Word-initial /ɨ/~[ɨ] in Polish

The present article examines the accuracy of the widespread opinion according to which Polish entirely lacks a word-initial phoneme or (allo)phone /ɨ/~[ɨ]. After reviewing seventeen nominal, adjectival, interjective, and ideophonic lexemes, the author concludes the following: the word-initial /ɨ/~[ɨ] is attested in Polish; however, it is peripheral from the perspective of the phonological and/or phonetic system of this language.