THE ITALIAN ALPHABET

ENGLISH ITALIAN ENGLISH ITALIAN

A AH P PI
B BI Q QU
C CI R ERRE
D DI S ESSE
E E T TI
F EFFE U U
G GI V VU
H ACCA Z ZETA
I I *J ILUNGA
L ELLE *K CAPPA
M EMME *X ICS
N ENNE *Y YPSILON
O O *W VU DOPPIA
 ITALIAN VOWELS (VOCALI)

A, E, I, O, U

• Italian vowels (i vocali) are short, always

pronounced very clearly
• When vowels are grouped together in a word,
they are always pronounced separately
 PRONOUNCING ITALIAN VOWELS
• a-A: It sounds like the word “a” in the English
word ah! Examples:

– Casa » house.
– Amore » love.
– Fama » fame.
– Pasta » pasta, dough, pastry.
 PRONOUNCING ITALIAN VOWELS
• e-E: This vowel has two pronunciations:
• As an English “a” in hay, layer, may (this is popularly called a
narrow "e" or closed "e")
– Bere » to drink.
– e » and.
– Fede » faith.
– Me » me.
• As an English "e" in send, met, tent, hen (this one is
popularly called a wide "e" or open "e").
– Bene » well.
– Vento » wind.
– è » is.
– Festa » party; holiday.
 PRONOUNCING ITALIAN VOWELS
• o-O: This vowel has two pronunciations:
• Always as an English "o", in some cases with a
"narrow" or "closed
– Dono » gift.
– Nome » name.
– o » or.
• Sometimes with a "wide" or "open”. Examples:
– Moda » fashion.
– No » no.
– Olio » oil.
 PRONOUNCING ITALIAN VOWELS
• u-U: This vowel’s sound is similar to an English
"u" in rule or "w" in win, rowing. But u is a
vowel, while w is a consonant. Examples:
– Fungo » mushroom.
– Luna » moon.
– Lungo » long.
– Uno » one.
 Pronouncing Easy Consonants
• B Always as an English b. Example:
– Bene » well.
– Bambino » Child
• F Always as an English f in fame, knife, flute,
but never as in of. Example:
– Fare » To make
– Famoso » famous
 Pronouncing Easy Consonants
• H is completely soundless; never as in house,
hope, hammer; but as in heir, honest. H is written
in some form of the verb avere to have, in few
other Italian words, and mainly in foreign words
and names. Examples:
– Ho » (I) have.
– Hai » (you) have.
– Ha » (he / she / it) has.
– Hanno » (they) have.
– Ahi! » (interj) ouch!.
– Hotel » hotel.
 Pronouncing Easy Consonants
• L is sharper and more forward in the mouth
than in English, similar to l in link. Examples:
– Olio » oil
– Lingua » language
– Sale » salt
– Lungo » long
– Melone » melon
– Luna » moon
– Scuola » school
 Pronouncing Easy Consonants
• M Always as an English m. Examples:
– Madre » Mother
• N Always as an English n. Examples:
– No » No
– Nonna » Grandmother
• P is as in English, but without the aspiration that sometimes
accompanies this sound in English. Examples:
– Pane » bread
– Patata » potato
– Pepe » pepper
– Papà » dad
– Popone » melon
– Ponte » bridge
 Pronouncing Easy Consonants
• T is approximately the same as in English, but no escaping
of breath accompanies it in Italian. Examples:
– Contento » glad
– Carta » paper
– Arte » art
– Matita » pencil
– Turista » tourist
– Antipasto » appetizer
– Telefono » telephone
– Testa » head
• V Always as an English v. Examples:
– Vino » Wine.
– Voglio » (I) want.
 Consonantic Digraphs
• CH (found only before e or i): Its sound is like
the English "k" sound; as "ki" sound in king.
Examples:
– Chiave » key.
– Chiesa » church.
– Anche » also.
– Che » that, what.
– Chi » who.
– Perché » because.
 Consonantic Digraphs
• GH (found only before e or i): Its sound is like
the "g" in get, gift, gitar. Examples:
– Spaghetti » spaghetti.
– Ghiaccio » ice.
– Laghi » lakes.
– Maghi » magicians..
 Consonantic Digraphs
• GLI : This sound is approximately like "ll" in
million. Examples:
– Aglio » garlic.
– Bottiglia » bottle.
– Famiglia » family.
– Meglio » better.
 Consonantic Digraphs
• GN: This sound is pronounced as the English
"ny" like in canyon. The sound is actually the
same as in the Spanish word "señorita" (seh-
nyoh-ree-tah) (miss). Examples:
– Bagno » bath.
– Signora » lady.
– Signore » gentleman.
– Signorina » young lady
 Consonantic Digraphs
• SCH: This occurs only before e or i, and is
pronounced like the English sk in diskette, sky,
asking (remember the sound of italian
vowels). Examples::
– Dischi » disks, records.
– Lische » fishbones.
– Tasche » pockets.
 Special Clusters
• Certain consonant clusters have special
sounds in Italian.
• Their pronunciation changes when they come
together and form one syllable (monosyllabic
clusters).
• CE, CI, CIA, CIE, CIO, CIU: While ca, co and cu
are pronounced as in English, ce and ci have a
soft sound (palatal pronunciation), like in
English che and chi.
 Special Clusters
• GE, GI, GIA, GIE, GIO, GIU: The clusters ga, go and gu are
pronounced like in English, but ge and gi have a "soft"
sound (palatal pronunciation), like English je and jy (or jih).
• Also in this case, when cluster gi is followed by a further
vowel, i becomes mute, and the English "j" sound is
followed by the second vowel, thus gia sounds like ja (not
jya), gie is pronounced je, gio as jo, and giu as ju.
– Giorno » Dia
– Giacca » Jacket
– Gioco » Game
– Giudice » Judge
 Special Clusters
• SC, SCA, SCO, SCU, SCE, SCI, SCIA, SCIE, SCIO, SCIU:
The cluster sc only has a special sound when followed
by vowels e and i, in which case it sounds like an
English sh in sharp, shelf, cash, shop.
– Scena » scene
– Scesa » descent
– Scimmia » monkey
– Conoscere » to know
– Crescere » to grow
– Pesce » fish
– Scena » scene
 Special Clusters
• In any other case (sca, sco, scu) the pronunciation
is like the English one in scar scorpion, scub,
scootera.
– Scala » scale
– Sconto » discount
– Scuola » school
– Ascoltare » to listen
– Pesca » peach
– Scaloppine » cutlets
– Scarpa » shoe
 Special Clusters
• When the cluster sci is followed by a vowel
(scia, scie, scio, sciu), the sound of i is lost;
thus scia sounds like English sha, scie is
pronounced she, scio as sho, and sciu as shu.
– Fascia » diaper
– Sceicco » sheik
– Scialle » Scarf
– Sciroppo » Syrup
– Sciare » Sky
 Double Consonants
• In Italian, all consonants except h can be doubled.
• Double consonants (i consonanti doppie) are
pronounced much more forcefully than single
consonants. With double f, l, m, n, r, s, and v, the
sound is prolonged; with double b, c, d, g, p, and
t, the stop is stronger than for the single
consonant. Double z is pronounced almost the
same as single z. Double s is always unvoiced.
 Double Consonants
• In most cases they are followed by a vowel, as in:
• · Dubbio » doubt.
• · Albicocca » apricot.
• · Gatto » cat.
• · Bello » beautiful.
• · Filetto » filet.
• · Evviva » hurrah.
• · Anno » year.
• · Bistecca » beefsteak.
• · Basso » short.
• · Espresso » espresso coffee.
• · Tavolozza » palette.
• · Spaghetti » spaghetti.
• · Ragazzo » boy.
• · Mamma » mama.