Italian alphabet with pronunciation
Italian ⋙
Italian A1
You are here because you want to learn Italian in a simple way, right? So, first we will discuss the Italian alphabet.
Alphabets are the foundation of every language. The Italian alphabet is what you should learn first to enhance language abilities, because you will be able to write the word in the correct way and read symbols, letters, and text.
Table of Contents
The Italian alphabet originates from Latin. The Italian alphabet consists of 21 letters: 16 consonants
(b, c, d, f, g, h, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, z) and five vowels (
a, e, i, o, u). There are some foreign consonants (
J, K, W, X, Y) that are not official. They still can appear in some loanwords.
The letter "h" does not correspond to any sound:
ho [o] - I have;
hanno [anno] - they have;
oh! [o] - oh!
You have to know how to pronounce vowels and consonants in order to read Italian. Also, Italian is a phonetic language, which means that you can read words almost like they are written.
The vowel sounds are as follows:
A (a) - [ah] sounds like "ah" (father);
E (e) - [eh] sounds like "eh" (bed);
I (i) - [ee] sounds like "ee" (bee);
O (o) - [oh] sounds like "oh" (stop);
U (u) - [oo] sounds like "oo" (moon).
The consonant sounds are as follows:
B (bi) - sounds like "b" in English;
C (ci) - sounds like soft "ch" in "cheese" (before e, i, or y), or like "k" in "cat" (before a, o, u);
D (di) - sounds like "d" in English;
F (effe) - sounds like "f" in English;
G (gi) - sounds like "jee" in "jeep" (before e, i, or y), or like "g" in "go" (before a, o, u);
H (acca) - silent, not pronounced;
L (elle) - sounds like "l" in English;
M (emme) - sounds like "m" in English;
N (enne) - sounds like "n" in English;
P (pi) - sounds like "p" in English;
Q (cu) - sounds like "koo" in "cool" (it's always followed by "u");
R (erre) - sounds like "r" in English or trilled "r" at the end of words;
S (esse) - sounds like "s" or "z" (between two vowels) in English;
T (ti) - sounds like "t" in English;
V (vi/vu) - sounds like "v" in English;
Z (zeta) - sounds like "ts" or "dz" (at the beginning of a word).
The foreign consonant sounds are as follows:
J - sounds like "j" in English;
K - sounds like "k" in English;
W - sounds like "w" in English;
X - sounds like "x" in English;
Y - sounds like "y" in English.
In Italian, the pronunciation of several consonants changes depending on
different combinations. Here are some of the common ones.
C + H (ch) - sounds like "k".
Example: chiesa [kjeza] (church);
C + I/E/Y (ci/ce/cy) - sounds like "ch".
Example: ciliegia [chiliyedja] (cherry);
C + A/O/U (ca/co/cu) - sounds like "k".
Examples: poco [poko] (little);
G + H (gh) - sounds like "g".
Examples: ghetto [getto] (ghetto);
G + L (gl) - sounds like "ʎ" or soft "l" (double "l" + "i" in "million").
Examples: figlio [fiʎo] (son), famiglia [famiʎa] (family);
G + N (gn) - sounds like "ɲ" or soft "n" ("canyon").
Example: gnocchi [ɲokki] (potato balls);
S + C + E/I (sci, sce) - sounds like [ʃ] or "sh" ("push").
Examples: sciarpa [ʃarpa] (scarf), sceda [ʃeda] (go down);
S + C + H (sch) - sounds like [sk].
Examples: pesche [peske] (peaches);
I + E (ie) - sounds like [je] or [ije].
Examples: pieno [pijeno] (full);
I + A (ia) - sounds like [ja] or [ija].
Example: piazza [pijatsa] (square);
I + O (io) - sounds like [jo] or [ijo].
Example: iodio [ijodijo] (iodine).
As can be seen from the examples, completely foreign among the sounds of the Italian language is the sound represented by "
gli," which appears in the word
meglio (better) and is very soft.
The sound [k] in Italian can be written in three ways:
"c" (alone or before any letter except i and e): crudo [krudo], cane [kane];
"chi", "che": chiesa [kjeza], oche [oke];
"qu": quadro [kwadro].
These are only some of the combinations. There are possibly other ones that will arise as you learn the Italian language. It is necessary to listen to native Italian speakers in order to get a natural appreciation of these sounds.
Now repeat all new words. We will see you in the next lesson, which will deal with the
Italian pronouns.
Good luck!
