 ITALIAN NAMES AND PRONUNCIATION
We would like to use the Italian names wherever
possible in these pages.
It should be clear that
when you come to Rome the names you'll find on
street signs, on maps and in books and magazines
will be the Italian ones.
Therefore it will be necessary to help interested
people with the pronunciation of some of these
names. Fortunately, Italian is written in a reasonably
regular manner, so that you can look at a word
that you've never seen and have a good chance
of knowing how to pronounce it -- something you
can't do often in English.
Most letters have
only one pronunciation.
And you should always try to pronounce them this
one way.
| Letter |
Pronunciation |
Example |
Meaning |
| a |
"uh" as in cut |
"piazza" is "PYUHT-suh" |
(square/place) |
| b |
"b" as in bell |
|
|
| d |
"d" as in dog |
|
|
| e |
"e" as in egg |
"Tevere" is "TEH-veh-reh" |
(Tiber) |
| f |
"f" as in free |
|
|
| l |
"l" as in like |
|
|
| m |
"m" as in mine |
|
|
| n |
"n" as in name |
|
|
| o |
"o" as in hop
(English pron.)
not as in hope |
"Roma" is "ROH-muh" |
(the eternal
city) |
| p |
"p" as in pick |
|
|
| q |
"q" as in quick |
|
|
| r |
nice tongue roll |
|
|
| t |
"t" as in top |
|
|
| v |
"v" as in very |
|
|
| x |
"x" as in box |
|
|
| z |
"ts" as in cuts |
"palazzo" is "puh-LUHT-soh" |
(palace/building) |
The letter "h" is used,
but never pronounced. |
Some letters are more
complex, especially in combination with others.
| Letter |
Pronunciation |
Example |
Meaning |
| s |
"s" as in sun
"z" as in zoo
|
"san" is "suhn"
"presso" is "PREHS-soh"
"preso is "PREH-zo"
("s" between 2 vowels) |
(saint)
(near)
(taken) |
| g |
"g" as in go
"j" as in jet
gn = "ny-"
gli- = ly-"
-ggi- = -d-j- |
"grazie" is "GRUHTS-yeh"
"giardino" is "jahr-DEE-noh"
"gentile" is "jehn-TEE-leh"
"Spagna" is "SPUHN-yuh"
"voglio" is "VOHL-yoh"
"loggia" is "LOHD-juh" |
(thanks)
(garden)
(kind)
(Spain)
(I want) |
| c |
"k" as in cat
"ch" as in chat |
"colle" is "KOHL-leh"
"cento" is "CHEHN-toh"
"cinque" is "CHING-queh" |
(hill)
(=100)
(=5) |
As in English "g" and "c"
are changed when followed by an "e" or
an "i". Italian does show the difference
between pronunciations of the "g" in words
like "gentle" and "get" by inserting
an "h" between the consonant and the vowel
to "protect" the consonant from change,
eg "ghetto";
"chilo" (kilo) |
"I" and "U"
The double usage of the following letters is
brought about because Italian has no letters for
"w" or "y", so the nearest
vowel is substituted in each case.
| Letter |
Pronunciation |
Example |
Meaning |
| i |
"ee" as in see
"y" as in yes |
"piccolo" is "PEEK-koh-loh"
"piazza" is "PYUHT-suh"
"San Pietro"
is "suhn-PYEH-tro"
"ieri" is "YEH-ree" |
(small)
(square/place)
(Saint Peter)
(yesterday) |
| u |
"oo" as in put
not as in cut
"w" as in way |
"mura" is "MOO-rah"
"buono" is "BWOH-noh"
"uomo" is "WOH-moh" |
(external wall)
(good)
(man) |
Double consonants.
Italian uses double consonants as an important
part of the pronunciation of the language. English
speakers have a lot of problems with double consonants.
This is because they rarely pronounce double letters,
eg, "ferry" rhymes with "very".
Yet double consonants do exist in English. "bookkeeper"
is clearly pronounced with two "k".
Can you hear the difference between "bus
stop" and bus top"? When you say "tell
Lloyd to come" you don't pronounce it "tel-oid.."
but "tel-loid..". The major difference
is that all double consonants written in Italian
are pronounced,
eg, "bello" is "behl-loh" (beautiful/nice)
"Giovanni" is "joh-VUHN-ni" (John)
"rotto" is "roht-toh" (broken)
Vowel combinations (diphthongs!)
These are always pronounced the same in Italian
and are a combination of the vowels indicated.
For example "au" in "autobus",
goes from "ah" to "u". Try
and say the first then move to the second -- you
finish with a sound like the "ow" in
"town", so "auto" is pronounced
"OW-toh".
Try these combinations:
| Letter |
Pronunciation |
Example |
Meaning |
| au |
autobus |
"OW-toh-boos" |
(bus) |
| ei |
tabaccaio |
"tuh-buhk-kEYE-yoh" |
(tobacconist's) |
| ea |
idea |
"ih-DEH-uh" |
(idea) |
| oe |
eroe |
"e-ROH-eh" |
(hero) |
In each case you are pronouncing the movement from
one vowel to the other each time. In English look
at the ways we write the sound of the letter "i":
"I","my","eye","high","mine".
WOuldn't it be simpler to have one way of writing
it? The Italians simple use "ai".
Don't forget, however that in Italian "i"
and "u" in combinations like "ia"
or "uo" are usually consonants! (See above).
Ian Hutchesson
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