Italian Spelling and Pronunciation

Appendix A Spelling and pronunciation
The alphabet
In Italian there are 21 letters in the alphabet plus five letters, j, k, w, x, and y, which are used only in foreign
words.
jkwxy
il jolly joker (in cards) il kimono kimono

il weekend lo xilofono xylophone lo yoga
But w pronounced as v: il walzer waltz
Walter Walter
These are mostly pronounced as in

English, but in a few words of
German origin w is pronounced like
the English v.
Spelling and pronunciation

Italian spelling is fairly simple because the relationship between the letters and the sounds is consistent. On the
whole there is no variation from one word to another. (Compare this with the English comb, tomb, bomb, etc.)
However, some combinations of letters are pronounced and spelt differently from the English. The main ones
are given here.
Spelling
ce ci
che chi
ge gi
ghe ghi
sce sci
sche schi
gli
gn
h
Approximate English sound

English ch
English hard k
English j
English hard g
English sh
English hard sk
no exact English equivalent
no exact English equivalent
Examples
cento (like cherry) Cina (like cheese)
anche (monkey) chilo (keen)
geloso (jet/generous) magico (tragic/jilt)
lunghe (get) larghi (geezer)
scende (shed) scippo (sheep)
pesche (sceptic/schedule) boschi (skip/skill)
figlio, famiglia (the closest equivalent is million)
lasagne gnocchi signore (the closest equivalents are
canyon, cognac or onion)
not pronounced at the beginning of aho/hobby (honour)
word
Accents
Grave
accents:
Acute
accents:
With
capitals
la citt il caff cos

dormir pi
They are used to indicate that the stress falls on the

final vowel.
d gives da from
is
e and
s yes
si one, you, him/herself
perch because
bench although
n neither
ne of it, of them
They also distinguish between words with the same

spelling but different meanings.
/E un mistero Its a mystery
Used to indicate a closed e sound (like Jill) as

opposed to an open e (like bed). They also
distinguish between words with the same spelling
but different meanings.
When used, accents are also required on capital
letters but may also be written as an apostrophe.
Spelling conventions
Capital letters
In Italian, capitals are less used than in English.
With names but not titles
With titles in a formal context
Daniela Giacomo la signora Cerioli il dottor Carfagnini

lingegnere Andrisani il re Vittorio Emanuele II
La Repubblica Italiana il Ministero dellEconomia e delle Finanze
(but informally: il ministero delleconomia e delle finanze)

LEuropa il Regno Unito gli Stati Uniti la Sicilia Roma
But: gli italiani gli americani ; parlare italiano capire il siciliano; un
migrante italiano un paese europeo
via Daniele Manin via del Corso piazza del Duomo But:
Corso Vittorio Emanuele
Ci vediamo luned Sono nato in gennaio
Il Signore degli anelli The Lord of the Rings
Sogno di una notte destate A Midsummer Nights Dream
Newspaper titles - capitals
La Repubblica Il Corriere della Sera
Personal pronouns: io no capital, but Lo faccio io
in formal correspondence the formal La ringrazio della Sua attenzione
In attesa di sentirLa, Le porgo i miei pi cordiali saluti
you pronouns and their related
Vorrei sottoporre alla cortese attenzione della Vostra ditta ...**.
adjectives are capitalised *
Geographical names but not the
related inhabitants, languages or
adjectives
With addresses but not the word for
road, piazza etc.
Months, weekdays - no capitals
Book titles first word only
* The tendency is increasingly to use lower case but not with complete strangers in a professional context.
**Voi/vostro is both informal and formal (people addressed individually as Lei are addressed in the plural as voi).
However, in a letter of application the addressee (e.g. the representative of a firm) may be seen as plural.
Dropping the final vowel

In informal Italian the final vowel of the verb may be dropped. This is also permissible in written Italian where
the vowel could produce an awkward sound, e.g.with bene or the infinitives of avere, fare, lasciare or stare.
Dropping the final o (sono, erano
etc.)
Dropping the final e (avere, fare,
lasciare, stare,volere etc.)
Lasciali stare, son solo bambini

Ceran tanti poliziotti in piazza
Non aver paura; Vorrei star meglio; Deve lasciar passare il
camion; Pu far entrare il cliente? Cosa vuol dire? ben diverso
Spelling out loud

When spelling out loud, the convention is to use the names of towns where possible. Otherwise the letters are
spelt using their proper names in the alphabet. These are also shown below.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
a [ah]
bi
ci
di
e [egg]
effe
gi
acca
i [eat]
i lunga
cappa
elle
emme
Ancona
Bologna (or Bari)
Como
Domodossola
Empoli
Forl
Genova
Hotel (or acca)
Imola
i lunga (or jolly)
cappa
Livorno
Milano
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
enne
o [hot]
pi
cu
erre
esse
ti
u [cool]
vu
doppio vu
ics
ipsilon
zeta
Napoli
Otranto
Padova (or Parma)
cu (or quaranta)
Roma
Savona (or Salerno)
Torino
Udine
Venezia (or Vicenza)
doppio vu (or Washington)
ics
ipsilon/i greca
zeta (or Zara)

Italian Spelling and Pronunciation

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Appendix A Spelling and pronunciation

il jolly joker (in cards) il kimono kimono

These are mostly pronounced as in

Spelling and pronunciation

Approximate English sound

la citt il caff cos

They are used to indicate that the stress falls on the

They also distinguish between words with the same

/E un mistero Its a mystery

Used to indicate a closed e sound (like Jill) as

Daniela Giacomo la signora Cerioli il dottor Carfagnini

(but informally: il ministero delleconomia e delle finanze)

Dropping the final vowel

Lasciali stare, son solo bambini

Spelling out loud

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