FONETICA

ALFABETO

A

*ah

B

bi
C

ci
D

di
E

*a

F

effe
G

gi
H

acca
I

*ee

L

elle
M

emme
N

enne
O

*oh

P

pi
Q

cu
R
 
erre
S

esse
T

ti
U

*oo

V

vi
Z

zeta

* English phonetic convention

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 PHONETICS

BACK VOWELS

A O U

in Italian as well as in English, these
are called BACK VOWELS because they are pronounced in the back of the mouth

FRONT VOWELS

E I

So called FRONT VOWELS because they are pronounced in the front of the mouth.

Try

C  followed by a BACK VOWEL "K" as in car

THE CONSONANT C HAS TWO POSSIBLE SOUNDS:

 

and "ch" as in cherry

 


Sound  "K"

CASA COLORE CUBO

ORCHESTRA CHIMICA

Notice that we have to insert H  between  C  and E or I  (front vowels)
to produce the K sound. 

This is purely a convention.

 

 

Sound  "ch" (cherry)

ceramica Cina

ciao, cioccolato, ciuffo

 

For this sound, C precedes immediately the front vowels E or I  

With BACK VOWELS, we insert  I  between C and the vowels

This is purely a convention.

 

OF COURSE THIS IS CONFUSING TO ENGLISH SPEAKERS:

it would be much simpler if Italian used "H" instead of "I" to produce the CH sound with back vowels.

That at least would be symmetrical with the front vowels.

-- A --

ANOTHER WAY TO COMPARE THE PATTERNS

back vowels K sound ca co cu
  Ch sound cia cio ciu
                
front vowels Ch sound ce ci
  K sound che chi

-- B --


 

To summarize: 

C + back vowels:  CASA, COLORE, CUBO  (sound K)

C + front vowels: CERAMICA CINA (sound "ch")

 

For the sound K with E and I :   insert H   ORCHESTRA, CHIMICA

For the sound CH with A O U:   insert  I   CIAO, CIOCCOLATO, CIUFFO

 

By the way, here are two examples of a CIUFFO

                                                

 

ITALIAN PHONETIC CONVENTIONS

CONSONANT  G  followed by a VOWEL

G
behaves exactly like
C


GA
BBANA    SPAGO     GUCCI

SPAGHETTI      LAMBORGHINI


 

GELATO  GINO

GIALLO   GIORGIO    GIULIANI


 

Spelling word
on the phone

 

In Italian we use the name of cities (the initial).

Fo
r the word "CASA" (house) we would say: 

COMO, ANCONA, SIENA, ANCONA.


Some letters have a fixed city (Domodossola, Empoli) while for the others there are no strict rules.

 

  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                          

full list

 

  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
L
M

N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
Z

 

C and G sound

BACK VOWELS A O U

in Italian as well as in English, these
are called BACK VOWELS because they are pronounced in the back of the mouth

FRONT VOWELS E I

So called FRONT VOWELS because they are pronounced in the front of the mouth.

 

C has two different sounds   "K" and "CH"  (car / cheese)

 

C in front of A O U

CA CO CU (casa / colore / cubo)
 

 

C in front of E I

CI   CE  (circo / cemento)

   


Sound  "K"

CASA COLORE CUBO

ORCHESTRA CHIMICA

Notice that we have to insert H  between  C  and E or I  (front vowels)
to produce the K sound. 

This is purely a convention.

 

 

Sound  "ch" (cherry)

ceramica Cina

ciao, cioccolato, ciuffo

 

For this sound, C precedes immediately the front vowels E or I  

With BACK VOWELS, we insert  I  between C and the vowels

This is purely a convention.

 

OF COURSE THIS IS CONFUSING TO ENGLISH SPEAKERS:

it would be much simpler if Italian used "H" instead of "I" to produce the CH sound with back vowels.

That at least would be symmetrical with the front vowels.

-- A --

ANOTHER WAY TO COMPARE THE PATTERNS

back vowels K sound ca co cu
  Ch sound cia cio ciu
                
front vowels Ch sound ce ci
  K sound che chi
-- B --


 

To summarize: 

C + back vowels:  CASA, COLORE, CUBO  (sound K)

C + front vowels: CERAMICA CINA (sound "ch")

 

For the sound K with E and I :   insert H   ORCHESTRA, CHIMICA

For the sound CH with A O U:   insert  I   CIAO, CIOCCOLATO, CIUFFO

 

By the way, here are two examples of a CIUFFO