7/24/2019 Italian Spelling and Pronunciation

1/2

"

Appendix A Spelling and pronunciationThe alphabet

In Italian there are 21 letters in the alphabet plus five letters,j,k,w,x,and y,whichare used only in foreignwords.j k w x y iljollyjoker (in cards) il kimono kimono

il weekend lo xilofonoxylophonelo yogaButwpronounced asv: il walzer waltzWalter Walter

These are mostly pronounced as inEnglish, but in a few words ofGerman origin wis pronounced likethe English v.

Spelling and pronunciationItalian spelling is fairly simple because the relationship between the letters and the sounds is consistent. On thewhole there is no variation from one word to another. (Compare this with the English comb,tomb,bomb, etc.)However, some combinations of letters are pronounced and spelt differently from the English. The main onesare given here.

Spelling Approximate English sound Examplesce ci English ch cento(likecherry)Cina(likecheese)che chi English hard k anche (monkey) chilo (keen)gegi Englishj geloso (jet/generous) magico (tragic/jilt)ghe ghi English hard g lunghe (get)larghi (geezer)sce sci English sh scende (shed) scippo (sheep)scheschi English hard sk pesche (sceptic/schedule) boschi (skip/skill)gli no exact English equivalent figlio, famiglia (the closest equivalent is million)gn no exact English equivalent lasagne gnocchi signore (the closest equivalents are

canyon, cognacor onion)h not pronounced at the beginning o

wordho/hobby (honour)

AccentsGraveaccents:

la citt il caff cosdormir pi

dgives dafrom is e andsyes si one,you,him/herself

They are used to indicate that the stress falls on thefinal vowel.

They also distinguish between words with the samespelling but different meanings.

Acuteaccents:

perchbecausebench althoughnneither ne of it, of them

Used to indicate a closed esound (likeJill) asopposed to an open e(like bed). They alsodistinguish between words with the same spellingbut different meanings.

Withcapitals

/Eun misteroIts a mystery When used, accents are also required on capitalletters but may also be written as an apostrophe.

Spelling conventionsCapital letters

In Italian, capitals are less used than in English.With names but not titles Daniela Giacomo la signora Cerioli il dottor Carfagnini

lingegnere Andrisani il re Vittorio Emanuele II

With titles in a formal context La Repubblica Italiana il Ministero dellEconomia e delle Finanze

7/24/2019 Italian Spelling and Pronunciation

2/2

#

(but informally: il ministero delleconomia e delle finanze)

Geographical names but not therelated inhabitants, languages oradjectives

LEuropa il Regno Unito gli Stati Uniti la Sicilia RomaBut: gli italiani gli americani ; parlare italiano capire il siciliano;migrante italiano un paese europeo

With addresses but not the word forroad,piazzaetc.

via Daniele Manin via del Corso piazza del Duomo But:Corso Vittorio Emanuele

Months, weekdays - no capitals Ci vediamo luned Sono nato in gennaioBook titles first word only Il Signore degli anelli The Lord of the Rings

Sogno di una notte destateA Midsummer Nights Dream

Newspaper titles - capitals La Repubblica Il Corriere della Sera

Personal pronouns: io no capital, butin formal correspondence the formalyoupronouns and their relatedadjectives are capitalised *

Lo faccio ioLa ringrazio della SuaattenzioneIn attesa di sentirLa, Leporgo i miei pi cordiali salutiVorrei sottoporre alla cortese attenzione della Vostraditta ...**.

* The tendency is increasingly to use lower case but not with complete strangers in a professional context.

**Voi/vostrois both informal and formal (people addressed individually as Lei are addressed in the plural as voi).

However, in a letter of application the addressee (e.g. the representative of a firm) may be seen as plural.

Dropping the final vowelIn informal Italian the final vowel of the verb may be dropped. This is also permissible in written Italian wherethe vowel could produce an awkward sound, e.g.with beneor the infinitives of avere,fare, lasciareor stare.Dropping the finalo(sono, eranoetc.)

Lasciali stare, sonsolo bambiniCerantanti poliziotti in piazza

Dropping the finale(avere, fare,lasciare, stare,volereetc.)

Non averpaura; Vorrei star meglio; Deve lasciarpassare ilcamion; Pu far entrare il cliente? Cosa vuoldire? bendiverso

Spelling out loudWhen spelling out loud, the convention is to use the names of towns where possible. Otherwise the letters arespelt using their proper names in the alphabet. These are also shown below.AB

CDEFGHIJKLM

a [ah]bi

cidie [egg]effegiaccai [eat]i lungacappaelleemme

AnconaBologna (or Bari)

ComoDomodossolaEmpoliForlGenovaHotel (or acca)Imolai lunga (orjolly)cappa

LivornoMilano

NO

PQRSTUVWXYZ

enneo[hot]

picuerreessetiu [cool]vudoppio vuicsipsilonzeta

NapoliOtranto

Padova (or Parma)cu(or quaranta)RomaSavona (or Salerno)TorinoUdineVenezia (or Vicenza)doppio vu(or Washington)ics

ipsilon/i greca

zeta(or Zara)