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 spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia. It 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.