Devil's Deal: A Dark Fantasy Romance
Pronunciation Guide
This book uses the original Polish spellings for character names and folklore concepts. The spellings don’t include Polish diacritics to avoid formatting issues.
To make reading this story easier for readers unfamiliar with Polish or other Slavic languages, here is a brief guide to teach you the original pronunciation of the Polish words if that’s something you’re interested in.
General Rules
Wherever you see a w in a Polish word, it’s to be read like a v, so Woland is to be read Voland.
A Polish sz corresponds to the English sh sound, and a Polish cz – to the ch sound.
The Polish c isn’t read as the k sound, like in English, but as ts.
And j is read as y, so for example, Jaga will be pronounced Yaga.
Some of the Polish sounds have no English equivalents.
Below is a detailed pronunciation guide for key words and names that appear throughout the book. If you don’t think it will improve your reading experience, feel free to ignore it!
Main Characters
Jaga – Yah-gah
Woland – Voh-lah-nd
Other Characters
Alina – Ah-lean-ah
Alojzy – Ah-loy-zi
Alutka – Ah-loot-kah
Benia – Beh-nyah
Bogdan – Bog-dahn
Bogna – Bog-nah
Chors – Kh-ors
Czart – Cha-rt
Czeslawa – Che-swah-vah
Dadzbog – Dah-zh-boog
Daga – Dah-gah
Darobor – Dah-roh-bor
Diabel – Dyah-behw
Diwa – Dee-vah
Dola – Doh-lah
Helena – Heh-leh-nah
Ida – Ee-duh
Jacek – Yah-tsek
Jana – Yah-nah
Janek – Yah-neck
Jagusia – Yah-goo-sha
Jaromir – Yah-roh-meer
Jarota – Yah-roh-tah
Jutrzenka – Y-oot-shen-kah
Kalina – Kah-lean-ah
Kusy – Koo-si
Lotta – Lot-tah
Lubka – Loo-b-kah
Ludwika – Loo-d-vee-kah
Magda – Mag-duh
Maja – Mah-yah
Marika – Mah-ree-kah
Marlena – Mah-r-leh-nah
Milka – Meel-kah
Miroslaw – Meer-oh-swav
Mokosz – Moh-kosh
Nyja – Ni-yah
Ola – Oh-lah
Perun – Peh-rune
Rod – Rod
Rodzanica – Roh-d-zah-nee-tsa
Roza – Roh-zah
Sagna – Sah-gnah
Sara – Sah-rah
Sobiemir – Soh-byeh-meer
Strzybog – St-shi-boog
Svarog – Sfah-roog
Swietko – Sfyeh-tkoh
Szatan – Shut-ahn
Tolimir – Toh-lee-meer
Tomek – Toh-mehk
Waclaw – Vah-ts-wahv
Wanda – Vah-n-duh
Weles – Veh-less
Wiosna – Vyoh-snah
Wisla – Vees-wah
Slavic Mythology and Folklore
Bies – B-yes
Domowy – Doh-moh-vi
Dziady – D-zyah-di
Klobuk – Quo-book
Kobold – Koh-bold
Kupala – Koo-pah-wah
Licho – Lee-kho
Mamuna – Mah-moon-ah
Nawie – Nah-vyeh
Nawka – Nah-v-kah
Poludnica – Po-wood-nee-tsa
Rusalka – Roos-ah-w-kah
Slawa – Swah-vah
Strzyga – St-shi-gah
Upir – Ooh-pee-r
Wila – Vee-wah
Wyraj – Vih-rah-y
Zerca – Zeh-r-tsah
Zmora – Z-moh-rah