3.

Alphabet / l'alfabeto
a ah q koo
b bee r ehr-reh
c chee s ehs-seh
d dee t teh
e eh u oo
f eff-eh v voo
g zhee z dzeh-tah
h ahk-kah
i ee Foreign Letters
l ehl-eh j ee loon-gah
m ehm-eh k kahp-pah
n ehn-eh w dohp-pyah voo
o oh x eeks
p pee y ee greh-kah (or) eep-see-lohn
Italian Grammar
!a"
armadillo # !bi"
bisonte $ !ci"
cinghiale % !di"
dinosauro & !e"
elefante F !effe"
farfalla G !gi"
giraffa I !i"
ippopotamo L !elle"
leone ' !emme"
maiale ( !enne"
nottola ) !o"
orso * !pi"
pinguino + !cu"
quaglia , !erre"
rinoceronte - !esse"
scorpione . !ti"
tigre / !u"
usignolo 0 !vu"
visone 1 !zeta"
zebra
2. Pronnc!at!on / la pronnc!a
"tal!an !s a very phonet!c langage# so pronnc!at!on shold be easy. $ost %ords are
prononced e&actly l!ke they are spelled. 'here are only seven pre vo%els# bt several
d!phthongs and tr!phthongs. 'he (ngl!sh samples g!ven are not prononced e&actly as !n
"tal!an becase (ngl!sh vo%els tend to be d!phthong!zed (there's an e&tra yh or %h after the
actal vo%el). $ake sre to only say the pre vo%el and not the d!phthong %hen prononc!ng
"tal!an.
Italian 0owels English Pronunciation
2i3 v!ta ee as in meet
2e3 ved! ay as in bait
[ ] era eh as in bet
2a3 cane ah as in father
2u3 va oo as in boot
2o3 sole oh as in boat
23 modo aw as in law
-emi40owels

2w3 )ando# omo wuh as in won
2j3 p!ano# !er!# p!ove yuh as in yes
"n spell!ng# the letter e !s sed to represent both *e+ and [ ] , %h!le the letter o !s sed to
represent both *o+ and *+. "f the vo%el !s stressed# then the pronnc!at!on !s al%ays closed *e+
and *o+. "f the vo%el !s not stressed# !t !s al%ays open [ ] and *+. 'h!s can change accord!ng
to reg!onal d!alects !n "taly# of corse# bt th!s !s the standard rle. "tal!an sem!-vo%els are
al%ays %r!tten ua5 ue5 uo5 ui for *%+ and ia5 ie5 io5 iu for *-+. "f another vo%el precedes or !#
then !t !s a d!phthong. ai5 ei5 oi5 au5 eu. 'he comb!nat!on ! / another vo%el creates a
tr!phthong.
Italian consonant 6 vowel combinations
c 6 a5 o5 u5 he5 hi k am!ca# am!co# am!che
ah-mee-kah, ah-mee-koh, ah-mee-
keh
c 6 ia5 io5 iu5 e5 i ch bac!o# celebre# c!nema bah-cho, cheh-leh-breh, chee-neh-
mah
g 6 a5 o5 u5 he5 hi g gara# gsto# spaghett! gah-rah, goo-stoh, spah-geh-tee
g 6 ia5 io5 iu5 e5 i d- 0!otto# gelato# mag!co
djoh-toh, djeh-lah-toh, mah-djee-
koh
sc 6 a5 o5 u5 he5 hi sk scala# scola# scheda skah-lah, skoo-oh-la, skeh-dah
sc 6 ia5 io5 iu5 e5 i sh sc!arpa# sc!pato# scemo shar-pah, shoo-pah-toh, sheh-moh
'he consonant h !s al%ays s!lent. 1oble consonants mst be prononced !nd!v!dally. il
nonno (eel nohn-noh) !s prononced d!fferently from il nono (eel noh-noh).
-tress falls on the second-to-last syllable !n "tal!an. "f stress falls on the last syllable# the
vo%el !s %r!tten %!th an accent mark (la c!tt2). 3o%ever# !t !s also poss!ble for the stress to
fall on the th!rd-to-last syllable (Amer!ca# telefono) and even the forth-to-last syllable
(telefonano) !n th!rd person plral verb con-gat!ons.