some other adjective here is stretching things a bit. Even so, would you kindly refrain from making corrections to my writing, if only for the reason that I forgo the pleasure of making corrections to yours (and make no mistake about it, it's not the case that there's no room for improvement in your writing)? 

As to your question, I'm sorry, perhaps I have not expressed myself very well. I should have written "I try hard to speak Polish in such a way as not to reveal the region I come from". ("standard Polish" being a term I dislike). I do not regard dialects or regional variants of Polish or people using them as being in any way inferior.


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