SmartPhrase.com: Italian: Pronunciation: Helpful Books for Italian;
Where is Italian Spoken?
Italian is not only spoken in Italy (Italia) and its islands. It is also spoken in Switzerland (Svizzera) although there are more speakers of German and French there.
There are large Italian communities in the USA (Stati Uniti) and Canada (Canada).
The Alphabet
In Italian, the alphabet is the same as for English, except that J, K, W, X
, and Y are not used. These letters appear in some Italian words of foreign origin, however.
Accents
Acute (á, é, í, ó, ú) and grave
(à, è, ì, ò, ù) accents are used in Italian, and are called accento acuto and accento grave. Strictly the grave accent mark is used to mark stress on open vowels,
and the acute accent mark on closed vowels. However, in practice, there are many situations in which a grave accent is used on closed vowels. The usual use of accents in Italian is to indicate that the stress falls on the last vowel in a
polysyllabic word. In poetry the circumflex (â, ê, î, ô, û) accent is sometimes used to indicate the contraction of two vowels, or show where a syllable has been dropped.
Consonants (and combinations)
b |
• like b in boy, but softer |
c |
• before e or i - like ch in chin |
ch |
• like c in cat |
d |
• like d in dog, but softer |
f |
• like f in fish |
g |
• before e or i - like g in gymnastics |
gh |
• like g in go |
gl |
• like lli million |
gn |
• like ni in onion |
gu |
• like gu in anguish |
h |
• always silent |
l |
• like l in lime |
m |
• like m in me |
n |
• like n in nice |
p |
• like p in pit, but softer |
qu |
• like qu in quick |
r |
• rolled/trilled like r in Spanish or Scottish |
s |
• between vowels - like s in nose |
sc |
• before e or i - like sh in shut |
t |
• like t in tape, but softer |
v |
• like v in vase |
z |
• either like ts in spits or ds in pads |
zz |
• either like ts in spits or ds in pads |
Vowels
a |
• long like a in father |
e |
• (è) short like e in set, or |
i |
• like ee in meet |
o |
• short like o in often, or |
u |
• either like oo in foot or w in well |
Vowel Groups: strong + strong:
• Strong vowels: a, e, o
• Weak vowels: i, u
pronounce as two seperate syllables.
strong + weak:
pronounce the weak one more quickly and with less stress than the strong one, unless the weak vowel in stressed, in which case pronounce it as a seperate syllable.
weak + weak: generally the second is stressed more strongly.
SmartPhrase language pronunciation guide. Helping you to speak better Italian and talk with an accent the Italians can understand. Explaining the pronunciation of individual letters: consonants and vowels. Pronouncing phonemes and diphthongs. Phonology, phonetics, and dialects of speech. Language pronunciation guide for spoken sounds, speech, talking.
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