And also like the specific musical sub-genre "black metal", how do you pronounce the band name Mgla?

mgua

it means mist

https://translate.google.de/?sl=pl&tl=de&text=mgla&op=translate

Click on the "speaker symbol" and hear for yourself.

Not sure why but your source sounds almost like Russian <mgla> which sounds like "mmm-gla" instead of Polish <mgła> which sounds like "mg<l>ua" (where the "l" sound is limited to almost none).

Here check my local source:
www.babla.ru/польский-русский/mgła

On a side-note, while I (and I'm sure many others) certainly understand what you mean by the above, most English speakers will not, because it's not a phonetic language, so the concept of letters sounding as they are written is completely foreign to them. That's why the phonetic alphabet exists in the first place.

For example "mmm-gla" in English would be read, as we'd see it written "emmm-glei" :P.

mmm - sounds the same

gla from GlaDOS

Here is phonetic: /mɡwa/
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mgła

Eh, GOG forum engine can't stand different symbols for a hyperlink, add https:// before in case you are in doubt.

https://forvo.com/word/mg%C5%82a/#pl It sounds weird because there's L instead of Ł.

Maybe because of this (attachment): ?

Like @InkPanther pointed out the correct spelling for Polish word would be "mgła", phonetic: /mgwa/

Yepp, with the right letter, it sounds better: https://translate.google.de/?sl=pl&amp;tl=de&amp;text=mg%C5%82a&amp;op=translate

https://translate.google.de/?sl=pl&amp;tl=de&amp;text=mg%C5%82a&amp;op=translate

(mgła instead of mgla)

Thanks for the responses and sources. More complicated than I knew, especially L and Ł. I thought I knew Polski/Polish alphabet was in Latin and not Cyrillic, but that was only partly correct because of the diacritics used to make L and Ł, E and Ę, C and Ć, Z and Ż and the others actually different symbols, if this understanding is accurate.

It is similar in most slavic languages, but there are subtle differences in pretty much all of them. But once you know one of them, you will probably be able to recognize the word in most of them.

"mlha" in czech.

Some words are recognizable but way way different, for example I would never get a proper understanding of the Czech word "dopis" which means "a letter" (writing), yet I would instantly realize that it has something to do with writing with the emphasize on completing the action of that writing or even adding something extra after. Literally it would mean to finish the writing, then to add some more letters to it, that is "dopis" for me.

Some words are completely alien, for instance "sklo" is okay and I would understand that it's something made of glass, most probably it would be the glass itself (glass for water, not material) but "pohár"? No, I don't know such words.

At least curse words are highly recognizable.

Curious, I think linguists are full of joy all the time.

Yeah, nouns are the most problematic words. Many of them are similar, but many of them are also very specific in the various languages. Many such cases even between Czech and Slovak.

When I'm trying to understand Polish for example, I most often get stuck on some key noun due to which I don't get the exact meaning of the sentence. But I find most of the verbs are usually somewhat similar.

As for "dopis", it can also mean that in czech. A noun of the activity you describe. "Dopiš to!" is telling someone to finish writing something. But we also use it for letter itself.