NOTES ON ITALIAN PRONUNCIATION

WOVELS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Tips: 1.

Asounds like a in father Ehas two sounds: short vowel like e in pen; long vowel, similar to ai in fair Isounds like ea in tea or i in marine Ohas two sounds: like o in cozy or similar to o in cost Usounds like u in rude

Italian vowels are always articulated in a sharp, clear fashion, regardless of stress; they are never slurred or pronounced weakly. Vowels (a,e,i,o,u) always retain their value in diphthongs. Italian is a phonetic language, which means that it is spoken the way it is written. Italian and English share the Latin alphabet, but the sounds represented by the letters often differ considerably in the two languages.

2. 3.

CONSONANTS
The consonants not listed below (b, f, m, n, v) are pronounced as in English. The approximate English equivalents are as follows: c before a, o, and u is like the English k.

casa house fico fig con with Colesseo Colosseum capo head Cupido Cupid cane dog camera camera caff coffee culla cradle c before e or i is like the English sound ch in chest.

cena supper voce voice cibo food concerto concert aceto vinegar cinema cinema cipolla onion facile easy ch (found only before e or i) is like the English k.

che that chimica chemistry perch because fichi figs chilo kilo chi who chiuso closed anche also d is somewhat more explosive than in English, with the tongue near the tip of the upper teeth but with no aspiration.

di of data date dove where due two denaro money dodici twelve donna woman

luned Monday moda fashion undici eleven g before a, o, and u is as in the English word go.

gala gala albergo hotel gondola gondola gamba leg gusto taste fungo mushroom gonna skirt gomma eraser lungo long guanti gloves guidare to drive lingua tongue g before e or i is like the g in gem.

gelato ice cream angelo angel pagina page gente people gesso chalk gentile kind gita outing gennaio January gh (found only before e or i) is like the g in go.

ghetto ghetto funghe escapes laghi lakes maghi magicians gli is approximately like ll in million.

egli he meglio better figli sons famiglia family mogli wives aglio garlic fogli sheets (of paper) bottiglia bottle gn is approximately like ny in canyon.

signora lady lavagna blackboard signore gentleman bagno bath signorina young lady sogno dream lasagne lasagna spugna sponge h is silent.

ho I have hotel hotel ha has ahi! ouch! hanno they have l is as in English, but sharper and more forward in the mouth.

olio oil lingua language sale salt lungo long melone melon luna moon scuola school light light p is as in English, but without the aspiration that sometimes accompanies this sound in English.

pane bread patata potato pepe pepper pap dad popone melon ponte bridge pipa pipe punto period pasto meal pronuncia pronunciation Alpi Alps psicologo psychologist qu is always pronounced like the English qu in quest.

questo this quinto fifth quale which quarto fourth quanto how much quantit quantity

quadro picture qualit quality r is different from the English r; it is pronounced with one flip of the tongue against the gums of the upper teeth. This is the trilled r.

ora now tenore tenor albergo hotel baritono baritone arte art orologio watch porta door sardina sardine s is sometimes like the English s in house.

soggiorno living room testa head stanza room festa party; holiday posta mail stufato stew pasta pasta; dough; pastry pista track s is sometimes (but always before b, d, g, l, m, n, r, and v) like the English s in rose.

rosa rose tesoro treasure frase phrase svelto quick sbaglio mistake esercizio exercise musica music sgridare to scold susina plum sbadato careless sc before a, o, or u is like sk in ask.

ascoltare to listen scuola school pesca peach tasca pocket toscano Tuscan scaloppine cutlets scarpa shoe scultura sculpture disco disk; record scopo purpose sc before e or i is like the English sound sh in fish.

finisce finishes sci ski pesce fish conoscere to know scena scene scendere to descend uscita exit uscio door sch occurs only before e or i, and is pronounced like the English sk.

pesche peaches tasche pockets dischi disks; records scheletro skeleton fiaschi flasks lische fishbones t is approximately the same as in English, but no escaping of breath accompanies it in Italian.

contento glad carta paper arte art matita pencil turista tourist antipasto appetizer telefono telephone testa head z is sometimes voiceless, like ts is bets.

pizza pizza negozio store marzo March Venezia Venice grazie thank you dizionario dictionary z is sometimes voiced, like ds in beds.

zero zero zebra zebra pranzo lunch zelo zeal romanzo novel zanzara mosquito Note: When ci, gi, and sci are followed by a, o, or u, unless the accent falls on the i, the i is not pronounced. The letter i merely indicates that c, g, and sc are pronounced, respectively, like the English ch, g (as in gem), and sh.

arancia orange giornale newspaper ciliegia cherry ciao so long salsiccia sausage camicia shirt lasciare to leave scienza science

The Letter S in Italian

The first rule controls the onset of a syllable. Any consonant may be an onset in Italian as long as it is by itself. The words ma-le, ga-bo-la, and ga-ro-fa-no all contain syllables which begin with one consonant. For a syllable to begin with two consonantsbra-vo, atle-ta, gli-ci-nethe second consonant must be a liquid (those sounds which are regarded as not vowels yet quite not normal consonants; typically l and r are considered liquids). The exception to this rule is the letter s. As long as s is the first consonant, almost any other consonant may follow: stan-co, sba-glio, sfat-to. The second guideline also relates to the onset of a syllable and is very simple: a syllable may not begin with more than two consonants. Ever. S, however, is exempt from such a decree. There are many words in Italian which begin with three consonants but only when s is the first, for instance stra-no, sfrat-tare, and splen-dere. A third rule governing syllables controls the tail. A syllable may end with the nucleus, or vowel. When this is the caseas in ma-leit is called an open syllable; when a consonant closes the syllablestan-co, for exampleit is termed closed. According to this principle, closed syllables may only end in a sonorant consonant (that is one that may be produced continuously; in Italian, these are the letters l, r, n, m and the sound gn- of gnocchi produces). The sole circumstance in which a non-sonorant consonant may end a syllable is when that consonant is also the beginning of the next syllable, for instance in the words leg-go, fat-to, and av-vi-so. S, of course, is not subject to this rule and may close a syllable in words such as la-pis. The finaland possibly most interestingrule which s thumbs its nose at is syntactic doubling. Syntactic doubling is the phenomenon which Italian employs in order to avoid an unpalatable formation at the end of certain words such as unstressed monosyllabic words like the word a in the phrase Andiamo a casa. Say that phrase aloud. Note the length of the c in casa. Typically, this is not a written change and we only hear the elongation of the c. However, there are a few cases where syntactic doubling is graphically visible as in the word chiss, which combines the words chi and s. S almost never exhibits signs of syntactic doubling unless a new word is formed (as in chiss). Say these phrases out loud and note the length of the s in each: Ha scritto molto, strano, and Avr sbagliato. It is not lengthened. Instead of doubling, there is a restructuring of the syllables, dividing each as follows: has-crit-to mol-to, s-tra-no and av-rs-ba-glia-to. There is no need to elongate the consonant given that the s is already available in the following word, so to speak. Instead, the s passes to the tail of the syllable to its left without modifying anything else. What is most interesting about this rule is that it answers the question, "Why do we say il libro and un foglio but lo studente and uno straniero?" Normally, articles, some prepositions and a few other specific words such as quello, bello and buono drop the final o when followed by a noun: un albero, dell'uomo, il bell'usignolo, al mare, quell monte. Words that begin with s followed by a consonant block this cancellation of o, as do words that begin with one of a few other consonants (such as gn, sci or sce, gli, and z). The accessible o lends itself to the passage of s from the beginning of the noun to the word which precedes it, as in the case of uno straniero which breaks down into syllables as follows: u-nos-tra-nie-ro.

Double Double Italian Italian Consonants Consonants

A minimal pair is a pair of words which differ by only one sound, such as sete (thirst) and sette (seven) or andremo (we will go) and andremmo (we would go). By using examples which only change by one sound, we are eliminating outside cues which may influence perceived meaning. Let's begin with how double consonants are produced. Say the English words pepper, bobble, and nanny. When pronounced correctly, there should be no difference between the first and second consonant. In Italian, this is not the case. To imagine what a doubled consonant sounds like in Italian, picture what happens to phrases such as bad dog, bus stop, or even bookkeeper. In order to distinguish between the end of one word and the beginning of the next, we draw out the timing of the length, deliberately pronouncing each as a separate letter. Now try pronouncing the two Italian words pena (pain) and penna (pen). The n in the second word should sound similar to how an English speaker might say "in New York" when speaking slowly. Particular attention should be paid to which consonants lengthen in Italian speech; some are pronounced as double, even when they are only written once. The sh sound, for example, of scenza or moscia is lengthened every time. So why is this important? Reverse the situation for a moment and think of what happens when someone with a heavy accent pronounces some English words incorrectly. In discussing the erre moscia phenomenon, I pointed out how accent affects how we perceive the person speaking to us. Here is a more personal example. While in class one day in Italy, two Italians asked me in heavily accented English, "A 'beech' is a place for swimming, no?" I said that it was. "But a 'beech' is also a female dog? How?" I repeated each word carefully with the correct pronunciation and they looked at me smugly. "See? They are exactly the same." While they would probably never think anyone insulting was saying "you son of a sandy swimming area!" their inability to hear differences in vowel sounds leaves them vulnerable to other misunderstandings. It is easy for us to believe that the difference between i and ee is a blatant one and even go so far as to point out that a doubled consonant may change meaning in English as well. However it is important to keep in mind that this the distinction is only a written one. Say the words dinner/diner, comma/coma, and desert/dessert out loud and see if you can hear what changes. In the first two models, the vowel alters from short to long and in the third example, nothing changes except which syllable is stressed. Verbally, there has been no change whatsoever to the consonants.