Italian Pronunciation Guide

By Dick Oakes

A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g,
H h, I i, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p,
Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v,
Z z

Italian is a Romance language and is spoken by over 60 million people.

Letters not listed below are pronounced approximately as in English.

A, a	- a as in father
E, e	- e as in let; e as in grey
I, i	- i as in machine
O, o	- o as in gone; o as in hope
U, u	- oo as in foot; w as in walk

C, c	- ch as in child before e or i; c as in cat
G, g	- g as in gymnastic before e or i; g as in go
H, h	- h is always silent
R, r	- slightly rolled
S, s	- s as in nose between vowels; s as in sit
Z, z	- ts as in spits; ds as in pads

OTHER SOUNDS:

Ch, ch	- c as in cat
Gh, gh	- g as in go
Gl, gl	- lli as in million
Gn, gn	- ni as in onion
Sc, sc	- sh as in shell before e or i; sk as in skip
Zz, zz	- ts as in spits; ds as in pads

VOWEL GROUPINGS:

a, e, o	- strong vowels
i, u	- weak vowels

strong + strong = pronounce as two separate syllables.
strong + weak = pronounce the weak one more quickly and with less stress than the strong one, unless the weak vowel is stressed, in which case pronounce it as a separate syllable.
weak + weak = generally the second is stressed more strongly.