PHONETICS

C and G

followed by VOWELS

The consonants C and G are basically the only sounds in Italian phonetics that present some MINOR difficulty.

The are pronounced differently depending on the "ENVIRONMENT," i.e. what letters they are next to.

1) The sound of C and G depends on which vowel follows.

BACK VOWELS:     A   O   U    

FRONT VOWELS:     E   I   

C sounds like K when it is followed by BACK VOWELS.  CASA, COMO, CUBO 

In Italian we call this, the "HARD SOUND"

In Italian we call this, the "SOFT SOUND"

But what about 'HARD SOUND' with the front vowels  E  I ?

We insert the letter H: CHE, CHI
 

The complete sequence, with C ('HARD SOUND K) is: CA CO CU CHE CHI

"SOFT SOUND" with front vowels:    CE, CI

But what about 'SOFT SOUND' with the back vowels  A   O   U ?

We insert the vowel " i " : CIA, CIO, CIU

CIO as in CIOCCOLATO

or CALCIO (do you want to know what CALCIO is?)

CIU as in CIUCO

The rules apply every time.

There are no exceptions.

The same rules also apply to the letter <G> 

Now you know why LAMBORGHINI is pronounced this way.

And what about   SPAGHETTI? 

Also GELATO, GIORGIO ARMANI, VERSACE