ITALIAN PRONUNCIATION

(with examples)

The emphatic syllable of each word is marked with an accent over the vowel.

Pronounce A as in father
1. Amor (love)ahmhr.
2. Adagio (slowly)ah-dh-jee-o.

Pronounce E like English a without the ending ee we usually
give it. There are two e sounds in Italian, but for practical
purposes here it will be simpler to pronounce e as our
interjection eh.
1. Core (heart)k-reh.
2. Eco (echo)hko.

Pronounce I like English e.
1. Iddio (God)eeddeo.
2. Idea (idea, view)eedh-ah.

Pronounce 0 as in soar. There are two o sounds in Italian, but
as in the case of e we shall compromise.
1. Porta (door)p-rtah.
2. Popolo (people)p-po-lo.

Pronounce U like oo in coo.
1. Uomo (man)oo--mo.
2. Unione (union)ooneeneh.

Consonant C followed by e or i.
(like ch in chief).
I. Cembalo (piano)chhmbahlo.
2. Cielo (heaven)chee-h-lo

Consonant C followed by a, o, u.
(pronounced as in English, like k).
1. Campo (field)khmpo.
2. Contento (content)kohnthnto.
3. Curia (court of justice)ko-ree-ah.

Two Cs followed by e or i.
(the first c is pronounced like t).
1. Accento (accent)aht-chhn-to.
2. Faccia (face)fht-chee-ah.


Pronounce CHI like kee.
I. Chi (who)kee.
2. Chiaro (clear)kce-h-ro.

Pronounce CHE as keh.
1. Che (that)keh.
2. Cherico (priest)kh-ree-ko.

G followed by e or i.
(like j in jest.)
1. Giorno (day)jeehrno.
2. Genio (genius)-jhneeo.

G followed by a, o, u.
(pronounced as in English).
1. Galante (gallant)gahlhnteh.
1. Godio (joy)g-dee-o.
3. Guanto (glove)goohnto.



Two Gs followed by e or I
(the first g sounds like d and the second like j in jest).
1. Oggi (today)djee.

Pronounce CH as in ghost.
1. Ghirlanda (garland)geerlhndah.

GL before a, e, o, u.
(hard, as in English).
1. Gloria (glory)g1-ree-ah.

GL before:.
(like 1 in pavilion or brilliant).
I. Voglia (wish)vl-yeeah.
2. Egli (he)h-l-yee.

GN in gna, gne, gni, gno, gnu.
- (like ni in companion).
1. Compagno (companion)kohm-phn-yo.

H in Italian is never sounded.

J is pronounced like English y.

R is rolled when it ends a syllable, when it is doubted, or when
preceded by another consonant.

S has two sounds as in English.
1. Between two vowels it sounds as in rose (Italian
rosa).
2. Accompanied by a consonant, or at the beginning of a
word, it sounds as in search (Italian sarto-tailor fresco
fresh).

SC before e or i.
(like sh in shake).
1. Scena (scene)shhnah.

SC before a, o, u,
(like sk, as in English).
1. Scandalo (scandal)skhndahlo.

Pronounce SCH like sk.
(like English sch in school).

T: the breath-flow is stopped somewhat by closing the teeth on
the tip of tongue, so that t, particularly if doubled, sounds very
much like d.
1. Tratta (pull)trhtdah.

Z in the beginning or body of a word usually has itssoft
soundds.
1. Lazaro(Lazarus)lhdsahro.
When it precedes i followed by another vowel it sounds like z
in chintz.
2. Zio (uncle)tseo.
1. Grazia (grace)grhtsiah

ZZ usually is pronounced like ts.