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

From Polyglot Club WIKI
Jump to navigation Jump to search
m (Quick edit)
(21 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
<span pgnav>
{| class="wikitable pg_template_nav"
|[[Language/Italian/Grammar/Nouns-and-Articles|Next Lesson — Nouns and Articles ▶️]]
|}
</span>


{{Italian-Page-Top}}
{{Italian-Page-Top}}


<div class="pg_page_title">Italian Grammar - Italian Alphabet</div>


== Introduction ==
__TOC__


🇮🇹 Benvenuti! Welcome to the "Italian Grammar - Introduction to Italian Language > Italian Alphabet" lesson. In this lesson, we will be introducing the basics of the Italian alphabet, sounds and pronunciation, and special characters and accents.  
Italian's 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 of foreign origin. Nowadays it is common to use the English alphabet instead of the Italian one.  


📝 Learning the Italian alphabet is a fundamental step towards mastering the language. You will need to know it to spell words, read and write in Italian, and to correctly pronounce the words you hear.


🧑‍🏫 As your Italian language teacher, my goal is to make this introduction to Italian alphabet fun and easy to digest, so you can start building a solid foundation for your Italian language learning journey.  
<span link>Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: [[Language/Italian/Grammar/Conditional-Subjunctive|Conditional Subjunctive]] & [[Language/Italian/Grammar/Definite-Articles|Definite Articles]].</span>
== Italian Alphabet ==
 
The Italian alphabet includes the following 26 letters:
 
{| class="wikitable"
! 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 this lesson, we will cover:


🔹 History of the Italian alphabet
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
🔹 Single letters and sounds
|-
🔹 Double letters and digraphs
| F || /'ɛf:e/
🔹 Special characters and accents
|/f/|| like in English "Fish"
🔹 Common words and phrases
|-
| 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


🎯 By the end of this lesson, you should be able to comfortably read and write in Italian, understand the pronunciation rules, and recognize the most common Italian letters, sounds and accents.


Let's dive into the fascinating world of the Italian alphabet!
In Italian it is used to maintain sounds /k/ and /g/ before soft vowels 'e' and 'i'. In fact:
== History of the Italian alphabet ==


🔍 The Italian alphabet has its roots in the Latin alphabet, which was introduced to the Italian peninsula during the Roman conquest.
- CE -> read /tʃe/ -- CHE -> read /ke/


📚 Over time, the Italian alphabet evolved and underwent significant changes due to the influence of local dialects and foreign languages such as Greek, Arabic, and French.
- CI -> read /tʃi/ -- CHI -> read /ki/


✍️ Throughout history, the Italian alphabet has gone through various phases of different characters, number of letters, and spelling rules.
- GE -> read /dʒe/ -- GHE -> read /ge/


📝 It was only in 1940, with the publication of "The Standard Rules for the Italian Language," that the Italian language officially adopted a standard alphabet of 21 letters.
- GI -> read /dʒi/ -- GHI -> read /gi/


🔢 Here's a quick rundown of the evolution of the Italian alphabet:


- The original Latin alphabet had 23 letters, including the letters Y and Z.
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:
- In the Middle Ages, Italian began using a 22-letter alphabet, omitting the letter J.
- During the Renaissance, the letter J was reintroduced, and the alphabet consisted of 23 letters.
- In the 20th century, the letters Y, K, and W were officially removed from the alphabet, reducing the total number of letters to 21.


👉 Now that we know some of the history behind the Italian alphabet let's move on to the next section to learn more about the specific letters and sounds that make up the Italian language.
- HO -> I have -- O -> or
== Single letters and sounds ==


🔤 The Italian alphabet consists of 21 letters. Each letter is associated with a specific sound, and some letters have multiple pronunciations depending on their position in a word or the surrounding letters.
- HAI -> you have -- AI -> "to the" (preposition plus definitive article)


🗣️ In Italian, the vowels are pronounced with an open mouth and no closure made by the tongue or lips. On the other hand, the consonant sounds are made by blocking or partially blocking the airflow in the mouth with the articulators (tongue, teeth, and lips).
- HA -> he/she/it has -- A -> "to" (preposition)


👉 Here's a breakdown of each Italian letter and its corresponding sound:
- HANNO -> they have -- ANNO -> year


{| class="wikitable"
! Letter !! Pronunciation !! Examples
|-
|-
| A, a || /a/ || Amore (love), casa (house), palla (ball)
| 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"
|-
|-
| B, b || /b/ || Bambino (child), barca (boat), bello (beautiful)
|J
|/dʒej/ or /i 'luŋga/
|/j/ or /dʒ/
|only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
|-
|-
| C, c || /k/ or /tʃ/ || Cane (dog), ciao (hello), cena (dinner)
|K
|/'kap:a/
|/k/
|only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
|-
|-
| D, d || /d/ || Donna (woman), dove (where), dolce (sweet)
| L || /'ɛl:e/
|/l/|| like in English "Lion"
|-
|-
| E, e || /ɛ/ or /e/ || Elefante (elephant), pesce (fish), amare (to love)
| M || /'ɛm:e/  
|/m/|| like 'in English "Mouse"
|-
|-
| F, f || /f/ || Festa (party), facile (easy), forte (strong)
| 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.
|-
|-
| G, g || /ɡ/ or /dʒ/ || Gatto (cat), gelato (ice cream), grosso (big)
| 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
|-
|-
| H, h || Silent || Hotel (hotel), handicap (handicap), hobbie (hobby)
| P || /pi/
|/p/|| like in English "Pen"
|-
|-
| I, i || /i/ or /j/ || Isola (island), il libro (the book), metti (put)
| 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
|-
|-
| L, l || /l/ || Libro (book), luna (moon), mela (apple)
| 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/)
|-
|-
| M, m || /m/ || Mama (mom), mare (sea), mano (hand)
| 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
|-
|-
| N, n || /n/ || Natura (nature), nave (ship), naso (nose)
| 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
|-
|-
| O, o || /ɔ/ or /o/ || Ombrello (umbrella), oro (gold), forte (strong)
| 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"
|-
|-
| P, p || /p/ || Pizza (pizza), pane (bread), prima (first)
| V || /vi/ or /vu/
|/v/|| like in English "Very"
|-
|-
| Q, q || /kw/ || Quattro (four), questo (this), qui (here)
|W
|/vu 'dop:ja/
|/w/ or /v/
|only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
|-
|-
| R, r || Rolled/Trilled || Ristorante (restaurant), rosa (rose), carro (car)
|X
|/iks/
|/ks/
|only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
|-
|-
| S, s || /s/ or /z/ || Sole (sun), sera (evening), strada (road)
|Y
|/'ipsilon/
|/j/ or /i/
|only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language
|-
|-
| T, t || /t/ || Tavolo (table), tempo (time), tutto (all)
| Z || /'dzɛta/  
|-
|/dz/ or /ts/|| like in English "geTS" or like a fast pronounciation of the English "reD Zone";
| U, u || /u/ or /w/ || Uomo (man), uva (grape), vuoto (empty)
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.
|-
| V, v || /v/ || Vento (wind), via (street), verde (green)
|-
| Z, z || /dz/ or /ts/ || Zanzara (mosquito), zero (zero), zucchero (sugar)
|}
|}


🎙️ Remember that pronunciation can vary depending on many factors, such as geographic region or dialect. However, Italian is a phonetic language, which means that once you learn the basic pronunciation rules, you will be able to read and pronounce words correctly.


🔍 In the next section, let's take a closer look at some Italian pronunciation rules related to double letters and digraphs.
'''CLUSTERS OF LETTERS INSIDE THE SAME SYLLABLE'''
== Double letters and digraphs ==
 
Some sounds do not have a specific letter, but a cluster of letters
 
'''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.)
 
== Accents and 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:


🔡 In Italian, double letters (consonants or vowels) and digraphs play an essential role in pronunciation and are used to change the meaning of words.
- to distinguish homophone words that have a different grammar role (like in Castellano or French); '''mandatory for correct spelling'''


👉 Let's dive into some of the common double letters and digraphs in Italian:
* 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)


- Double consonants: When two identical consonants appear consecutively in a word, they are pronounced as a single, longer sound. Examples include: "tutto" (all), "dicci" (tell us), "ragazzo" (boy).
- to mark the stress of a plurisyllabic word when it falls on the very last letter; '''mandatory for correct spelling'''
- Double vowels: Two identical vowels that appear consecutively indicate a long vowel sound. Examples include: "pappa" (baby food), "capanno" (hut), "zio" (uncle).
- GN: This digraph is pronounced as "ny" and is found in words such as "gnocchi" (Italian dumplings), "lasagna" (lasagna), and "Benigni" (surname).
- GLI: This digraph is pronounced as "ly" and is found in words such as "famiglia" (family), "figlio" (son), and "sbaglio" (mistake).
- SC: Depending on the following vowel, "sc" can be pronounced as "sh" or "sk." Examples include: "scuola" (school), "scienza" (science), "uscita" (exit).


📝 Double letters and digraphs can also aid in spelling and differentiating between homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings).
* VERITÀ -> stress on 'a'
* PERÒ -> stress on 'o'
* VIRTÙ -> stress on 'u'
* COMPÌ -> stress on 'i'


🔠 It is important to note that there are exceptions to every rule, and some Italian words can have multiple pronunciations or spelling variations.
- 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'''


🎉 Let's move on to the next section to learn about the special characters and accents used in Italian.
* GIÀ -> the stress shows that the word is monosyllabic and that is pronounced /dʒa/ and not /'dʒia/ with a hiatus
== Special characters and accents ==
* 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/


🇮🇹 The Italian language uses three special characters:
- to distinguish homograph words that only differs for the stress; '''NON''' '''mandatory for correct spelling'''


- The acute accent (é) which appears only on the letter "e" and indicates that it should be pronounced with a closed, sharp sound.
* ÀNCORA -> "anchor" -- ANCÓRA -> "one more time" or "again"
- The grave accent (è) which appears on the letters "a", "e", and "o" and indicates that it should be pronounced with an open, unaccented sound.
* PRÌNCIPI -> "princes" -- PRINCÌPI -> "principles"
- The circumflex accent (î) which appears on the letter "i" and indicates that it should be pronounced with a closed, sharp sound.


🗣️ Here are some examples:


- é: Caffè (coffee), perché (why), né (neither)
- è: Città (city), città di Milano (City of Milan), tè (tea)
- î: Bambinì (children), camionî (trucks), e così vìa (and so on)


🧐 In addition to the special characters, Italian also uses accent marks on vowels to indicate stress. The stress marks are known as "accenti tonici."
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).


👉 Here are the three types of accenti tonici:


- The acute accent (á) appears on the last syllable of a word when the stress is on the second-to-last syllable. Example: Ananás (pineapple).
'''APOSTROPHE'''
- The grave accent (à) appears on the last syllable of a word when the stress is on the third-to-last syllable. Example: Sìlaba (syllable).
- The circumflex accent (â) appears on the first syllable of a word when the stress is on the second syllable. Example:


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


== Sources ==
UN'OCA -> UN' stands for "UNA" in front of words beginning with a vowel
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garifuna Garifuna]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garifuna_language Garifuna Language]


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"
== Conclusion ==
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>
==Sources==
* [https://www.thinkinitalian.com/the-italian-alphabet/ The Italian alphabet]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language Italian language - Wikipedia]
* [https://www.learnita.net/italian-grammar-alphabet/ Italian Grammar lesson 1 - Alphabet]
*https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/accento-grafico_(Enciclopedia-dell'Italiano)/
<span link>Having concluded this lesson, consider checking out these related pages: [[Language/Italian/Grammar/Accent-mark-to-distinguish-a-word|Accent mark to distinguish a word]] & [[Language/Italian/Grammar/Imperfect-Tense|Imperfect Tense]].</span>
{{#seo:
{{#seo:
|title=Learn the Most Common Garifuna Greetings and Phrases
|title=Italian Grammar - Italian Alphabet
|keywords=garifuna greetings, garifuna language, learn garifuna, say hello in garifuna, greetings in garifuna
|keywords=Italian, Alphabet, Pronunciation, Diacritics, Accents, Italian Language
|description=Discover how to say hello and other common phrases in the Garifuna language with this informative lesson.
|description=Learning the Italian alphabet is a crucial element in becoming proficient in Italian. This lesson will teach you everything you need to know, including pronunciation, accents, and diacritics.
}}
}}
==Videos==
===Learn the Italian Alphabet: letters and sounds (Italian Pronunciation ...===
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF1nqgmXwew</youtube>
===L'ALFABETO ITALIANO - Italian Alphabet & Phonetics - YouTube===
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1P50kb9G74</youtube>
===Spelling the ITALIAN ALPHABET with CITY NAMES - YouTube===
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEUgx9-Qx4Q</youtube>
===Learn Italian Alphabets Pronunciation With Examples - YouTube===
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMTEqtgBzZc</youtube>


{{Italian-0-to-A1-Course-TOC}}
{{Italian-0-to-A1-Course-TOC}}
Line 156: Line 299:


{{Italian-Page-Bottom}}
{{Italian-Page-Bottom}}
<span links></span>
<span pgnav>
{| class="wikitable pg_template_nav"
|[[Language/Italian/Grammar/Nouns-and-Articles|Next Lesson — Nouns and Articles ▶️]]
|}
</span>

Revision as of 22:33, 19 May 2024

Next Lesson — Nouns and Articles ▶️


Italian-polyglot-club.jpg
Italian Grammar - Italian Alphabet

Italian's 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 of foreign origin. Nowadays it is common to use the English alphabet instead of the Italian one.


Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Conditional Subjunctive & Definite Articles.

Italian Alphabet

The 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 INSIDE THE SAME SYLLABLE

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

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.)

Accents and 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"

Conclusion

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!

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


Next Lesson — Nouns and Articles ▶️

Retrieved from "https://polyglotclub.com/wiki/index.php?title=Language/Italian/Grammar/Italian-Alphabet&oldid=293018"