Italian phonology

Phonology

Vowels

Vowels	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Close-mid	e	o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Open	a

Notes:

• In Italian there is no phonemic distinction between long and short vowels. However, vowels in stressed open syllables are long (except when word-final).
• The pairs /e/~/ɛ/ and /o/~/ɔ/ only contrast in stressed syllables. In unstressed syllables only /e/ and /o/ are found.
• Stressed /o/ and unstressed /u/ are never found as the last phoneme of a word.
• When the last phoneme of a word is an unstressed vowel and the first phoneme of the following word is any vowel, the former vowel tends to become non-syllabic. In Italian this phenomenon is called sinalefe and should be taken in account when counting syllables e.g. in poetry.

Consonants

Consonants	Bilabial / Labiodental	Dental / Alveolar	Postalveolar / Palatal	(Labial-) Velar
Plosive	p b	t̪ d̪		k g
Nasal	m	n	ɲ
Trill		r
Fricative	f v	s z	ʃ
Affricate		ts dz	tʃ dʒ
Approximant			j	w
Lateral approximant		l	ʎ

Notes:

• Unlike in English, /p/, /t/ and /k/ are usually unaspirated. Notice that /t/ and /d/ are dental, not alveolar.
• Between two vowels, or between a vowel and an approximant (/l/, /r/, /j/ or /w/), consonants can be both single or geminated. Geminated consonants belong to different syllables (this shortens the preceding vowel) and the first element is unreleased. For example, /fato/ [ˈfaː.t̪o] ~ /fatto/ [ˈfat̪̚.t̪o]. However, /ɲɲ/, /ʃʃ/, /ʎʎ/, are always geminated, except when they are at the beginning of the word and when they follow a consonant.
• /z/ and /ŋ/ are the only consonants that cannot be geminated.
• The trill /r/ is sometimes simplified to a flap [ɾ] when single.
• /n/ assimilates the point of articulation of whatever consonant it precedes. For example, /ng/ is realized as [ŋg].
• /s/ assimilates to a consonant it precedes with regard to voicing.

Non-standard variants

Main article: Italian dialects

The above IPA symbols refer to standard Italian, mainly based on the way it is spoken in Tuscany. As is common in many cultures, this single version of the language was pushed as neutral, proper, and eventually superior, leading to some stigmatization of varying accents. Television news anchors and other high-profile figures had to put aside their regional Italian when in the public sphere. However, in more recent years the enforcement of this standard has fallen out of favor in Italy, and news reporters, actors, and the like are free to deliver their words in their native variety of Italian, which appeals to the Italian population's range of linguistic diversity. Though it is still technically the standard, the loosened restrictions have led to Tuscan being seen for what it is, just one dialect among many with its own regional peculiarities and qualities:

• Single /p/, /t/, /k/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/ between two vowels (even across word boundaries) are pronounced as [ɸ], [θ], [h], [ʃ] and [ʒ] respectively. Example: la casa /la ˈkasa/ [la ˈhaːsa].
• Stops at the end of a syllable completely assimilate to the following consonant. Example: tecnica /ˈtɛknika/ [ˈtʰ̪ɛnniha].

/s/ ~ /z/

These phonemes are in complementary distribution everywhere except between two vowels within the same word, and even in this environment the minimal pairs are really few (less than a dozen). Even in standard Italian, there are many words in which now dictionaries indicate that both pronunciations are possible. Thus they have merged in many dialects: when between two vowels within the same word, it tends to always be pronounced /z/ in Northern Italy, and /s/ in Central and Southern Italy.

Gemination of /b/ and /dʒ/

In popular Central and Southern Italian speech, /b/ and /dʒ/ tend to always be geminated ([bb] and [ddʒ]) when between two vowels, or a vowel and a sonorant (/j/, /w/), /l/, or /r/). Sometimes this is also used in written language (e.g. writing robba instead of roba) to suggest a regional accent.

Sample texts

From the Bible, Luke 2, 1-7 (for an English version click here)

You can listen to a rendition of this text as recorded by an Italian native speaker from Milan. One should notice that this speaker is at points unable to articulate correctly the rolling R: in Italian, he is said to have an 'R moscia' (soft R).

2:1 In quei giorni, un decreto di Cesare Augusto ordinava che si facesse un censimento di tutta la terra. 2 Questo primo censimento fu fatto quando Quirino era governatore della Siria. 3 Tutti andavano a farsi registrare, ciascuno nella propria città. 4 Anche Giuseppe, che era della casa e della famiglia di Davide, dalla città di Nazaret e dalla Galilea si recò in Giudea nella città di Davide, chiamata Betlemme, 5 per farsi registrare insieme a Maria, sua sposa, che era incinta. 6 Proprio mentre si trovavano lì, venne il tempo per lei di partorire. 7 Mise al mondo il suo promogenito, lo avvolse in fasce e lo depose in una mangiatoia, poiché non c'era posto per loro nella locanda.

Pronunciation:

/in kwei ˈdʒorni un deˈkreːto di ˈtʃeːzare auˈɡusto ordiˈnaːva ke ssi faˈtʃesse un tʃensiˈmento di ˈtutta la ˈtɛrra.

ˈkwesto ˈpriːmo tʃensiˈmento fu fˈfatto ˈkwando kwiˈriːno ˈɛːra ɡovernaˈtoːre ˈdella ˈsiːrja. ˈtutti anˈdaːvano a fˈfarsi redʒisˈtraːre, tʃasˈkuːno ˈnella ˈprɔːprja tʃitˈta. ˈanke dʒuˈzeppe, ke ˈɛːra ˈdella ˈkaːsa e dˈdella faˈmiʎʎa di ˈdaːvide, ˈdalla tʃitˈta di ˈnaddzaret e dˈdalla galiˈlɛːa si reˈkɔ in dʒuˈdɛːa ˈnella tʃitˈta di ˈdaːvide, kjaˈmaːta beˈtlemme, per ˈfarsi redʒisˈtraːre inˈsjɛːme a mmaˈriːa, ˈsuːa ˈspɔːza, ke ˈɛːra inˈtʃinta. ˈprɔːprjo ˈmentre si troˈvaːvano li, ˈvenne il ˈtɛmpo per lɛi di partoˈriːre. ˈmiːze al ˈmondo il ˈsuːo primoˈdʒɛːnito, lo avˈvɔlse in ˈfaʃʃe e llo deˈpoːze in ˈuːna mandʒaˈtoːja, poiˈkɛ non tʃˈɛːra ˈposto per ˈloːro ˈnella loˈkanda./

(Notice that vowel lengths are given for clarity, but they are not needed in a phonemic transcription.)

See also

• IPA chart for Italian
• Italian language
• Italian grammar
• Italian spelling