Pronunciation Examples& O/ J. S8 o, v0 X `3 ^
VOWELS7 Y+ Z s- ~. G4 A
a-a as in father [a] abito (abito)' }& s! l0 _3 f1 U6 N
e-ay as in pay but without the glide [e] eguale (egwale)6 L; i" V; R( i
i-ee as in meet or before a vowel, like y in yes [j] impresa (impreza)
7 n. Y* f- _& N o-o as in go but without the glide [o] oca (oka)
- H: r, B4 C1 N" N7 ~$ { u-oo as in moon or before a vowel, like w in water [w] usare (uzare), uo' ?4 [* \+ p* W% n* n5 Q& C
vo (wovo)
3 S9 ^! l4 e! J" R( N. V f CONSONANTS
; r- C7 K. V' D/ K4 e8 S- I8 C b-b as in bag bacca (bakka)2 `, y- T* I8 E0 b
c-before a, o, or u like k in key [k] or before i without a vowel after it l
7 g W$ Q" C, L9 r) g ike ch in cheese and the i is not silent [t?i] or before i with a vowel afte ~( I* o; G+ y/ j8 o
r it like ch in cheese and the i is silent [t?] cabina (kabina), cinque (t?i
* }, \. M+ {5 Y5 M3 y- B* Y, F8 v nkwe), ciuco (t?uko)- w" O+ f; L& j8 R; J% E" t9 [
ch-k as in key [k] chimico (kimiko)- l# `. n: L5 C3 T6 u
d-d as in dog [d] danno (danno)
5 A. E5 X) J- P% ~3 m( V% J% c: e$ Y7 { f-f as in fair [f] facchino (fakkino)4 V2 ?7 k9 Q0 c C4 h
g-before a, o, or u like g in go [g] or before i without a vowel after it li- c# Z# h6 l9 N" ~! p1 G+ Y
ke j in joke and the i is not silent [d?] or before i with a vowel after it2 X) Y! ?$ N! q, ], `9 L
like j in joke and the i is silent [d?] galera (galera), ginocchio (d?inokk
, `5 [7 n. }+ |- j$ b" n0 T, c jo), giallo (d?allo)
: H. w$ j9 K" N" S3 J gh-g as in go [g] ghianda (gjanda)' v7 }2 p5 \: j3 C% Z
gli-like the Portuguese lh, the "official" Spanish ll, or the lli in million$ x# Q9 N& ~1 A$ ^1 |3 F+ Y1 \7 d5 F
[?] chiglia (ki?a)
9 e; S }5 w* U% s5 _$ o gn-like the Spanish ? or the ni in onion [?] Spagna (spa?a)
! s# }. }' B9 \4 T l-l as in log [l] lo (lo)
. Y" \8 k& Q" d3 C2 F m-m as in money [m] madre (madre)
+ N! }" B# G' m* y n-n as in no [n] nascere (na?ere)+ {' c1 N5 c2 Q$ p: T' [
p-p as in pay [p] pacco (pakko)$ v* `2 [* t2 F! c9 `, E
q-k as in key [k] quadro (kwadro)8 d9 O* C2 E1 g- X7 B! m& y2 x
r-at the beginning of a word, it is a rolled r, like Spanish rr [r] or elsew3 h- Q/ E$ P: `9 y+ x
here, like the Spanish r or t in city [r] ragno (ra?o), ora (ora)% i* R b$ x% v+ v9 E9 r' O, e
rr-a rolled r, like Spanish rr [r] errore (erore)
& Z9 H5 ]7 s, H# m* i% o5 V s-between vowels or before a voiced consonant at the beginning of a word, li
( S6 D( R" c) O ke z in zip [z] or like s in sip rosa (roza), sbaglio (zba?o), sabbia (sabja): b8 L: ]9 b( k1 I. y! ^6 {
sc-before a, o, or u like sk in ski [sk] or before i without a vowel after i
9 I; Z# Z7 ] u" x6 S, { t like sh in ship, and the i is not silent [?] or before i with a vowel afte# X$ X% V9 }4 }9 d3 d
r it like sh in ship. and the i is silent [?] scala (skala), scintilla (?int illa), sciocco (?okko)0 n7 t; _. O$ v3 T) p
ss-s as in sip essere (esere)3 a; ^: K% R) m$ e" \. F
t-t as in tea [t] tacere (tat?ere)! n2 a F, h, ~, o
v-v as in vampire [v] vacca (vakka)0 N' |2 j# J8 k* H$ ^7 v
z-at the beginning of a word, like ds as in beds [dz] or elsewhere, ts as in
& M2 Z# t' j" y3 X! W' } cats [ts] zero (dzero), azione (atsjone): }7 x/ D& E+ G! n
Notes: The accented vowels (à, è, ì, ò, ù) indicate irregular stress. T
$ n6 a$ F+ S# p& q* }: l ~ he doubled consonants are pronounced twice (like pen-knife). |