Double Consonants and Clusters

As you may have noticed, Polish is a consonant-rich language and as a result several consonants may occur in a single syllable as either a doubling or in a cluster. The rule of thumb in Polish lyric diction is that every consonant should be articulated following previous pronunciation rules (assimilation, devoicing, etc.). However, the means of which these sounds will be articulated is dependent on musical factors, most importantly tempo. In spoken Polish, double consonants will always be rearticulated so that a double n, as in the name Anna will be pronounced as [ˈan.na] with a very subtle schwa between the two ns. The schwa in Polish, like in Russian, is based around y [ɪ] (ы [ɨ] in Russian) vowel sound. In sung Polish, the most common approach to doubling is just as in German or Italian, i.e. prolonging the sound without rearticulation. However, the letter n is usually rearticulated even in fast tempi (I will elaborate later using an example). Fricates will also be rearticulated as in czczo [t͡ʂt͡ʂɔ] “fasting” and dżdżysty [ˈd͡ʐd͡ʐɪ.stɪ] “rainy”.

 Consonant clusters and doubling can occur at the beginning, middle, and end of a word and across word boundaries. Typically, word-initial and word-internal clusters can have up to four consonants and word-final can have up to five. It is also worth pointing out that unlike Czech, Polish does not have vocalic consonants. Therefore the word krwawy (“bloody”) is pronounced as [ˈkrva.vɪ] and not [kr̩.va.vɪ].

 When approaching a cluster, start by working backwards beginning with the vowel. For example, the adjective bezwzględny (“harsh, absolute”). If you take the word apart, we have the prefix bez [bɛs] (“without”), followed by the core wzgląd [vzglɔnt] (“consideration”) (here ą mutates to ę creating względ), ending with the adjectival suffix -ny [nɪ], and can see that it follows the paradigm for word-internal consonant clusters. Now, take the core and slowly work back in the following sequence

-ęd [ɛnt], -lęd [lɛnt], -ględ [glɛnt], -zględ [zglɛnt], względ [vzglɛnt]

 Now, add the prefix bez and pay attention to voicing/devoicing rules:

 Bezwzględ- [bɛz.vzglɛnt]

 Finally, add the adjectival suffix and again keep in mind voicing rules:

 Bezwzględny [bɛzˈvzglɛnd.nɪ]

 It is also possible for not every consonant to be pronounced in a given word. While some simplifications of consonant clusters are common, others are specific to an individual and dependent on emotional state, pace, degree of attention, and other factors. They are considered correct, but simplifications should not be the result of neglecting the desired effort to carefully pronounce a certain word.

 Let’s look at a few words (full pronunciation followed by truncated):

Krakowski (krakowian): [kraˈkɔf.skʲi] or [kraˈkɔ.skʲi]

Pierwszy (first): [ˈpʲɛr.fʂɪ] or [pʲɛr.ʂɪ]

 This pattern is similar to consonant deletion in Russian clusters.

 Pięćdziesiąt (fifty): [pʲɛɲt͡ɕˈd͡ʑɛ.ɕɔnt] or [pʲɛɲˈd͡ʑɛ.ɕɔnt]

Sześćdziesiąt (sixty): [ʂɛʑd͡ʑˈd͡ʑɛ.ɕɔnt] or [ʂɛʑˈd͡ʑɛ.ɕɔnt]

 Here, the latter is more common in spoken Polish.

Trzcina (reed): [ˈtʂt͡ɕi.na] or [ˈt͡ʂt͡ɕi.na]

 Here, the difference lies in the length of the fricative. This is important to pay attention

to, especially with the words czy [t͡ʂɪ] (question word) and trzy [tʂɪ] “three”. In the case of the latter, the [ʂ] sound is longer than in the affricate found in the former.

However, with word final ł [w] in stage pronunciation and lyric diction, the consonant will be devoiced to [w̥] when following a consonant according to Zenon Klemiesiewicz, linguist and 20th-century reformer of the Polish language. In practice this sounds more similar to an off-glide, especially at faster tempi.

Poszedł (he went): [ˈpɔ.ʂɛtw̥] not [ˈpɔ.ʂɛdw]

Wyrzekł (he renounced): [ˈvɪ.ʐɛkw̥] not [ˈvɪ.ʐɛkw]

This is similar for r, m, l, n, and ń at the end of words and also when they are between two unvoiced consonants.

Krtan [kr̥tan] “throat”; piosnka [pʲɔsn̥ka] “little song”, jabłko [ˈjap.wkɔ] “apple” (the b would devoice because of assimilation rules)

The question is now, when would it be appropriate to use such a tool in singing? I would suggest recitative or patter as an appropriate setting. One perfect example would be Stanisław Moniuszko’s song „Prząśniczka” (“The Spinner Girl”). The tempo here is presto and the refrain “Kręć się, kręć wrzeciono…” has consonant clusters across word boundaries and in the beginning and middle of words (See link in comments to text, translation, and IPA). While the proper IPA transcription would be [krɛnt͡ɕ ɕɛ krɛnt͡ɕ vʐɛˈt͡ɕɔ.nɔ] / [vʲit͡ɕ ɕɛ ˈtɔ.bʲɛ vʲit͡ɕ] / … / [ˈt͡ʂɪ.ja ˈdwuʂ.ʂa ɲit͡ɕ], but at such a fast tempo, reducing the affricates ć [t͡ɕ] to [ɕ] in kręć się and wić się would be more beneficial. Similarly, the double [ʂ] in dłuższa should be simply lengthened rather than rearticulated [ˈdwuʂːʂa]. However, in nearly every recording I have found of a native speaker, the n in inny and innemu is rearticulated while intoning on the [i] vowel sound.

When taking a step back from this very close examination, it is possible to see some potential rules/options to simplifying consonant clusters. A singer can either omit a consonant, devoice a consonant (sonorants), truncate a stop and fricative into an affricate, or change an affricate to a fricative. This is a grey area within the realm of diction, but it can also be a great tool for not only singing more effectively in Polish, but also finding your interpretation of a piece.