Italian Alphabet Pronunciation Guide
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ScribdTranslationsItalian Alphabet Pronunciation Guide
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ScribdTranslationsItalian Phonetics and Pronunciation of
Italian Alphabet
A) The Italian 'a' has a more velar sound than that of the
more palatal Spanish. For its pronunciation, the tongue is
place further back.
B) The Italian b is pronounced the same as the Spanish one in
words like: boat or environment. It must be taken into consideration.
that the Italian b is occlusive in all positions, never
take the sound of the Spanish fricative b (wolf, finish).
C) The letter c has different sounds depending on the letter that follows it.
the groups 'ca', 'co', 'cu' have the same sound as the c
Spanish at home or take out, very loud. In the groups 'ce' and
In Italian, 'ci' is pronounced like the Spanish 'cheychipor'.
example 'ceci' (chickpeas) is pronounced chechiLa c in the
Groups 'che' and 'chi' are pronounced like 'que' in Spanish.
and 'who' Then summarizing: Ca (ka) co (ko) cu (ku) Ce
what
(who)
D) The Italian d is pronounced like the Spanish one, with the only
The difference is that in all positions it is occlusive, never
take the sound of the Spanish fricative d (finished, side).
The Italian 'e' has two sounds: one closed, like the
Spanish, in open syllables (the ones that end in a vowel), and one
more open than that in closed syllables (the one that ends in
consonant).
The Italian 'f' is pronounced like the Spanish one.
The letter 'g' has different and difficult sounds to learn:
go
(you) go (like) to say “gna”, “gne”, “gno”, “gni”, “gnu”
they have the same sound as queña, ñe, ño, ñi, ñu
Glise pronounces (lli) with the elle of key and million; this
we represent sound in phonetic transcription as (ll),
what is a phoneme of ancient Spanish quite different from
sound (y).
In Italian, the phonetic group 'gue', 'gui' is pronounced
“güe“, “güi” (osea pronunciando la letra U). Ejemplos:
Seguire (següire) which means to follow. On the contrary in
In Italian, the spelling 'll' represents the double consonant l.
phenomenon that we represent in phonetic transcription (l
– l). Only in a few words like wisteria or glycerin, 'gli'
It is pronounced 'normally' as if it were Spanish.
The Italian h like the Spanish one is always silent and very
rarely used, it is found in some exclamations and in the
present tense of the verb 'have' to distinguish it from other words
they have
I) The 'i' is like the Spanish i
The 'l' is pronounced like the Spanish l, if it is written.
double is reinforced a little
The 'm' is pronounced like the Spanish m, between vowels.
and when it is double it is pronounced a little longer
The 'n' is pronounced like the Spanish n.
The Italian 'O' has two sounds: one closed, like the
Spanish, in an open syllable (the one that ends in a vowel), and one
more open than that in a closed syllable (the one that ends in
consonant).
The "p" is pronounced like the Spanish p, always correctly.
strong.
The "q" only exists followed by "u" and the other vowels.
it is pronounced like the Spanish 'c', very strongly. The 'u' always
it is pronounced. When = when, quadro = quadro
The "r" is pronounced like the Spanish r, at the beginning of
the word is pronounced like a simple r
S) The letter s at the beginning of a word, the double s and the s before
voiceless consonant has a voiceless sound like Spanish
but more dental. Before a consonant, it must be avoided
pronounce 's', just the sound s followed by the consonant.
For example, 'Sto bene' is pronounced S+to and NOT ES+to.
The s between vowels and the s before a voiced consonant
It has a resonant sound, an 's' that vibrates. Like the French 's'.
in rose, or the English in music. Also here before
the consonant to avoid pronouncing is, only the sound s
followed by the consonant.
The groups 'sce', 'sci', 'scio', 'sciu', 'scia' have a
sound like the one used in Spanish to impose silence
"shh," like in English 'show' or in French 'chose.' When it is
Between vowels it is pronounced a little longer.
The Italian 't' has the same sound as the Spanish one.
it should be noted that it is always occlusive and is pronounced
with more strength than in Spanish.
The Italian 'u' has the same sound as the Spanish 'u'.
The Italian v has a different labiodental sound than the
bilabial of Spanish and which should not be confused. For
to pronounce it, the teeth come together with the lips as if to
to say an 'f' but the sound vibrates. Like in English 'very' or
in French you.
The Italian z has two sounds (it never sounds like in
one is deaf and one is sonorous. The deaf one is produced
saying a t and then an s: "ts" The voiced sound is produced
by vibrating the previous one. It's like saying a d and then
a voiced s: 'ds' or you can try with 'dz'.
