GUIDE TO

Italian Pronunciation
ITALIAN SPELLING 1s highly phonetic; that is, letters and combinations
of letters almost always represent the same sounds, as contrasted with
English, where a single letter or combination of letters may represent
three, four, or more sounds. For the student of Italian the phonetic
character of Italian spelling means that he need merely familiarize
himself with the basic sounds which the spellings stand for. From
there he can proceed to pronounce almost any Italian word correctly.
In this book we use a simplified scheme of indicating the pronun­
ciation of Italian letters and letter combinations. This is based on
common English sounds wherever possible. The sounds in the follow­
ing list should be learned first before proceeding to the lessons them­
selves. Syllable divisions are indicated by a hyphen (·) and accented
syllables are printed in small capitals; thus, in the word stanza, mean­
ing "room," the stress would fall on the first syllable, as indicated in
"sTAHN-tsah."

The Vowels
Vowels in Italian are pronounced fully and distinctly, and are
never
slurred.
ITALIAN PHONETIC
SPELLING SOUND ITALIAN EXAMPLE SYMBOL
a Like the a in far. scala (SKAH-lah) stairs ah
e Like thee in let, but slight• pera (PEH-rah) pear eh
ly towards the a of ate.
19
20 THE CORTINA METHOD
ITALIAN PHONETIC
SPELLING SotJND ITALIAN E li M PL E SYMBO
l Like the i of machine. amico (ah-MEE-koh) friend L
0 Like the o of fort. porto (POHll•toh) port ee
u Like the oo in Iool. muto (Moo-toh) mute oh
00

The Consonants
b As in English. basta (BAH-stah) enough b
C 1. Before a, o, and u, hard, cane (KAH-neh) dog k
like k, as in cat.
2. Before e and i, soft, like cena (CHEH-nah) supper ch
ch, as in chin.
ch Occurs only before e or i, anche (AHN-keh) also k
to harden the c into a l
sound.
Non: When chi is chiave {KYAH-veh) key ky
followed
by a vowel, the i is pro-
nounced like a very light
d y, as in cute, cure. dove (DOH•veh) where d
As in English, but with the
tongue touching the up-
f per teeth. fine (nz-neh} end f
g As in English. gamba (GAHM-bah) leg g
1. Before a, o, and u, hard,
as in game, go. gelo (Jm-loh) frost j
2. Before e and i, soft, as
gh in gentle, gem. rlghe (au-geh) rulers g
Occurs only before e and i,
to harden the g. ghiotto (GYOHT-toh) gy
NOTE: vowel,ghi
by a When the isi is pro- glutton
followed

gl ,.n ounced like a very

Usually pronounced like
the lli in billion before i.
moglie {MOH•l'yeh) wife l'y
light
N o n : I n a very few glicerina (glee-cheh-m- gl
gli has the same sound words,
as nab) glicerine
in the English word glib. negligente (neh-glee-JEHN•
teh) negligent
Similar to, but stronger agnello (ah-N'YEHL•loh) n'y
than the ni in onion and lamb
the n:, in canyon.
 CONSONANTS
21
ITALIAN PHONETIC
SnLLING SotJND ITALIAN EXAMPL& SYMBOL
la Always silent. It occun in hanDo (AHN•noh) they have
very few words.
(j) Does not exist in the Italian
alphabet.
(k) Does not exist in the Italian
alphabet.
I As in English. mela (MEH•lah) apple I
m As in English. mano(MAH-noh) hand m
D As in naso (NAH-soh) no pane D
p English. (PAH•neh) bread p
qu As in English. quindi (II.WUN-dee) kw
Like qu in there,
r qualify, fore r
lloma (ROB-mah)
quiclc.
Rome
Trilled by vibrating the
I tongue alightly against solo (soe-loh) alone I
.the base of the upper caaa (iAH-zah) house z
front teeth.
1. Unvoiced, as in ,ound.
2. Voiced, as in po,,.
NOTE A: Many Italians
pro- nounce this sound
not quite as a pure z, sbaglio (ZBAR•l'yoh)
but with a slight leaning mistake
toward the unvoiced s. sdegno (ZDEH•n'yoh)
anger
NOTE B: At the beginning
of a word, when s is fol•
IC lowed by b, d, g, gh, l, scelta (sHEHL-tah) choice sh
m, n, f', or v, it is
pronounced like z. sca1a (SKAH·lah) Stain sk
1. Before e or i, like sh, as
t in shell. tale (TAH•leh) such t
2, Before a,o, u, and h, like
sk, as in skill.
9 As in English, but with the voto (voR-toh) vote 9
[w] tip of the tongue touch-
ing the upper teeth.
X As in English. b
Does not exist in the
Italian alphabet.
Like the x in box. Rarely
used, chiefly in words of
Latin and Greek origin.
22 THE CORTINA METHOD

ITALIAN PHONETIC
SPELLING SoUND ITALIAN EXAMPLE
[y] Does not exist in the SYMBO
L
Italian
z Unvoiced, like the ts in
1. alphabet. stanza (STAHN·tsah) room ts
pots.
2. Voiced, like the ds in pranzo (PRAHN-dzoh) dz
buds. dinner

Diphthongs

A diphthong is a combination of two vowels pronounced as one

syllable. There are three classes of diphthongs in Italian:
A. Those in which the first of the two vowels is stressed. We shall
separate the two vowels by an apostrophe as a reminder that they are
to be pronounced in one breath, without a break, even though the
sound of the first vowel is stronger than the second:
ai Similar to the i of high. parlai (pahr-LAH'y) I spoke Aliy
ao Say "ah" and elide it to an Paolo (PAH'oh-loh) Paul Alioh
"oh" sound.
au Similar to the "ow" of cow. cauto (KAH'oo-toh) cautious AH'OO
ea No English equivalent. A idea (ee-DEH'ah) idea EH'ah
combination of eh and
ah.
ei Like the ay in day. lei (LAY) you AY
eo No English equivalent. A ebreo (eh-BREll'oh) Hebrew EH'oh
combination of eh and
oh.
eu No English equivalent. A neutro (NEH'oo-troh) EH'oo
combination of eh and neuter
long oo.
ia No English equivalent. A mia (MEE'ah) my EE'ah
combination of ee and ah.
ie No English equivalent. A bugie (boo-JEE'eh) lies n'eh
combination of ee and eh.
ii No English equivalent. finii (fee-NEE'y) I finished EE'y
Like a d ra wn -o u t ee
sound.
io No English equivalent. A Dio (DEE'oh) God u'oh
combination of ee and
oh.
 DIPHTHONGS 23
ITALIAN PHONETIC
SPELLING SoUND ITALIAN EXAMPLE SYMBOL
oe No English equivalent. A eroe (eh-R.oH'eh) hero oH'eh
combination of oh and
eh.
oi Similar to the oy of boy. noi (Nov) we · OY
ua No English equivalent. A 111a (soo'ah) his, her oo'ah
combination of long oo
and ah.
ue No English equivalent. A due (ooo'eh) two oo'eh
combination of long oo
and eh.
ui Similar to the ewy of chewy, fui (Foo'y) I was oo'y
but without the "w"
sound.
uo No English equivalent. A duo (ooo'oh) duet oo'oh
combination of long oo
and oh.

B. Those diphthongs in which the first of the individual vowel

sounds is made part of the second, which gets the major part of the
sound:
ia No English equivalent. A piatto (PYAHT•toh) dish YAH
combination of initial "J
and ah.
ie Similar to the ye of yet, but ieri (YEH•ree) yesterday YEH
more extended.
io Similar to the yo of yodel. biondo (BYOHN-doh) YOB
blonde
iu Similar to you. fiume (noo-meh) YOO
ua Like the wa of swallow. river
Like the ue of quell. guanti (GWAHN•tee) gloves WAH
ue Like the uee of queen. questo (1tWEH·stoh) this
ui quindid (1tWEEN-dee-chee) WEH
uo Like the uo of quote. fifteen WOB
WEE
uomo (woH-moh) man
C. Those diphthongs in which neither vowel sound is stressed.
These appear in unaccented syllables. They are indicated as in B
above, but in lower case letters. Examples:
sedia (SEH-dyah) chair
vietato (vyeh•TAH•toh) forbidden
quindicina (kween-dee-<:HEE•nah) fortnight
24 THE CORTINA METHOD
We shall not consider ia, io, and iu as diphthongs when they are
preceded by c or g inasmuch as the i is used to give the letters c and
ga soft sound, as explained above.

Triphthong&
A triphthong is a combination of three vowels pronounced as one
syllable.
iei A combination of initial 'I miel (M'YAY) my 'TAY
and ay.
uoi A combination of r,, and qy. tuoi (TWOY) your WOY

Double Conso118111&
Double consonants in Italian have a stronger sound than single
consonants. In our phonetic transaiption, the first of the double
consonants is written at the end of the preceding syllable. Examples:
pena (PEH-nah) pain; penna (PEHN•nah) pen
caro (KAB-roh) dear; c:arro (KAHll•roh) car, cart
A double c before e or i is pronounced like the tch in watch. A
double g before e or i is pronounced like the dg in budge. In the
phonetic system this sound is represented by dj. A double .z is not
indicated. The symbol for the single .z is used.

Aeeent
In Italian the accented syllable is usually the next to the last one,
called the penult:
tesoro {teh.zoR-roh) treasUre
trovare {troh•VAH·reh) to find

However, there are many words which do not follow this rule. Some
words are accented on the final syllable, in which case they usually
take a grave accent ('') o n the vowel of that syllable:
facolta (fah-kohl-TAH) pieta (pyeh-TAH) pity
This accent mark is also used to distinguish between words of similar
spelling but different meaning:
te you; tea la the: la there
ancora (ahn-KoH-rah) yet; ancora {AHN-koh-rah) anchor
Keep in mind that the stressed syllable in Italian has a longer and
louder (almost explosive) sound than the others.