Pronunciation and Orthography: The Alphabet, Double Consonants, and Accent Marks

The Alphabet

The Italian alphabet consists of twenty-one letters: five vowels and sixteen consonants. In most cases, Italian is a phonetic language, based on its own system of pronunciation rules. Following is the Italian alphabet, including the appropriate pronunciation for each letter. In many cases, the Italian pronunciation is similar to the English; however, this is not the case with the letters C, G, H, and S. Please make special note of their entries in the table below.

Letter	Pronunciation	Examples	Additional Information
a	ah	padre, mamma, angelo
b	bee	buono, bello
c	ci (pronounced like the ch in the English chop)	cinema, cibo (food), cane, chiave (key), anche	C has two pronunciations: Before an a, o, u, or a consonant, it is like the English k (as in clown). Before an e or i, it is like the English sound ch (as in champion). The combination CH is used before e or i to achieve the k sound (chi for example, is pronounced kee).
d	dee	dimenticare, dimora (dwelling)
e	eh	bello, lento (slow), bene	E has two pronunciations--either open or closed. These can be difficult for English learners to hear and will not be covered in depth here, as they are not necessary to speak, read, or understand the language well. This pronunciation also varies from region to region in Italy.
f	effe	fame, fuori
g	gee (pronounced like the g in the English gentleman)	gente, giorno, gatto, ghetto, aglio (garlic), pigliare (to take/grab), glicine (wisteria), gnocchi	G has two pronunciations: Before a, o, u, or a consonant, it is like the English go. Before an e or i, it is like the English j (as in joke). The combination GH is found only before e or i to achieve a hard G sound (like the English get). The combination GLI is pronounced like the ll in million. GN is like the ny in canyon.
h	acca	ho, hai, ha	The Italian H is always silent.
i	ee	bimbo, chiamare, arancia
l	elle	latte, loro
m	emme	mamma, musica
n	enne	nonno, naso
o	oh	dopo, ora	Like the letter E, the letter O has two sounds, open or closed.
p	pee	padre, piede
q	cu	quattro, quindi, quiete (calm, stillness)	Q is always followed by U and one or more vowels.
r	erre	Roma, Rimini
s	esse	scala, sbaglio (error/mistake), sdegno (disdain), sciocco (silly), sciopero (strike), scherzo (joke), mosche (flies), coscia (thigh)	S is pronounced like the English z before the letters b, d, g, l, m, n, r, and v. SC has two pronunciations: before a, o, or u, it is like the English sk, as in ski. Before an e or i, it is like the English sh, as in shop. SCH is found before e or i and is pronounced like the English sk.
t	tee	tacchino (turkey), pasta
u	uu	uomo, buco (hole)	When U is followed by a vowel, it is pronounced like the English w as in west.
v	vu	vino, Volterra
z	zeta	zio, ozio (sloth/laziness), prezzo, mezzo	Sometimes Z is unvoiced (zio, ozio), and in these cases it is pronounced ts as in the English vets. When it is voiced (prezzo, mezzo), it is pronounced dz as in the English beds.

The five additional letters of the alphabet appear in many foreign words, which are widely used in Italian. Following is a table showing their Italian pronunciation and some examples.

Letter	Pronunciation	Examples
j	ee lunga	jolly, jazz
k	kappa	poker
w	doppia vu; vu doppio	Walter, sandwich
x	iks	taxi, box
y	ipsilon; ee greco	sexy, yoga

Double Consonants

In Italian, when consonants are written double, they have a longer, more emphatic sound. It will take time to train your ears and mouth to hear and pronounce these consonants, but it is imperative that you try to do so. A double or single consonant can drastically change the meaning of some words! Following are just a few examples of words with vastly different meanings, separated by only one consonant.

lego ...I tie/I fasten		leggo ... I read
ala ... wing		alla ... to the
ano ... anus		anno ... year
pene ... penis		penne ... pens
copia ... copy		coppia ... couple
casa ... house		cassa ... cash register/packing crate

Stress and Accent Marks

Stress is indicated in Italian by an accent mark only on words that end in accented vowels. There are two accent marks.

1. The grave accent (`)

città ... city

sarò ... I will be

lunedì ... Monday

tè ... tea

The acute accent (´)

perché ... why/because

né ... nor/not

NB (Nota Bene): All words ending in -ché have an acute accent (affinché, pressoché, etc.)

The topic of Italian accent marks is rich and interesting, and still changing in contemporary times! We will cover more in subsequent lessons, giving specific examples and explanations. For now, however, it is important that you know that these marks exist and that you learn to recognize and use the two marks in the most commonly used words.

In many Italian words, the stress falls on the penultimate syllable (italiano, Antonio) and in just as many others, it can be difficult to decide (Stefano, simpatico). When in doubt, consult a dictionary or look online.