PREFACE. www THE following short Grammar is the first attempt of the kind in English. It is to be hoped that it may be instrumental in furthering the study of Polish, a noble language, which is still spoken by about ten millions of people. I have consulted with advantage previous works on the subject, written in Polish, German and French. I have found the "Comparative Grammar ” of Miklosich, the "Historico-Comparative Grammar" of Małecki (2 vols., Lemberg, 1879), and the works of Orda (Paris, 1856) and Rykaczewski (Berlin, 1861) very useful. Following the plan of the "Simplified Grammars," I have only given an outline of the language, but this outline will be found to contain all the chief rules, which I have endeavoured to make as plain as possible. The student of comparative philology will thus be able to form a correct idea of the structure of the language, and it may serve as a rudimentary handbook to any one who is anxious to read the works of such authors as Mickiewicz and Krasinski in the original. Oxford. W. R. MORFILL. *This letter is never found in any really Slavonic word in its original state. When used it is either in a word derived from a foreign language or arises from some phonetic corruption. (See Malecki, i. 72.) B Y, a sound peculiar to the Slavonic languages, expressed in Russian by bl. It is a kind of guttural e, the pronunciation of which can only be learned from a native, and something like the German ü. Z, pronounced as in English. To these must be added the following letters with diacritical marks and in combinations : a is the French on, but a little weaker. is the French in. é pronounced as in French. ó is equivalent to oo or ou (French). cz is the English ch in 'church.' dź is equivalent to dzh, which corresponds to the English j. ch has the guttural sound of the German ch in 'machen.' rz and z correspond to the French j in 'jour.' sz corresponds to the English sh. We sometimes find the uncouth combination szcz, as szczególny,' special.' The pronunciation of the first four letters may be compared with that of those italicized in the English expression smasht china, |