The Italian alphabet
Alphabet
A, a [a]
B, b [bi]
C, c [ci]
D, d [di]
E, e [e]
F, f [effe]
G, g [gi]
H, h [acca]
I, i [i]
L, l [elle]
M, m [emme]
N, n [enne]
O, o [o]
P, p [pi]
Q, q [qu]
R, r [erre]
S, s [esse]
T,t [ti]
U, u [u]
V, v [vi]
Z, z [zeta]
Vowels
Italian vowels are always articulated in a sharp, clear way, regardless of stress. In standard Italian a, i, u, are always pronounced the same way:
mano
dito
su
On the other hand, e and o in stressed syllables may represent either an open (è, ò) or a closed (é, ó) sound:
resto, rete
rosa, Roma
As a result, the vowel system displays seven different sounds: three front vowels (è, è, i), three back vowels (ò, ó, u), and one central vowel (a).
| c1 | c2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Vowels | è tè "tea" |
é perché "why, because" |
i vino "wine" |
| Back Vowels | ò però "but, on the contrary" |
ó sole "sun" |
u luna "moon" |
| Central Vowel | a mare "sea" |
Please note that writing the accent is mandatory only on the last syllable, and just on some monosyllables, mostly with the function of disambiguating words pronounced in the same way but having different meanings:
tè: tea - te: you
là: there - la: the
Consonants
Italian consonants may be either short or long. Long sounds occur only in word-internal position, and are written with double letters.
| c1 | c2 |
|---|---|
| b banana, rubare, sabbia | |
| c cane, muco, mucca, cena, pace, accendere | |
| d domani, dado, addio | |
| f fico, gufo, ufficio | |
| g gatto, legare, leggo, giro, agire, raggi | |
| l luna, pala, palla | |
| m mela, remo, mamma | |
| n nove, nono, nonno | |
| p pera, sapere, tappo | |
| q quando, acqua | |
| r rosa, caro, carro | |
| s sera, casa, rosso | |
| t tempo, note, notte | |
| v vino, nuovo, ovvio | |
| z zero, azzurro |