How to pronounce Anna in Polish?

[turtlenose]

I've been pronouncing the name of a Polish acquaintance as 'Anya' for several years because that was how I heard it when she first introduced herself, and she has never corrected me (her English was limited when I first met her). But recently I saw her write her name down and she spelt it 'Anna'. Have I been pronouncing her name incorrectly all this time?

Just ask her!

Oh I’ve done this too. Any my polish acquaintance thankfully pointed out that her name is actually Anna

Anja is a short form of Anna x

Ania is a common diminutive of Anna in Polish. You can always ask her which she prefers if you're unsure, but you haven't necessarily been getting it wrong don't worry!

Oops, Louise beat me to the post!

I went to Poland and stayed on a retreat with a Polish girl called Anna and she prenounced it like we do in English.

My name is Deirdre, it is pronounced Deer-dra. But when I lived in the UK, people here (except the Irish) pronounced it Deer-dree even though I would introduce myself as Deer-dra. I didn't mind, and I never corrected them. .
You could ask her which she prefers.

My son goes to school with a polish girl called Anna pronounced Anya (or Anya is a polish nickname for Anna, not sure)

Thanks for your replies. They're reassuring, and much less embarrassing than asking her after all these years! I will ask her at some point, but at least I know there's a good chance I'm pronouncing it ok.

Think of Ana from frozen. That is the way my friend sounds when she introduces herself.

Anna will be spelt that way but will usually be called ‘Ania’ as a diminutive, the english way is more of a formal name but many will change to that when in the UK as British people tend to pronounce ‘Ania’ more like ‘Anya’ as it doesn’t sound so different to us but really does to them.

My polish neighbour Sylvia spells it Sylwia.
Afaik it is the same name and pronounced the same as our Sylvia with different spelling.

I know a Polish Anna, but she pronounces it in the English way.

@EmeraldShamrock was told that Polish alphabet does not really use "v" and "w" od pronounced as v, so it's the danger name with different spelling I am sure.

Also as lots of people said, some European languages like Polish and I think Lithuanian use diminutive of names, all of my Polish co-workers had different official names and a shorts for it which looked nothing alike confusingly.

Think about our short names though, I bet they don't make any sense to anyone else, Bill from William, Bob from Robert, shug from hugh Sally is short for Sarah I think too, Stacey short from anastasia

As far as I know from a year of learning Polish, both 'n's would be pronounced. So less like Anya and more like A-nuh-na (but spoken quickly - written out like that it looks very exaggerated!).

I think the main thing to note is that the final 'na' should rhyme with the 'a' sound in our 'cat' or 'bat', rather than the more neutral 'nuh' in the English pronunciation of Anna. In other words both the 'a's in Anna are pronounced the same in Polish. I'd agree that asking Anna herself is the way to go though!

I used to work with a Polish woman whose name was spelled Anna but she pronounced it Anya.

Ania is a common diminutive for Anna. Just ask her what she prefers!

I know a Polish Anna - she uses both

Ania is a Polish form of Anna so your friend is unlikely to be upset about it