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Inventory of polish sounds  >  sound ʐ Back to the overview

ʐ

voiced

retroflex

non-palatalized

fricative

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IPA [ʐ]
AS [ž]

Sound    lecturer 1  [ʐ] in isolation
Sound    lecturer 2  [ʐ] in isolation
Sound    lecturer 3  [ʐ] in isolation
Based on Maciołek & Tambor (2012)
Voiced: the vocal folds are in contact, the air coming from the lungs causes them to vibrate.
Retroflex: the tip of the tongue gets close to the upper palate behind the alveolar ridge. At the same time the back of the tongue rises towards the soft palate. The lips are slightly rounded.
Non-palatalized: the middle of the tongue is in a neutral position, it does not take part in the articulation.
Fricative: there is a narrow passage between the articulators, the air from the lungs hits the edge of the passage and creates noise.

[ʐ] in expressions

Sound  Sound  Sound 

żele

EN   gels
IPA [ʐɛlɛ]
AS  [žele]
Sound  Sound  Sound 

wierzę

EN   believe [V 1 Sg]
IPA [vʲjɛʐɛ]
AS  [v′i̯eže]