Difference between revisions of "Language/Italian/Grammar/Italian-Alphabet"

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== STRESS ==
== STRESS ==
In the Italian language stress cannot be guessed by diacritics like in Greek, Spanish or Portuguese. It does not even fall always on a specific syllable like in French (always on the last) or in Icelandic or Finnish (always on the first). Even if the tendence is to pronounce words with the stress on the last but one syllable, many commonly used words do not follow this rule. Plus, when a word ends with more than one vowel, it is always difficult to syllabize correctly. When learning Italian, I suggest you to always mark in written form the stressed vowel and to repeat it out loud once or twice.
In the Italian language stress cannot be guessed by diacritics like in Greek, Spanish or Portuguese. It does not even fall always on a specific syllable like in French (always on the last) or in Icelandic or Finnish (always on the first). Even if the tendence is to pronounce words with the stress on the last but one syllable, many commonly used words do not follow this rule. Plus, when a word ends with more than one vowel, it is always difficult to syllabize correctly so getting to now the "right stressed syllable" isn't useful. When learning Italian, I suggest you to always mark in written form the stressed vowel and to repeat it out loud once or twice.
 




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* '''de'''-bo-le, '''ca'''-vo-lo, '''for'''-bi-ce, '''bri'''-cio-la, '''nu'''-vo-la  
* '''de'''-bo-le, '''ca'''-vo-lo, '''for'''-bi-ce, '''bri'''-cio-la, '''nu'''-vo-la  


- parole bisdrucciole: words on stress on the fourth syllable counting from the end. The Italian language also has words where the stress falls way back towards the starting syllables and still having other three syllables after them. These words are almost always conjugated verbs, sometimes with pronouns attached in the end (a graphic accent is not required for correct spelling). For example:
- parole bisdrucciole: words with stress on the fourth syllable counting from the end. The Italian language also has words where the stress falls way back towards the starting syllables and still having other three syllables after them. These words are almost always conjugated verbs, sometimes with pronouns attached in the end (a graphic accent is not required for correct spelling). For example:


* '''me'''-ri-ta-no, '''dan'''-do-glie-lo, '''pro'''-vo-ca-no, mol-'''ti'''-pli-ca-no, cen-'''tu'''-pli-ca-no
* '''me'''-ri-ta-no, '''dan'''-do-glie-lo, '''pro'''-vo-ca-no, mol-'''ti'''-pli-ca-no, cen-'''tu'''-pli-ca-no


As you can see, only troncated words require a graphic accent (acute or gave), but in the middle of a word accents are almost never written, so it is quite difficult to guess where the stress falls in Italian.
As you can see, only troncated words require a graphic accent (acute or gave), but in the middle of a word accents are almost never written, so it is quite difficult to guess where the stress falls in Italian. Many words follow a specific pattern that repeats itself, so it will be easier for some new words guessing their stress, but for many other it won't.


== SYLLABIZING ==
== SYLLABIZING ==
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Let us start from how words are built in Italian.
Let us start from how words are built in Italian.


Italian words are usually composed of an alternation of consonants and vowels like BANANA ('''c-v-c-v'''-c-v), PAROLA ('''c-v-c-v'''-c-v)
Italian words are usually composed of an alternation of consonants and vowels anding almost always with a vowel, like BANANA ('''c-v-c-v'''-c-v), PAROLA ('''c-v-c-v'''-c-v)


They can also begin with a vowel and continuing with the alternation like EDERA ('''v'''-'''c-v'''-c-v), ANATEMA ('''v-c-v'''-c-v-c-v)
They can also begin with a vowel and continuing with the alternation like EDERA ('''v'''-'''c-v'''-c-v), ANATEMA ('''v-c-v'''-c-v-c-v)


Sometimes you can find clusters from two to three consonants (very rarely a cluster of 4 consonants). They can be found at the beginning or in the middle of the word, like CREDERE ('''cc'''-v-c-v-c-v), STRADA ('''ccc'''-v-c-v) LABBRA (c-v-'''ccc'''-v), ATTRAVERSARE (v-'''ccc'''-v-c-v-'''cc'''-v-c-v) IGNOTO (v-'''cc'''-v-c-v) etc.
Sometimes you can find clusters from two to three consonants (very rarely a cluster of 4 consonants). They can be found at the beginning or in the middle of the word, like CREDERE ('''cc'''-v-c-v-c-v), STRADA ('''ccc'''-v-c-v) LABBRA (c-v-'''ccc'''-v), ATTRAVERSARE (v-'''ccc'''-v-c-v-'''cc'''-v-c-v) IGNOTO (v-'''cc'''-v-c-v) etc. INSTRADARE (v-'''cccc'''-v-c-v-c-v)
 
The last case you can find is a cluster of vowels (from two to three, very rarely four) that con behave in different ways: In fact when vowels are attached to one another they can form a diphthong, a triphthong or they can be pronounced separately forming a hiatus. This cannot be guessed from the writing and may be hard to hear when ITalians speak so must be learnt by heart most of the times, like AIUTARE ('''vvv'''-c-v-c-v), CIAO (c-'''vvv'''), POETA (c-'''vv'''-c-v), AIUOLE ('''vvvv'''-c-v).
 
In order to syllabyze corretly you should be quite good in pronouncing and understanding the language; anyway follow the rules below:
 
#First step is recognizing vowels and consonants; Italian only has 5 vowels, A, E, I, O, U, while the other letters are all consonants
# A consonant always need a vowel after it so the most typical Italian syllable is made of consonant plus vowel, like BA, PE, SU, RI, CO, ZE etc.
#A consonant can be followed only by one other consonant before its vowel, but only if it is '''L or R''', like in BRA, PRE, CLO, FLU etc.
#A consonant can be preceded only by '''letter S''' inside the same syllable like in STO, SLE, SFA, SBI etc.
#the two rules above con be applied together, so we can find syllables like STRA, SFRE, SCLU etc.
#The vowel core of the syllable can me made not only of just one vowel: if the vowel is a part of a dipthong or a triphthong, this will stick together inside the syllable, so we'll have syllables like PIA, /pja/ (rule 2 + ascending d.), CUI /kui/ (rule 2 + discending d.), VUOI /vwɔi/ (rule 2 + triphthong made of ascending + discending d.), SCUO /skwɔ/ (rule 4 + ascending d.), SBRAI (rule 5 + discending d.) etc.. Unfortunately only pronunciation can clarify whether a group of vowels sounds like a diphthong/triphthong or a hiatus
#A hiatus must always be separated, like in O-E, E-O, etc. and many vowel clusters that may look like a diphthong or a triphthong but which components are pronounced separately as different vowel cores
#There are some special clusters of letters that cannot be separated since together they make a new different sound:
##CIA, CIE (rare), CIO, CIU /tʃa/, /tʃe/, /tʃo/, /tʃu/: I is needed to create sound /tʃ/ before hard vowels (and with E in some words) and cannot be separated from them
##GIA, GIE (rare), GIO, GIU /dʒa/, /dʒe/, /dʒo/, /dʒu/: same as before but considering sound /dʒ/ instead of /tʃ/
##SCIA, SCE, (SCIE rare), SCI, SCIO, SCIU /ʃa/ /ʃe/ /ʃi/ /ʃo/ /ʃu/: SC + I or E is the only way to write sound /ʃ/ in Italian, thus these letters cannot be separated
##GLIA, GLIE, GLI, GLIO, GLIU /ʎa/ /ʎe/ /ʎi/ /ʎo/ /ʎu/: GL + I (+ other vowel) is the only way to write sound /ʎ/ in Italian thus these letters cannot be separated
##GNA (GNIA rare), GNE, GNI, GNO, GNU /ɲa/ /ɲe/ /ɲi/ /ɲo/ /ɲu/: GN + vowel is the only way to write sound /ɲ/ in Italian, thus these letters cannot be separated
##PN and PS: these are clusters coming from Greek (only used in Italian for technical o scientific terms) and must not be separated
##ATTENTION! Even inside these clusters, exceptions can be found. Consider syllables CI, GI, SCI or GNI: they already make a syllable by themselves, but can also be followed by other vowels transforming letter I into a silent vowel; but smetimes the stress of a word can fall exactly on letter I, so a hiatus is born between it and the following vowel, making the syllable separate into two different vowel cores. For example: ENERGIA (meaning energy): the word is pronounced /e-ner-'<nowiki/>'''dʒi'''-a/ making the I perfectly clear and audible, and the A separating into a new syllable; FARMACIA (meaning pharmacy, drug store): the word is pronounced /far-ma-'<nowiki/>'''tʃi'''-a/ making the same effect as explained above; same goes for COMPAGNIA /kom-pa-''''ɲi'''-a/
#Any other group of letters must be separated: geminated consonants are very typical of the Italian language (B-B, D-D, G-G, F-F, Z-Z etc.: since they don't follow the above rules, they must always be separated; the same goes for any other combination like N-T, R-B, R-T, L-V and many others; thinking by exclusion may be the best way to syllabize
#after you have found your consonant cluster and its vowel core, you can separate it from the letters before.
Examples where the stressed vowel is bold in order to help you with the correct pronunciation:
 
CR'''E'''DERE: C needs the following E and accepts R between them, D needs the second E and R needs the third E; separate the groups from the letters before
 
* CRE - DE - RE
 
ASPRAM'''E'''NTE: SPR is a cluster of three letters beginning with an S and ending with an R so they stick together and need a vowel after them, the second A; M needs the vowel after it, the first E; N and T don't like to be together so they separate making the N belonging with the previous syllable and T needing the vowel after, that is to say the second E; letter A stands by it self because SPRA is already good with its vowel core
 
* A - SPRA - MEN - TE


The last case you can find is a cluster of vowels (from two to three, very rarely four) that con behave in different ways: In fact when vowels are attached to one another they can form a diphthong, a triphthong or they can be pronounced separately forming a hiatus. This cannot be guessed and must be learnt by heart, like AIUTARE ('''vvv'''-c-v-c-v), CIAO (c-'''vvv'''), POETA (c-'''vv'''-c-v)
INFLORESC'''E'''NZA: we have the cluster NFL, looking for a vowel core after it: as a consonant accepts L between itself and the vowel core, F accepts L and O, while N gets separated and stays behind; R looks for the first E; SCE is the typical syllable for sound /ʃe/ and cannot be separated; cluster NZ cannot stick toghere since the first is not an S and the second is nor L or R, so they get separated and N stays behind while Z looks for its vowel core, that is to say A


In order to syllabyze coretly:
* IN - FLO - RE - SCEN - ZA


# First step is recognizing vowels and consonants; Italian only has 5 vowels, A, E, I, O, U, while the other letters are all consonants (just do as you've seen above)
CONT'''I'''NUO: C looks for the first O; NT gets separated so N stays with CO, while T looks for I; N looks for the following vowel core which is an ascending diphthong /wo/ so they stay together
# Second: clusters of consonants must be separated according to the following rules:
#* clusters that creates different sounds cannot be separated: as we've seen above, GN (+ vowel) /ɲ'''/''', GL (+ I + vowel) '''/'''ʎ'''/''' SC(+ I or E) '''/'''ʃ'''/'''
#* letter S cannot be separated from the consonant the follows, so SB, SC, SD, SF, SG, SL, SM, SN, SP, SQ, SR, ST, SV will stick together
#* letters L and R cannot be separated form the consonant the precede (except the cluster -RL-), so BL, BR, CL, CR, DL, DR, FL, FR, GL, GR, ML, MR,


First rule to know is:
* CON - TI - NUO


* every syllable must have only one vowel or one diphthong or one triphthong inside, and it could begin or end with one or more consonants. So the types of syllable we have are:
PU'''O'''I: P looks for a vowel but finds three of them: this is a triphthong made of the ascending UO /wɔ/ and the discending OI /oi/ so it is a monosyllable
** "'''V'''" or "'''VV'''" or "'''VVV'''" - only one vowel/diphthong: '''A'''-BI-TA-RE, '''EU'''-RO-PA
** consonant(s) + vowel/diphthong: '''CRE'''-DE-RE, '''SPRO'''-FON-DA-RE
** vowel/diphthong + consonant(s): '''AR'''-RI-VA-RE
** consonant(s) + vowel/diphthong + consonant(s): '''COR'''-SA


* when you see more consonants attached one to the other, they must be devided according to these rules:
* PUOI
** R and L remain attached to the consonant before: AP- '''PRE'''-SO, RE-'''CLA'''-MO
** N and M


== Conclusion ==
MAG'''I'''A: M looks for the following vowel A, G looks for the following vowel that seems to be a diphthong: however the stress is exactly on I so this creates a hiatus between it and A and must be separated (G will only take I)
Learning the Italian alphabet is an important and necessary first step in becoming proficient in Italian. The good news is that the Italian alphabet has a lot in common with English, which means that some letters are pronounced the same in both languages. While the accent marks and diacritics might seem challenging, once you understand their use and meaning, they will become second nature. In next lessons, we'll learn about nouns and articles, which will be the next step in communicating effectively in Italian. Have fun learning!


<span class='maj'></span>
* MA - GI - A
<span class="maj"></span>
==Sources==
==Sources==
* [https://www.thinkinitalian.com/the-italian-alphabet/ The Italian alphabet]
* [https://www.thinkinitalian.com/the-italian-alphabet/ The Italian alphabet]

Revision as of 19:42, 31 May 2024

Next Lesson — Nouns and Articles ▶️


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Italian Grammar - Italian Alphabet and Pronunciation

ALPHABET AND PRONUNCIATION OF THE LETTERS

The Italian alphabet contains 21 letters (5 vowels and 16 consonants). The letters J, K, W, X, and Y are only used in foreign words, and in scientific or technical terms. Nowadays it is common to use the English alphabet instead of the Italian one since lots of commonly used words contain J, K, W, X and Y.

The modern Italian alphabet includes the following 26 letters:

Italian Name of the letter /IPA/ Pronunciation in words /IPA/ Comparison with other languages
A /a/ /a/ like in Castellano "pAdre"; the English 'a' has many pronunciations according to what letters come before or after it: the closest sound to the Italian one could be the /ʌ/ sound in "cUp".
B /bi/ /b/ like in English "Brave"
C /tʃi/ /tʃ/ or /k/ like in English "CHurCH" (/tʃ/) before 'e' or 'i'; like in English "Car" (/k/) before 'a', 'o', 'u' or any other consonant. See letter 'h' and 'i' for more details
D /di/ /d/ like in English "Dog"
E /e/ or /ɛ/ /e/ or /ɛ/ like in English "red" (/ɛ/) or in Castellano "buEno" (/e/).


In Italian pronouncing /e/ or /ɛ/ is not as import as in French: choosing one sound or the other does not compromise the communication. In fact every Italian uses them according to regional inflections: even if this letter may be pronounced in two ways by most Italians, it is always considered as a single vowel

F /'ɛf:e/ /f/ like in English "Fish"
G /dʒi/ /dʒ/ or /g/ like in English "Gem" (/dʒ/) before 'e' or 'i'; like in English "Gum" (/g/) before 'a', 'o', 'u' or any other consonant. See letter 'h' and 'i' for more details
H /ˈak:a/ /-/ (silent) is always silent like in Castellano


In Italian it is used to maintain sounds /k/ and /g/ before soft vowels 'e' and 'i'. In fact:

- CE -> read /tʃe/ -- CHE -> read /ke/

- CI -> read /tʃi/ -- CHI -> read /ki/

- GE -> read /dʒe/ -- GHE -> read /ge/

- GI -> read /dʒi/ -- GHI -> read /gi/


Letter 'h' is also used in front of some persons of the verb "to have" conjugated in present indicative to distinguish them from homophone words:

- HO -> I have -- O -> or

- HAI -> you have -- AI -> "to the" (preposition plus definitive article)

- HA -> he/she/it has -- A -> "to" (preposition)

- HANNO -> they have -- ANNO -> year

I /i/ /i/, /j/, /-/ (silent) like in English "mEEt".


'i' is also used to maintain sounds /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ before hard vowels 'a', 'o', 'u' as long as they are considered inside the same syllable. In these cases 'i' is silent. In fact:

- CA -> read /ka/ -- CIA -> read //tʃa/ (it's pronounced /'tʃao/ and not /'tʃjao/)

- CO -> read /ko/ -- CIO -> read //tʃo/

- CU -> read /ku/ -- CIU -> read //tʃu/

- GA -> read /ga/ -- GIA -> read /dʒa/

- GO -> read /go/ -- GIO -> read /dʒo/

- GU -> read gu/ -- GIU -> read /dʒu/


In Italian some words require a silent 'i' in syllables CIE, GIE or SCIE, even if vowel 'e' is already soft by itself. In fact you may find:

- CIE -> read as CE

- GIE -> read as GE

- SCIE -> read as SCE (/ʃe/)


When 'i' comes before another vowel and is inside tha same syllable (apart from the case mentioned above!) it is pronounced 'j' like in English "Yesterday"

J /dʒej/ or /i 'luŋga/ /j/ or /dʒ/ only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
K /'kap:a/ /k/ only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
L /'ɛl:e/ /l/ like in English "Lion"
M /'ɛm:e/ /m/ like 'in English "Mouse"
N /'ɛn:e/ /n/, /ŋ/ or /ɱ/ like in English "Nice"; it changes to /ŋ/ before sounds /k/ or /g/ and to /ɱ/ before sounds /f/ or /v/. These should natural allophones of sound /n/ for most languages.
O /ɔ/ or /o/ /ɔ/ or /o/ like in English "mOre" /o/ or in English /lOt/ /ɔ/


In Italian pronouncing /o/ or /ɔ/ is not as import as in other monosyllabic languages: choosing one sound or the other does not compromise the communication. In fact every Italian uses them according to regional inflections: even if this letter may be pronounced in two ways by most Italians, it is always considered as a single vowel

P /pi/ /p/ like in English "Pen"
Q /ku/ /k/ like in English "Quit" /k/. It is only used when followed by U+VOWEL (-QUA- /kwa/, -QUE /kwe/-, -QUI /kwi//-, -QUO- /kwo/) inside the same syllable.

Letter 'q' is quite tricky in Italian: in fact it has the same sound as letter 'c' when found in the same position inside a word. Notice how the syllables with letter 'q' or 'c' in the following words have the same pronunciation but different spelling:

- QUALE -> read /'kwale -- VACUA -> read /'vakwa/

- QUESTO -> read /'kwesto/ -- INNOCUE -> read /i'n:ɔkwe/

- QUINDI -> read /'kwindi/ -- TACCUINO -Z read /ta'k:wino/

- QUOTA -> read /'kwɔta/ -- CUORE -> read /'kwɔre

R /'ɛr:e/ /r/ or /ɾ/ like in Castellano "Rosa". Italian 'r' is pronounced with a rolling sound made by rapidly flipping the end of the tongue up and down against the roof of the mouth); It may be softer like /ɾ/ between vowels or at the beginning of a word (like Americans usually pronounce 't' between vowels, for example in "iT is" /ɪɾɪz/)
S /'ɛs:e/ /s/ or /z/ like in English "Sun" /s/ or in English "boyS" /z/. Unlike Castellano, Italian 's' has two pronunciations.

- /s/ before dull consonant sounds (/sk/, /sp/, /st/, /sf/ or at the beginning of a word when followed by a vowel (exactly like in English "Silence")

- /z/ before vibrant consontant sounds (/zg/,/zb/, /zd/, /zv/, /zl/, /zm/, /zn/) or between two vowels (/aza/, /uzo/, /ezu/ etc.)


These are just general rules: according to regional inflections you may hear different ways Italians pronunce this letter, but choosing one sound or the other does not compromise the communication

T /ti/ /t/ like in Castellano "Tener"; the English 't' is usually followed by an expiration at the beginnig of a word when followed by a vowel (like in the word "time") which does not exist in Italian
U /u/ /u/ or /w/ like in English "cOOl"; letter 'u' can be found as a half consonant or half vowel sound when followed by another vowel inside the same syllable, in which case it is pronounced /w/ like in English "What"
V /vi/ or /vu/ /v/ like in English "Very"
W /vu 'dop:ja/ /w/ or /v/ only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
X /iks/ /ks/ only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
Y /'ipsilon/ /j/ or /i/ only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
Z /'dzɛta/ /dz/ or /ts/ like in English "geTS" or like a fast pronounciation of the English "reD Zone";

The Italian 'z' is quite tricky: the correct pronunciation should be learnt by heart since there is no rule at all that could teach you when to say /ts/ and when to say /dz/. In fact every Italian, according to their regional inflection choose to use one sound or the other for each word: this does not compromise our communication anyway.

CLUSTERS OF LETTERS

Some sounds do not have a specific letter, but a cluster of letters


CONSONANT CLUSTERS CREATING DIFFERENT SOUNDS

  • GN: this cluster is always followed by a vowel and must be pronounced /ɲ/ (GNA /ɲa/, GNE /ɲe/, GNI /ɲi/, GNO /ɲo/, GNU /ɲu/). This cluster is prounced as /gn/ only in some technical or scientific terms. Notice that in rare cases syllable GNA must be spelled GNIA even if letter I is silent. (example: DISEGNIAMO, REGNIAMO etc.)
  • GLI: this cluster is always followed by vowel 'I' alone or 'I + other vowels' and must be pronounced /ʎ/ (GLIA (ʎa), GLIE (ʎe), GLI (ʎi) GLIO (ʎo), GLIU (ʎu). This cluster is pronounced as /gl/ almost only in technical or scientific terms
  • SCI/SCE: 'SC' plus soft vowels 'E' and 'I' is pronounced /ʃ/; to reproduce sound /ʃ/ before other vowels, letter 'I' must always be used (SCIA /ʃa/, SCE /ʃe/, SCI /ʃi/, SCIO /ʃo/ SCIU /ʃu/); notice that syllable SCE must sometimes be spelled SCIE even if its pronunciation does not change. (example: SCIENZA, SCIENZIATO, SCIENTIFICO etc.)


VOWEL CLUSTERS CREATING DIFFERENT SOUNDS

In Italian you can find clusters of vowels that should be considered diphthongs, triphthongs or hiatus.

A diphthong is a cluster of vowels inside the same syllable, in which one vowel is the core of the syllable and the other is pronounced slightly differently, most of the times as a half-vowel.

The Italian diphthongs divide themselves into two groups:

  • ascending diphthongs: they are composed of I or U + all the other vowels; the I and the U are not stressed and are pronunced as half vowels while the other vowels are pronounced clearly as always, so IA /ja/, IE /je/ or /jɛ/, IO /jo/ or /jɔ/, IU /ju/ and UA /wa/, UE /we/ or /w, UI /wi/, UO /wo/ or /wɔ/. sounds /ji/ (II as a diphthong) and /wu/ (UU as a diphthong) do not exist in Italian). These diphthongs are pronounced exactly like in English YEsterday, YAwn, YOrk or WHAtch, WHen, WHIle etc.(you could just imagine to actually replace the I with a English Y and U with an English W)
  • discending diphthongs: these are dipthongs in which the clear and stress vowel is the first one while the following one is I or U. In these cases I or U are still pronounced clearly but are considered non-syllabic vowel and are sometimes considered as halfvowel as well, even if in terms of pronounciation they are not. So we have AI /ai/, EI /ei/ or ɛi/, II /ii/, OI /oi/ or /ɔi/, UI /ui/ and AU /au/, EU /eu/ (IU, OU, UU with stress on the first vowel do not exist in Italian).

Italian also uses rare triphthongs combining the two rules or using more than one ascending diphthong. For example:

  • triphthong made of ascending + discending diphthong: VUOI /vwɔi/, where we have ascending UO /wɔ/ + discending OI /oi/ (this means "you want")
  • triphthong made of ascending + discending diphthong: GUAI /gwai/, where we have ascending UA /wa/ + discending AI /ai/ (this means "trouble")
  • triphthong made of two ascending diphthongs: CONTINUIAMO /konti'nwjamo/, where we have ascending UI /wi/ and ascending IA /ja/ (this means "we continue")

Sometimes clusters of vowels must be pronounced separately and considered as the core of different syllables: in some cases this happens between vowels that by nature cannot make a diphthong, while in other occasions this happens even between vowels that could form a diphthong, so this could bring you to pronounce the word wrong. This is called in anycase "hiatus". A hiatus is a suquence of vowel sounds each of which is the core of a different syllable.

  • hiatus made between vowels that do not create a diphthong by nature: POETA /po'ɛta/, (it means "poet"). It syllabize as PO-E-TA
  • hiatus made between vowels that do not create a diphthong by nature: AEREO /a'ɛɾeo/ (it means "plain"); this word has two hiatuses, one between A and E and the other between E and O); it is syllabized as A-E-RE-O
  • hiatus made between vowels that could make a diphthong: VIA /'via/, (it means "road, street, avenue"); it is syllabized as VI-A
  • hiatus made between vowels that could make a diphthong: BAULE /ba'ule/, (it means "(trasure)chest, trunk"); it is syllabized as BA-U-LE

DIACRITICS

ACCENTS

Every language uses accents for different purposes and in different ways.

Nowadays the Italian language uses two accents which are placed only above vowels.

One is the acute accent which may be found only on É and Ó and the other one is the grave accent which may be found on any vowel À È Ì Ò Ù.

As you can see, only E and O admit two types of accent: you should pick the grave accents on these vowels only when they are pronounced open /ɛ/ or /ɔ/, while you should use the acute accent when they are pronounced closed /e/ or /o/. For the other vowels only the grave accents is the correct one.

They are used:

- to distinguish homophone words that have a different grammar role (like in Castellano or French); mandatory for correct spelling

  • LA -> feminine singular article -- LÀ -> adverb "there"
  • SI -> pronoun for "itself, himself, herself" -- SÌ -> "yes"
  • NE -> pronoun that means "of this, that, these, those" -- NÉ -> "nor, neither"
  • DA -> preposition "from" -- DÀ -> he/she/it gives (verb)
  • E -> "and" -- È -> it, she, he is (verb)

- to mark the stress of a plurisyllabic word when it falls on the very last letter; mandatory for correct spelling

  • VERITÀ -> stress on 'a'
  • PERÒ -> stress on 'o'
  • VIRTÙ -> stress on 'u'
  • COMPÌ -> stress on 'i'

- marking the stress of a monosyllabic word when it contains I + VOWEL and the stress falls on this very last vowel: in these cases you know you must not pronounce the vowels as a hiatus; mandatory for correct spelling

  • GIÀ -> the stress shows that the word is monosyllabic and that is pronounced /dʒa/ and not /'dʒia/ with a hiatus
  • PIÙ -> the stress shows that the word is monosyllaboc and that is pronounced /pju/ and not /'piu/ with a hiatus
  • GIÙ -> pronounced /dʒu/ and not /'dʒiu/

- to distinguish homograph words that only differs for the stress; NON mandatory for correct spelling

  • ÀNCORA -> "anchor" -- ANCÓRA -> "one more time" or "again"
  • PRÌNCIPI -> "princes" -- PRINCÌPI -> "principles"


In Italian the circumflex accent and the umlaut accent were used once but nowadays they are never used by Italians (with some very rare exceptions).


APOSTROPHE

The Italian language uses the apostrophe like French or English. It usually stands at the end of a word when some of the final letters are dropped for phonetic reasons.

L'AQUILA -> "L' " stands for "LA" in front of words beginning with a vowel

UN'OCA -> UN' stands for "UNA" in front of words beginning with a vowel

UN PO' -> PO' stands for "POCO": this is a very common Italian expression which can be translated as "a little, a bit"

TUTT'ALTRO -> TUTT' stands for "TUTTO"

C'È -> C' stands for "CI": This expression means "there is"

STRESS

In the Italian language stress cannot be guessed by diacritics like in Greek, Spanish or Portuguese. It does not even fall always on a specific syllable like in French (always on the last) or in Icelandic or Finnish (always on the first). Even if the tendence is to pronounce words with the stress on the last but one syllable, many commonly used words do not follow this rule. Plus, when a word ends with more than one vowel, it is always difficult to syllabize correctly so getting to now the "right stressed syllable" isn't useful. When learning Italian, I suggest you to always mark in written form the stressed vowel and to repeat it out loud once or twice.


According to the stress rule, plurisyllabic words can by divided into 4 types:

- Parole tronche (truncated or oxytone words): words where the stress falls on the last syllable like in English "re-WARD" (a graphic accent must always be written for correct spelling)

  • caf-fè, ve-ri-tà, po-trò, co-li-brì, bel-ze-bù

- Parole piane (flat or paroxytone words): words where the stress falls on the penultimate syllable like in English "MU-sic" (a graphic accent is not required for correct spelling)

  • ca-de-re, pa-laz-zo, co-sto-so, a-pri-le, fiu-me

- Parole sdrucciole (preparoxytone words): words where the stress falls on the ante-penultimate syllable like in English "CI-ne-ma" (a graphic accent is not required for correct spelling)

  • de-bo-le, ca-vo-lo, for-bi-ce, bri-cio-la, nu-vo-la

- parole bisdrucciole: words with stress on the fourth syllable counting from the end. The Italian language also has words where the stress falls way back towards the starting syllables and still having other three syllables after them. These words are almost always conjugated verbs, sometimes with pronouns attached in the end (a graphic accent is not required for correct spelling). For example:

  • me-ri-ta-no, dan-do-glie-lo, pro-vo-ca-no, mol-ti-pli-ca-no, cen-tu-pli-ca-no

As you can see, only troncated words require a graphic accent (acute or gave), but in the middle of a word accents are almost never written, so it is quite difficult to guess where the stress falls in Italian. Many words follow a specific pattern that repeats itself, so it will be easier for some new words guessing their stress, but for many other it won't.

SYLLABIZING

The rules to syllabize correctly are very different from one language to the other and are strictly connected to pronunciation and spelling.

Let us start from how words are built in Italian.

Italian words are usually composed of an alternation of consonants and vowels anding almost always with a vowel, like BANANA (c-v-c-v-c-v), PAROLA (c-v-c-v-c-v)

They can also begin with a vowel and continuing with the alternation like EDERA (v-c-v-c-v), ANATEMA (v-c-v-c-v-c-v)

Sometimes you can find clusters from two to three consonants (very rarely a cluster of 4 consonants). They can be found at the beginning or in the middle of the word, like CREDERE (cc-v-c-v-c-v), STRADA (ccc-v-c-v) LABBRA (c-v-ccc-v), ATTRAVERSARE (v-ccc-v-c-v-cc-v-c-v) IGNOTO (v-cc-v-c-v) etc. INSTRADARE (v-cccc-v-c-v-c-v)

The last case you can find is a cluster of vowels (from two to three, very rarely four) that con behave in different ways: In fact when vowels are attached to one another they can form a diphthong, a triphthong or they can be pronounced separately forming a hiatus. This cannot be guessed from the writing and may be hard to hear when ITalians speak so must be learnt by heart most of the times, like AIUTARE (vvv-c-v-c-v), CIAO (c-vvv), POETA (c-vv-c-v), AIUOLE (vvvv-c-v).

In order to syllabyze corretly you should be quite good in pronouncing and understanding the language; anyway follow the rules below:

  1. First step is recognizing vowels and consonants; Italian only has 5 vowels, A, E, I, O, U, while the other letters are all consonants
  2. A consonant always need a vowel after it so the most typical Italian syllable is made of consonant plus vowel, like BA, PE, SU, RI, CO, ZE etc.
  3. A consonant can be followed only by one other consonant before its vowel, but only if it is L or R, like in BRA, PRE, CLO, FLU etc.
  4. A consonant can be preceded only by letter S inside the same syllable like in STO, SLE, SFA, SBI etc.
  5. the two rules above con be applied together, so we can find syllables like STRA, SFRE, SCLU etc.
  6. The vowel core of the syllable can me made not only of just one vowel: if the vowel is a part of a dipthong or a triphthong, this will stick together inside the syllable, so we'll have syllables like PIA, /pja/ (rule 2 + ascending d.), CUI /kui/ (rule 2 + discending d.), VUOI /vwɔi/ (rule 2 + triphthong made of ascending + discending d.), SCUO /skwɔ/ (rule 4 + ascending d.), SBRAI (rule 5 + discending d.) etc.. Unfortunately only pronunciation can clarify whether a group of vowels sounds like a diphthong/triphthong or a hiatus
  7. A hiatus must always be separated, like in O-E, E-O, etc. and many vowel clusters that may look like a diphthong or a triphthong but which components are pronounced separately as different vowel cores
  8. There are some special clusters of letters that cannot be separated since together they make a new different sound:
    1. CIA, CIE (rare), CIO, CIU /tʃa/, /tʃe/, /tʃo/, /tʃu/: I is needed to create sound /tʃ/ before hard vowels (and with E in some words) and cannot be separated from them
    2. GIA, GIE (rare), GIO, GIU /dʒa/, /dʒe/, /dʒo/, /dʒu/: same as before but considering sound /dʒ/ instead of /tʃ/
    3. SCIA, SCE, (SCIE rare), SCI, SCIO, SCIU /ʃa/ /ʃe/ /ʃi/ /ʃo/ /ʃu/: SC + I or E is the only way to write sound /ʃ/ in Italian, thus these letters cannot be separated
    4. GLIA, GLIE, GLI, GLIO, GLIU /ʎa/ /ʎe/ /ʎi/ /ʎo/ /ʎu/: GL + I (+ other vowel) is the only way to write sound /ʎ/ in Italian thus these letters cannot be separated
    5. GNA (GNIA rare), GNE, GNI, GNO, GNU /ɲa/ /ɲe/ /ɲi/ /ɲo/ /ɲu/: GN + vowel is the only way to write sound /ɲ/ in Italian, thus these letters cannot be separated
    6. PN and PS: these are clusters coming from Greek (only used in Italian for technical o scientific terms) and must not be separated
    7. ATTENTION! Even inside these clusters, exceptions can be found. Consider syllables CI, GI, SCI or GNI: they already make a syllable by themselves, but can also be followed by other vowels transforming letter I into a silent vowel; but smetimes the stress of a word can fall exactly on letter I, so a hiatus is born between it and the following vowel, making the syllable separate into two different vowel cores. For example: ENERGIA (meaning energy): the word is pronounced /e-ner-'dʒi-a/ making the I perfectly clear and audible, and the A separating into a new syllable; FARMACIA (meaning pharmacy, drug store): the word is pronounced /far-ma-'tʃi-a/ making the same effect as explained above; same goes for COMPAGNIA /kom-pa-'ɲi-a/
  9. Any other group of letters must be separated: geminated consonants are very typical of the Italian language (B-B, D-D, G-G, F-F, Z-Z etc.: since they don't follow the above rules, they must always be separated; the same goes for any other combination like N-T, R-B, R-T, L-V and many others; thinking by exclusion may be the best way to syllabize
  10. after you have found your consonant cluster and its vowel core, you can separate it from the letters before.

Examples where the stressed vowel is bold in order to help you with the correct pronunciation:

CREDERE: C needs the following E and accepts R between them, D needs the second E and R needs the third E; separate the groups from the letters before

  • CRE - DE - RE

ASPRAMENTE: SPR is a cluster of three letters beginning with an S and ending with an R so they stick together and need a vowel after them, the second A; M needs the vowel after it, the first E; N and T don't like to be together so they separate making the N belonging with the previous syllable and T needing the vowel after, that is to say the second E; letter A stands by it self because SPRA is already good with its vowel core

  • A - SPRA - MEN - TE

INFLORESCENZA: we have the cluster NFL, looking for a vowel core after it: as a consonant accepts L between itself and the vowel core, F accepts L and O, while N gets separated and stays behind; R looks for the first E; SCE is the typical syllable for sound /ʃe/ and cannot be separated; cluster NZ cannot stick toghere since the first is not an S and the second is nor L or R, so they get separated and N stays behind while Z looks for its vowel core, that is to say A

  • IN - FLO - RE - SCEN - ZA

CONTINUO: C looks for the first O; NT gets separated so N stays with CO, while T looks for I; N looks for the following vowel core which is an ascending diphthong /wo/ so they stay together

  • CON - TI - NUO

PUOI: P looks for a vowel but finds three of them: this is a triphthong made of the ascending UO /wɔ/ and the discending OI /oi/ so it is a monosyllable

  • PUOI

MAGIA: M looks for the following vowel A, G looks for the following vowel that seems to be a diphthong: however the stress is exactly on I so this creates a hiatus between it and A and must be separated (G will only take I)

  • MA - GI - A

Sources


Having concluded this lesson, consider checking out these related pages: Accent mark to distinguish a word & Imperfect Tense.


Videos

Learn the Italian Alphabet: letters and sounds (Italian Pronunciation ...

L'ALFABETO ITALIANO - Italian Alphabet & Phonetics - YouTube

Spelling the ITALIAN ALPHABET with CITY NAMES - YouTube

Learn Italian Alphabets Pronunciation With Examples - YouTube


Table of Contents - Italian Course - 0 to A1

Introduction to Italian Language


Daily Life Expressions


Italian Culture and Tradition


Past and Future Tenses


Social and Work Life


Italian Literature and Cinema


Subjunctive and Imperative Moods


Science and Technology


Italian Politics and Society


Compound Tenses


Arts and Design


Italian Language and Dialects


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