Suomi English

Italian alphabet and pronunciation

This guide provides pronunciation instructions for Italian letters, phonetic transcriptions, and example words. The notation follows the original Vaccaj Singing School material.

Key to phonetic symbols

Key to the phonetic transcription: phonetic symbols are enclosed in brackets [ ].

[z] = voiced s, as in “zoo”, “zero”, and “zebra”; [ʃ] = sibilant, as in “sheep”, “shine”, and “assure”; [ʒ] = voiced sibilant, as in “pleasure”, “leisure”, and “measure”; [ʎ] = li as in “million”; [ɲ] = ny as in “canyon”; [g] = g as in “get”, “glass”, and “great”; [w] = a short, unstressed u at the beginning of a syllable, except in non-Italian loanwords, as in “we”, “why”, and “well”.

“(long)” means that, in a stressed position, the vowel is lengthened. In this material, lengthening is not marked by [:], but by ['] before the stressed syllable: caro ['karo], fare ['fare]. If a vowel is followed by a double consonant or two different consonants, it is usually pronounced short: latte ['latte], corso ['corso], Gherardo [ge'rardo].

Note: As a rule, Italian words are stressed on the penultimate syllable.

Alphabet and pronunciation rules

Select a letter to jump to its entry. On smaller screens, the table can be scrolled horizontally.

Letter Letter name Spelling Pronunciation Explanation Examples
A,a [a] a [a] short, (long), closed [at'tʃɛnto, 'latte, a'maro, 'karo]
(accento, latte, amaro, caro)
B,b [b] b [b] [bal'lare, 'bɛne, 'bril'lare]
(ballare, bene, brillare)
C,c [tʃi] c [k] before a, o, u ['karo,'korso, ku'tʃina]
(caro, corso, cucina)
c [tʃi] before e, i ['tʃɛnto, 'tʃɛlo, 'tʃirko]
(cento, cielo, circo)
ch [k] before e, i [ke, ki, 'kjɛza]
(che, chi, chiesa)
D,d [di] d [d] ['dare, a'dadʒo, edi'tore]
(dare, adagio, editore)
E,e [e] e [e] short, (long), closed ['stella, 'edera]
(stella, edera)
e [ɛ] short, (long), open [mɛddzo, 'ɛbano, ef''fɛtto]
(mezzo, ebano, effetto)
F,f ['effe] f [f] ['afa, 'faro]
(afa, faro)
G,g [dʒi] g [g] before a, o, u ['gabbja, 'gola, 'gusto]
(gabbia, gola, gusto)
g [dʒ] before e, i ['dʒɛnte, 'dʒita]
(gente, gita)
gh [g] before e, i [ge'rardo, 'gjotto]
(Gherardo, ghiotto)
gl [ʎ] in the middle of a word, before i ['fiʎo]
(figlio)
gl [gl] at the beginning of a word, before a, e, i, o, u [gla'diolo,'glɛba, glitʃe'rina, glɔ'rja,' glutine]
(gladiolo, glèba, glicerina, gloria, glùtine)
with the exception of 1) the personal pronoun and 2) gli, the plural of the masculine definite article lo, before nouns beginning with gn-, ps-, sp-, and z- [ʎi]
(gli)
gn [ɲ] ['baɲo, 'ɲɔmo]
(bagno, gnomo)
H,h ['akka] h silent [ɔ, 'anno]
(ho, hanno)
I,i [i] i [i] short, (long), clear [is'tante, 'bimbo, ti'rare, 'fine]
(istante, bimbo, tirare, fine)
J,j [i'lunga] j [j] only in words of non-Italian origin [dʒæz, dʒinz, 'jodel, 'junjor]
(jazz, jeans, jodel, junior)
[j] also used as a phonetic symbol [j] for a quick, unstressed i vowel, as in “yes”, “yellow”, and “usual” ['bujo, 'fjato, pja'tʃere]
(buio, fiato, piacere)
K,k ['kappa] k [k] in words of non-Italian origin [ka'bul, ka'jak, ko'ala]
(Kabul, kayak, koala)
L,l ['ɛlle] l [l] ['lɛtto, 'ala]
(letto, ala)
M,m ['emme] m [m] ['madre, 'ramo]
(madre, ramo)
N,n ['ɛnne] n [n] [nɔ, fu'mante]
(no, fumante)
ng [ng] both sounds are pronounced (n with the tip of the tongue, followed by g), unlike the Finnish ng [ŋ] in kengät [keŋæt] ['lungo, lanɠwendo]
(lungo, languendo)
O,o [ɔ] o [o] short, (long), closed ['ponte, oŋ'ŋuno, 'ora]
(ponte, ognuno, ora)
o [ɔ] short, (long), open ['kɔsta, 'nɔto]
(costa, noto)
P,p [pi] p [p] ['padre, pala'tino]
(padre, Palatino)
Q,q [ku] q [k] words beginning with qua-, que-, qui-, or quo- ['kwando, 'kwesto, kwi, 'kwota]
(quando, questo, qui, quota)
R,r ['erre] r [r] ['rapido, ritar'dare]
(rapido, ritardare)
S,s ['esse] s [s] ['sano, 'sole, 'kasa, 'kosa]
(sano, sole, casa, cosa)
s [z] often between vowels ['kazo, e'zame, 'zvago, 'skuza]
(caso, esame, svago, scusa)
sc [sk] before a, o, u ['skambjo, 'skonto, sku'zare]
(scambio, sconto, scusare)
sc [ʃ] before e, i ['ʃɛna, 'ʃimmja]
(scena, scimmia)
sch [sk] before e, i ['skertso, 'skjɛna]
(scherzo, schiena)
scia [ʃa] i is not pronounced but produces the ʃ sound [ʃa'gura]
(sciagura)
scio [ʃo] ['ʃɔlto]
(sciolto)
sciu [ʃu] [ʃu'pare]
(sciupare)
T,t [ti] t [t] [ta'tʃere, 'tɛrra, tro'vare]
(tacere, terra, trovare)
U,u [u] u [u] short, (long) ['kulto, 'muro]
(culto, muro)
V,v [vu] v [v] [va'kantsa, va'gare, 'vekkjo]
(vacanza, vagare, vecchio)
Z,z ['zeta] z [ts] varies without a clear rule ['tsuppa, av'vettso]
(zuppa, avvezzo)
z [dz] ['dzero, 'mɛddzo]
(zero, mezzo)

Letters appearing in words of foreign origin

The following letters and pronunciation examples are reproduced from the original teaching material.

Letter Letter name Spelling Pronunciation Explanation Examples
K,k ['kappa] k [k] ['kaki, 'karma, 'nou hau]
(kaki, karma, know-how)
W,w ['doppjo vu] or ['doppja vi] w [w] ['wo:kmən, 'wiski. vat]
(walkman, whisky, watt)
used as the phonetic symbol [w] for a quick, unstressed u sound, as in “we”, “why”, and “well” ['kwando,'kwello,'kwi, kwo'tare]
(quando, quello, qui, quotare)
X,x [iks] x [ks] [ksero'kɔpja, ksi'lɔfono]
(xerocopia, xilofono)
Y,y ['ipsilon]
[i greca]		 y [i,j] pronounced as in the original language [jɔt, 'jæŋki, 'jɔga, 'jɔgurt]
(yacht, yankee, yoga, yogurt)

The phonetic transcriptions and examples have been preserved as supplied in the original material. Some notation may reflect older conventions or require verification.