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FONETICA

The Alphabet, Spelling and Phonetic Conventions
 

  

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Italian is a highly phonetic language. This means that each sound is (almost) always graphically represented by the same combination of letters (vowels and/or consonants.) Compare that with English where, as Bernard Shaw once famously said, the word "fish" could be written "ghoti": "F" as in enough;  "I" as in women; "SH" as in the ending of nation.  


ALFABETO / ALPHABET



alphabet
 

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

 




VOCALI


 

CONSONANTI

Phonetic Conventions

These pronunciation conventions are fixed.
That means that every time you encounter these clusters,
the pronunciation is always the same


 

"C" and "G"

The letter "C" has two different sounds, depending on the vowels that follow it:
 
 

"K" sound: CASA  COMO  CUBO

  Followed by A, O, U, "C" will have a hard sound similar to English "K".
   

"K" sound: CHILOMETRO  ORCHESTRA
  In order to obtain the hard sound "K", when "C" is followed by the vowels E and I, the letter "H" is inserted.
 

"ch" sound: CENA  CINEMA

Followed by E, I, "C" will have a soft sound similar to English "CH"
 

"ch" sound: CIAO  CIOCCOLATO  CIUFFO
In order to obtain the soft sound "CH", when "C" followed by the vowels A, O and U, the letter"I" is inserted.

"SCA, SCO. SCU, SCHE, SCHI"

(analysis:  S+CA,  S+CO,  S+CU,  S+CHI,  S+CHE)

The sound corresponds to the English "SK"
 

 
  SCATOLA    SCOPA    SCUSA    SCHIFO   BRUSCHETTA

Confront here with the sound "sh" below

"SCI, SCE, SCIA, SCIO, SCIU"

The sound corresponds to the English "Sh"
 
Confront here with the sound "SK" above


 
  SCI    SCENA    SCIARPA    SCIOPERO   ASCIUGARE
 

"GN"

The sound corresponds to the Spanish  "ñ"
 

 

LAVAGNA   GNOCCO   IGNUDO   BAGNINO   LASAGNE

ble>

"GLI"

It is probably the most difficult sound to produce for a non-native speaker.
   

  MAGLIA   AGLIO   GLI   MOGLIE

 
  In front of another vowel or in isolation, the cluster "GLI"  is pronunced as in the soundfile examples.
 

 

 

 

 

 

5 PAROLE
  fonetica  
  alfabeto  
  lettera letter
  vocale  vowel
  consonante  consonant

 

 

 

 
FONETICA

leggere l'italiano

 How to break down words into syllables

FONETICA

PRATICA

1) RECORD YOURSELF READING EACH WORD

2) Read each word using  speech-to-text and see if you pronounced correctly.

3 ) Click the image and listen to the proper pronunciation.

Compare your recording to the correct sound. Which individual sounds did you get wrong? Try to focus on the mistakes you made


RICOTTA
ri-co-tta

BRUSCHETTA
brus-che-tta


CILIEGIA MARASCHINO
ci-lie-gia ma-ras-chi-no

SPAGHETTI CON LE COZZE
spa-ghe-tti con le co-zze


MACCHERONI
ma-cche-ro-ni


FORMAGGIO
for-ma-ggio

FOCACCIA
fo-ca-ccia

BISCOTTI CANTUCCI
bis-co-tti can-tu-cci

SPINACI
spi-na-ci

FORCHETTA e SPAGHETTI
for-che-tta e spa-ghe-tti


CUCCHIAIO
cu-cchia-io

CIOCCOLATO
cio-cco-la-to

 

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CONSONANTI DOPPIE
DOUBLE CONSONANTS

The short version.

EXPLANATION

 

To pronounce double consonants in Italian it is necessary to SHORTEN the length of the
vowel that precedes them.

Listen carefully to the examples below and pay particular attention to the vowel before the consonants.

In the first column you will hear the regular vowel at the normal length.

In the second column the same vowel is shortened considerably.
 


 

pala
 (shovel)		 palla
 (ball)
stele
 (stele)		 stelle
(stars)
Pina
 (Josephine)		 pinna
(fin)
rena 
(sand)		 renna
(reindeer)
tono
 (tone		 tonno
 (tuna fish)
fumo
 (smoke)		 fummo*
 (we were
m'ama*
 (s/he loves me)		 mamma
 ( mommy  )
casa
 (home)		 cassa
 (box)
caro
 (dear)		 carro
 (wagon)

 

 

papa
(pope)		 pappa
 (baby food)
 
rupe
 (cliff)		 ruppe*
 (s/he broke)
 
meta
(goal)		 metta*
 (put)
 
rito
 (rite)		 ritto
 (straight up)
 
copia
 (copy)		 coppia
 (couple)
 
lego*
 (i tie)		 leggo*
 (I read   )
 
capello
 (hair)		 cappello
 (hat)
 
sete
 (thirst)		 sette
 (seven)
 
baco
 (silk worm)		 Bacco
 (Bacchus)
 
note
 (notes)		 notte
(night)

Words marked with an asterisk (*) are
verb forms (fummo: we were -- remote past.)

 

 SPEECHNOTES

Works with GOOGLE CHROME
 

 

CONSONANTI DOPPIE
DOUBLE CONSONANTS

The long version.

Double consonants are a peculiar and sometimes baffling aspect of Italian.

First of all, the local "accent" in many regions totally ignores double consonants, for instance in the Veneto region (capital Venice,) but this is true, to some extent for the entire North.

In the South, the tendency is the opposite, namely people tend to double consonants that do not appear in the written version. The extreme case is the island of Sardinia. To a Northern ear, it sounds like in the speech of Sardinians, all consonants are doubled.

How is the 'double' consonant sound produced?

With letters such as L, R, M, N, S, F, it "appears" as if it is sufficient to prolong the sound a little more. But with sounds like B, P, T, D, G, C, J, and ch, it is impossible to extend the sound.

IN REALITY, double consonants are simply a marker to indicate that the VOWEL that precedes that sound is SHORTENED considerably, to about 1/2 the regular length of the phoneme. The phonemic energy saved by shortening the vowel, is unloaded "explosively" on the following consonant, giving the impression of a doubling of the length, while in reality the vowel is responsible for the entire phenomenon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


consonanti doppie

 
 


 

 

MORE AND MORE EXERCISES
BASIC PHONETICS
 

  
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  6
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 8
 9
 10
 		 


 

   

 


Idioms, standard expressions, "modi di dire" and basic formulas for communication

  

 
 
 

Sì No
Yes No

 Grazie rego
Thank you
You're welcome
 		 SCUSA  SCUSI     
Excuse me
(informal / formal)		 Permesso? Avanti   
May I come in?    
Come in.		  

 

 

Comunicare in italiano

  
 


In this section you will find out how to compose simple questions and answers
 for basic communication in italiano.
work in progress

 

ABITARE
to dwell, to reside, *to live

The proper translation of TO LIVE is  VIVERE: this refers to the EXISTENCE of a living being.
The noun is VITA = LIFE.

ABITARE properly means to reside, to dwell, namely "living" in a certain place.


 

DOVE ABITI TU?  Where do you live / dwell?


 
io abito in una casa.

 

io abito in una villetta

 

 


 
io abito in un appartamento in un palazzo



 
io abito in una villa storica sul lago di Como


VILLA OLMO (1797) in Como is a public park

 

 

 

      PER IL PIACERE DI SAPERLO (for the pleasure of knowing it.)

CASA in italiano means both HOUSE and HOME.  

When we refer to the TYPE  of residence, CASA normally indicates an older construction, often in the older section of town.

VILLETTA (small villa) is commonly used for town houses or smaller single-family houses.

APPARTAMENTO.  Most Italians live in apartments, either in old houses or in more modern buildings.

PALAZZO is used for apartment buildings in general. It can also mean the equivalent of the English palace.

VILLA commonly refers to more expensive single-family houses and to historic residences.

None of these designations is fixed. These terms are used in different way and can convey more subtle meanings, depending on the tone of the conversation and the local conventions.

 

AVANTI  INDIETRO