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A B C D E F G H I L

 
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Italian is normally is written with only 21 letters.

The remaining letters (JKWXY) are used almost exclusively for foreign words.
And here is how they are pronounced....

J = i lunga K = kappa W = doppia vu X = ics Y = i greca  or ipsilon

 

ITALIAN PHONETIC CONVENTIONS

Unlike English, Italian is written according to fixed phonetic conventions.
This means that the various sounds are written always (well, almost always) in the same way.

Learn a few rules and you will be able to read and pronounce any text accurately.

 C "hard sound"  
 CA CASA 
 CO COMO
hear the pronunciation  CU CUBO
 
hear the pronunciation  CHI CHIANTI
hear the pronunciation  CHE ORCHESTRA  

 

 

C "soft sound"  
hear the pronunciation  CIA CIAO
hear the pronunciation  CIO PASTICCIO 
hear the pronunciation  CIU CIUCO
 
hear the pronunciation  CI CINEMA
hear the pronunciation  CE VERSACE  

 

 G "hard sound"  
hear the pronunciation  GA GABBANA
hear the pronunciation  GO SPAGO
hear the pronunciation  GU GUCCI
 
hear the pronunciation  GHI LAMBORGHINI
hear the pronunciation  GHE SPAGHETTI
   

 

 
hear the pronunciation  GIA GIACOMO
hear the pronunciation  GIO GIORGIO
 
hear the pronunciation  GIU GIULIANI
hear the pronunciation  GI GIGLI
hear the pronunciation  GE GELATO

 

 
hear the pronunciation  GN GNOCCHI  LASAGNA


 

SCI/SCE  (sh..)  
hear the pronunciation  SCI SCIVOLARE
hear the pronunciation   SCE SCENA
 
hear the pronunciation   SCIA SCIAGURA
hear the pronunciation   SCIO SCIOPERO
hear the pronunciation   SCIU SCIUPARE


 

GLI  
hear the pronunciation   GLI FIGLI
hear the pronunciation   GLIA SFOGLIATELLA
hear the pronunciation   GLIE MOGLIE
hear the pronunciation   GLIO AGLIO


 

Spelling Italian Words

To spell a word, particularly on the telephone, Italians refer to the names of cities. For instance, for the word "CASA" (house) they will say: "COMO, ANCONA, SIENA, ANCONA."
The list of cities is not fixed. Thus, instead of "COMO," one could as well use "CATANIA," "CAPRI" or any other well known location.

Below you will find the alphabet spelled the Italian way.


Complete list of all the cities
  A come Ancona                         
  B come Bologna                         
  C come Como                            
  D come Domodossola                
  E come Empoli                           
  F come Firenze                           
  G come Genova                         
  H Acca come Hotel                    
  I come Imola                              
  L come Livorno                          
  M come Milano                          

Click on to hear the pronunciation.
 Click on the to connect to the Website.
  N come Napoli                           
  O come Otranto                          
  P come Palermo                          
  Q "Cu" come Quadro                  
  R come Roma                             
  S come Siena                              
  T come Torino                            
  U come Udine                             
  V come Venezia                          
  Z Zeta Zero                                 

 

Write the name of the city next to the corresponding letter

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
L
M

N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
Z

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