The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Italian language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
See Italian phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Italian.
| Consonants[1]
|
| IPA
|
Examples |
English approximation
|
| b
|
banca; cibo
|
bike
|
| d
|
dove; idra
|
done
|
| dz
|
zaino; zelare; mezzo
|
dads
|
| dʒ
|
giungla; magia; fingere; pagina
|
jab
|
| f
|
fatto; fosforo
|
fast
|
| ɡ
|
gatto; agro; glifo; ghetto
|
gas
|
| k
|
cavolo; acuto; anche; quei; kaiser
|
scar
|
| l
|
lato; lievemente; pala
|
lip
|
| ʎ
|
gli; glielo; maglia[2]
|
roughly like million
|
| m
|
mano; amare; campo; anfibio[3]
|
mother
|
| n
|
nano; punto; pensare
|
nest
|
| ŋ
|
fango; unghia; panchina; dunque [3]
|
sing
|
| ɲ
|
gnocco; ogni[2]
|
roughly like canyon
|
| p
|
primo; ampio; copertura
|
spin
|
| r
|
Roma; quattro; morte
|
trilled r
|
| s
|
sano; scatola; presentire; pasto
|
sorry
|
| ʃ
|
scena; sciame; pesci[2]
|
ship
|
| t
|
tranne; mito; alto
|
star
|
| ts
|
zozzo; canzone; marzo
|
cats
|
| tʃ
|
Cennini; cinque; ciao; farmacia
|
chip
|
| v
|
vado; povero; watt
|
vent
|
| z
|
sbavare; presentare; asma
|
zipper
|
| Semivowels
|
| j
|
ieri; scoiattolo; più; Jesi; yacht
|
you
|
| w
|
uovo; fuoco; qui; week-end
|
wine
|
|
| Vowels[4][5]
|
| IPA
|
Examples |
English approximation
|
| a
|
alto; sarà
|
father
|
| e
|
vero; perché
|
pay
|
| ɛ
|
elica; cioè
|
bed
|
| i
|
imposta; colibrì; zie
|
see
|
| o
|
ombra; come
|
sole (for some dialects)
|
| ɔ
|
otto; posso; sarò
|
law
|
| u
|
ultimo; caucciù; tuo
|
too
|
|
|
| Suprasegmentals
|
| IPA
|
Examples |
English approximation
|
| ˈ
|
Cennini [tʃenˈniːni]
|
bottle
|
| ˌ
|
lievemente [ˌljeveˈmente]
|
intonation
|
| .
|
tuo [ˈtu.o]
|
moai
|
| ː
|
primo [ˈpriːmo]
|
long vowel[6]
|
|
- ↑ If the consonants are doubled between vowels, they are geminated. This can also happen between sonorants (genuinely, all consonants can be geminated except for [z]). In IPA, gemination can be represented either by doubling the consonant: fatto [ˈfatto], mezzo [ˈmɛddzo]; or with the length marker ‹ ː ›. Notice as well, syntactic gemination can occur in Italian (e.g. va via [vavˈvi.a]).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 /ʎ/, /ɲ/ and /ʃ/ are always geminated word-internally.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The nasals always assimilate their place of articulation to that of the following consonant. Thus, the n in /nɡ/, /nk/ is a velar [ŋ], the realization before /v/ or /f/ is a labiodental [ɱ] (though this is transcribed here as [m]), and only [m] is ever found before /p/ or /b/.
- ↑ Italian contrasts seven stressed monophthongs. In unstressed syllables, mid vowels occur in complementary distribution; with open-mid vowels [ɛ ɔ] appearing before sonorants (e.g. copertura [kopɛrˈtura]), and close-mid vowels [e o] found elsewhere (e.g. posso [ˈpɔsso]). Open and close vowels [a i u] stay unchanged in unstressed syllables, though utterance-final unstress [i] may become an approximant [j] before vowels in a process known as synalepha (syllable merging), e.g. pari età [ˌparjeˈta].
- ↑ In addition to the pure vowels, there are diphthongs ending in [i] and [u]:
- [ai] as in baita ('mountain hut')
- [ei] as in potei ('could 1.sg.')
- [ɛi] as in sei ('six')
- [oi] as in voi ('you pl.')
- [ɔi] as in poi ('later')
- [ui] as in lui ('he')
- [au] as in auto ('car')
- [eu] as in pleurite ('pleuritis')
- [ɛu] as in neutro ('neuter')
- ↑ Stressed vowels are long when in a non-final open syllable: fato [ˈfaːto] ~ fatto [ˈfatto].
