Language/Italian/Pronunciation/The-tonic-accent

Tonic Accents in Italian

Ciao everybody,

In this lesson, you will learn about tonic accents in Italian. Tonics accents change the meaning of words and are important for correct pronunciation.

The tonic accent is an emphasis on one syllable of a word. In the examples below in Italian, the emphasis on one syllable is written in bold.

This emphazized syllable is sometimes called a "supporting syllable", because it serves as a support for raising the tone of a word.

In Italian, the tonic accent can be located on different syllables of a word.

The tonal accent is just as good for tone as it is for rhythm and therefore for harmony: this is probably why the Italian language is considered a singing language. 😉

So if we pronounce the verb "to live" ("abitare") in Italian, the tonic accent is in the penultimate syllable (the syllable just before the last one).

On the other hand, if we conjugate this verb to the first person of the present tense ('abito'), the tonic accent is formed on the first syllable.

The words are classified into five groups according on where to position the tonic accent:

Le parole tronche

The words whose emphasis is marked on the last syllable are called "parole tronche": "tronche" comes from the verb 'troncare' which means to cut. Indeed, these words have lost, for most of them, a syllable and have inherited a graphic accent:

• Example: 'Città' (city) is the modern version of the word 'cittade' (the last syllable, 'de' having been deleted)

'Servitù' (servitude) had for the old version the word 'servitude' (the last syllable, 'de' having been removed)

Le parole piane

In the vast majority of Italian words the tonal accent is on the penultimate syllable, as in the example cited above. These words are called "parole piane":

• Example: Chiamare (Call) or troppo (too much)

Le parole sdrucciole

When the tonal accent is on the penultimate syllable, the word is said "parole sdrucciole":

• Example: Abito (I live) or musica (music)

Le parole bisdrucciole

Other words have an emphasis on the third syllable. They are called "parole bisdrucciole":

• Example: Filosofo (philosopher) or ditemelo (tell me)

Le parole trisdrucciole

And finally, more rarely, we find words whose tonic accent is on the fourth syllable. They are called "parole trisdrucciole":

• Example: Indicaglielo (tell him) or recitamelo (recite it to me)

Sources

• http://bravissimi.org/grammaire-italien/prononciation/accents-toniques-graphiques/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VBAS3E_Qco

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• Alphabet and Pronunciation