26
edits
Difference between revisions of "Language/Italian/Grammar/Italian-Alphabet"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
→Accents and Diacritics
| Line 13: | Line 13: | ||
__TOC__ | __TOC__ | ||
Italian's alphabet contains 21 letters (5 vowels and 16 consonants). The letters J, K, W, X, and Y are only used in foreign | 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. | ||
| Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
== Italian Alphabet == | == Italian Alphabet == | ||
The Italian alphabet includes the following | The Italian alphabet includes the following 26 letters: | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
| Line 181: | Line 181: | ||
|only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language | |only in foreign words, mostly pronounced as in the native language | ||
|- | |- | ||
| Z || /dzɛta/ | | Z || /'dzɛta/ | ||
|/dz/ or /ts/|| like in English "geTS" or like a fast pronounciation of the English "reD Zone"; | |/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. | 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 and Diacritics == | ||
| Line 198: | Line 209: | ||
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. | 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''' | - to distinguish homophone words that have a different grammar role (like in Castellano or French); '''mandatory for correct spelling''' | ||
| Line 227: | Line 238: | ||
In Italian | |||
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). | |||
| Line 234: | Line 246: | ||
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. | 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 | 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'OCA -> UN' stands for "UNA" in front of words beginning with a vowel | ||