Language/Italian/Pronunciation/The-tonic-accent

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The tonic accent in Italian

The tonic accent is an emphasis, or more precisely, a sound accentuation by a more pronounced pronunciation of the syllable of a word.

This accented 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 "move", one might say, on any syllable 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.

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


The words are classified into five groups according to place the tonic accent:

Le parole tronche

The words whose emphasis is marked on the last syllable are called "speech face": face 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 "speech piane":

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

Le parole sdrucciole

When the tonal accent is on the antepenultimate (the penultimate syllable), the word is said "sdrucciole word":

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


Le parole bisdrucciole

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

  • 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 "trisdrucciole speech":

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

Sources

http://bravissimi.org/grammaire-italien/prononciation/accents-toniques-graphiques/

Contributors

Vincent and Maintenance script


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