Help:IPA/Italian

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The charts below show how the International Phonetic Alphabet represents pronunciations of Standard Italian in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-it}}, {{IPAc-it}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Italian phonology and Italian orthography for a more thorough look at the sounds of Italian.

Consonants[1]
IPA Examples English approximation
b banca, cibo about
d dove, idra today
dz zaino, azalea, mezzo[2][3] dads
gelo, giù, magia, judo, gadget[4] job
f fatto, cifra, phon fast
ɡ gatto, agro, ghetto, glicosio[5] again
j ieri, saio, più, Jesi, yacht, news yes
k cosa, acuto, finché, quei, kiwi, koala[4] scar
l lato, tela, glicosio[5] ladder
ʎ figli, glielo, maglia[3] billion
m mano, amare, input[6] mother
ɱ anfibio, invece[6] comfort
n nano, punto, pensare[6] nest
ŋ unghia, anche, dunque[6] sing
ɲ gnocco, ogni[3] canyon
p primo, ampio, apertura[4] spin
r Roma, quattro, morte[7] trilled r
s sano, scusa, presentire, pasto sorry
ʃ scena, scià, pesci, flash, chic[3][4] shoe
t tranne, mito, altro, thai[4] star
ts zio, sozzo, marzo[2][3] cats
certo, ciao, farmacia, chip[4] check
v vado, povero, watt vent
w uova, guado, qui, week-end wine
z sbirro, presentare, asma amazon
Non-native consonants
h hobby, hertz[4][8] house
θ Thatcher, Pérez[4][9] thing
x jota, Bach, khamsin[10] loch (Scottish English)
ʒ Fuji, garage, casual[4] vision
Vowels[11]
IPA Examples English approximation
a alto, sarà, must fast (Scottish English)
e vero, perché, liaison fade
ɛ elica, cioè, spread bed
i viso, sì, zia, feed, team, sexy ski
o ombra, otto, show, coach story
ɔ otto, sarò, Sean off
u usi, ragù, tuo, tour rule
Non-native vowels
ø viveur, goethiano, Churchill[12] murder (RP)
y parure, brûlé, Führer[13] future (Scottish English)
 
Suprasegmentals
IPA Examples Explanation
ˈ Cennini [tʃenˈniːni] primary stress
ˌ altamente [ˌaltaˈmente] secondary stress[14]
. continuo [konˈtiːnu.o] syllable break
ː primo [ˈpriːmo] long vowel[15]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ If consonants are doubled after a vowel, they are geminated: all consonants may be geminated except for /z/. Gemination is represented by doubling the consonant (fatto [ˈfatto], mezzo [ˈmɛddzo]). There is also the sandhi of syntactic gemination: va via [ˌva vˈviːa]).
  2. ^ a b ⟨z⟩ represents both /ts/ and /dz/. The article on Italian orthography explains how they are used.
  3. ^ a b c d e /dz/, /ts/, /ʎ/, /ɲ/ and /ʃ/ are always geminated after a vowel.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i In Tuscany [h], [ɸ], [θ], [ʃ] and [ʒ] are the common allophones of vowel-following single /k/, /p/, /t/, /tʃ/ and /dʒ/
  5. ^ a b ⟨gli⟩ represents /ʎ/ or /ʎi/, except in roots of Greek origin, when preceded by another consonant, and in a few other words, where it represents /ɡli/
  6. ^ a b c d Nasals always assimilate their place of articulation to that of the following consonant. Thus, the ⟨n⟩ in /nɡ/ and /nk/ is a velar [ŋ], and the one in /nf/ and /nv/ is the labiodental [ɱ]. A nasal before /p/, /b/ and /m/ is always the labial [m].
  7. ^ Non-geminate /r/ is generally realised with a single strike, as a monovibrant trill or tap [ɾ], particularly in unstressed syllables.
  8. ^ /h/ is usually dropped.
  9. ^ /θ/ is usually pronounced as [t] in English loanwords, and [dz], [ts] (if spelled ⟨z⟩) or [s] (if spelled ⟨c⟩ or ⟨z⟩) in Spanish ones.
  10. ^ In Spanish loanwords, /x/ is usually pronounced as [h], [k] or dropped. In German, Arabic and Russian ones, it is usually pronounced [k].
  11. ^ Italian contrasts seven monophthongs in stressed syllables. Open-mid vowels /ɛ, ɔ/ can appear only if the syllable is stressed (coperto [koˈpɛrto], quota [ˈkwɔːta]), close-mid vowels /e, o/ are found elsewhere (Boccaccio [bokˈkattʃo], amore [aˈmoːre]). Close and open vowels /i, u, a/ are unchanged in unstressed syllables, but word-final unstressed /i/ may become approximant [j] before vowels, which is known as synalepha (pari età [ˌparj eˈta]).
  12. ^ Open-mid [œ] or close-mid [ø] if it is stressed but usually [ø] if it is unstressed. May be replaced by [ɛ] (stressed) or [e] (stressed or unstressed).
  13. ^ /y/ is often pronounced as [u] or [ju].
  14. ^ Since Italian has no distinction between heavier or lighter vowels (like the English o in conclusion vs o in nomination), a defined secondary stress, even in long words, is extremely rare.
  15. ^ Stressed vowels are long in non-final open syllables: fato [ˈfaːto] ~ fatto [ˈfatto].

Further reading[edit]

  • Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004). "Italian" (PDF). Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 34 (1): 117–121. doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628.

External links[edit]