- Sz (digraph)
Sz is a digraph of the
Latin alphabet , used in Hungarian, Polish, Kashubian, and formerly in German.Polish
In
Polish orthography , sz represents avoiceless retroflex fricative (IPA|/ʂ/ ), similar to English "sh". It usually corresponds toš in other Slavic languages.sz should not be confused with
ś (or s followed by i), termed "soft sh", avoiceless alveolo-palatal fricative (IPA|/ɕ/).Examples of sz
audio|pl-obszar.ogg|obszar ("area, territory")
audio|Pl-płaszcz.ogg|płaszcz ("coat, cloak")Compare ś:
audio|Pl-świeca.ogg|świeca ("candle")
audio|Pl-iść.ogg|iść ("to go")
audio|Pl-sierpień.ogg|sierpień ("August")Kashubian
In Kashubian, sz represents a
voiceless postalveolar fricative (IPA|/ʃ/ ), similar to English "sh".Hungarian
"Sz" is the thirty-second letter of the
Hungarian alphabet . Its name is (using English pronunciation with letterromanization ) "ess" in the alphabet. It represents IPA|/s/. Thus, names like "Liszt" are pronounced "list" IPA|/lɪst/.In Hungarian, even if two characters are put together to make a different sound, they are considered one letter (a true digraph), and even
acronym s keep the letter intact.It should be noted that in Hungarian "s" represents IPA|/ʃ/ (a sound similar to IPA|/ʂ/), which is why the correct pronunciation of "Budapest" is really "BU-dah-pesht" (/budɑpɛʃt/). This means that Hungarian usage of "s" and "sz" are reversed from the Polish usage.
Examples
:These examples are Hungarian words that use the letter sz, with the English translation following.
*szabó = "tailor"
*szép = "beautiful"
*szikla = "rock"
*szőke = "blonde"
*szülő = "parent"German
In German, it was used to represent IPA|/s/ after "long" vowels, later contracting to the
ligature ß.ee also
*
Hungarian alphabet
*Polish alphabet
*ß
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