UNA PICCOLA GUIDA ALLA PRONUNCIA ITALIANA (in Italian and English)

Stai cominciando a imparare l’italiano e fai confusione tra la “E” e la “I”? O tra “CE” e “CHE”? Oppure sei in partenza per l’Italia? Hai poco tempo per imparare qualche parola italiana che ti possa essere utile per sopravvivere qualche giorno in Italia? Per ordinare un pasto al ristorante, per prendere un taxi, per chiedere un’informazione?

Ecco una piccola guida pratica alla pronuncia italiana!

GLI ACCENTI

Cominciamo dagli accenti: la maggioranza delle parole italiane ha l’accento sulla penultima sillaba, quindi, per esempio “castello” si pronuncia: ca-STEL-lo, “risotto” si pronuncia ri-SOT-to, “Venezia” si pronuncia Ve-NE-zia e “ambasciata” si pronuncia am-ba-SCIA-ta (“scia” come in SHower”).

L’INTONAZIONE

L’intonazione ha un ruolo molto importante nella lingua italiana. Per esempio, in inglese ‘Giovanni is at home’ è una frase affermativa che per diventare interrogativa deve cambiare l’ordine delle parole in: ‘is Giovanni at home?’ In italiano, invece, l’ordine delle parole è meno vincolante, di conseguenza l’intonazione diventa indispensabile. La diversa intonazione consente di distinguere una frase affermativa da una frase interrogativa.

Per esempio: ‘Giovanni è a casa’ è un’affermazione che viene quindi pronunciata con un’intonazione discendente. Invece in: ‘Giovanni è a casa?’ l’ordine delle parole è identico, ma l’intonazione sarà ascendente perché la frase è interrogativa.

LE VOCALI

Passiamo alle vocali. Ricorda che in italiano ci sono tantissime vocali e che quasi tutte le parole italiane finiscono con una vocale e bisogna dirle tutte! Ma la loro pronuncia è molto semplice, soprattutto rispetto alla pronuncia delle vocali in inglese dove le stesse vocali possono essere pronunciate in modo molto diverso a seconda della parola (per esempio: clOUd vs thrOUgh). In italiano invece le vocali si dicono quasi sempre nello stesso modo! Quindi ricorda che:

“a” si pronuncia come la “a” in father,

“i” come “ee” in greet o come la “i” in machine,

“u” si pronuncia come la “u” in rule

“e” si pronuncia aperta come in bet o chiusa come in moment

“o” si pronuncia aperta come in office o chiusa come in ball.

LE CONSONANTI

Le consonanti invece si pronunciano in modo molto simile a quelle inglesi, però ci sono le eccezioni. Eccone qualcuna:

· "C" prima di "I" o "E" è pronunciata come ch, come in chin o in chess. Prova a dire: “ciao” (hello), “cena” (dinner)

· "G" prima di "I" o "E” è pronunciata come g in ginger o in general. Prova a dire: “giorno” (day), “gelato” (ice-cream).

· "H" è sempre muta ma nel gruppo “che” o “chi” modifica il suono della “c” in k come kettle o kid e nel gruppo “ghe” o “ghi” modifica il suono della “g” come in get o give. Prova a dire “forchetta” (fork), “chiesa” (church), “spaghetti” o “ghiaccio” (ice).

· “Q” è sempre accompagnata dalla lettera “u”, come in “quando” e si pronuncia come /kw/ come in square.

· “Z” può suonare come ds in lads ma anche come ts in sets: dipende anche dalla pronuncia regionale.

Capito tutto? Tutto molto semplice vero? Beh, dai, rispetto alle mille diverse eccezioni di pronuncia di altre lingue, per esempio dell’inglese o del francese, la lingua italiana è molto meno complicata.

C’è qualcosa però che confonde tutto, ed è la pronuncia regionale o dialettale. L’Italia, paese delle mille città, è anche il paese dei mille dialetti, ma di questo argomento parlerò un’altra volta.


DON’T MISS THE ENGLISH VERSION! HERE BELOW:


A QUICK GUIDE TO ITALIAN PRONUNCIATION

Are you starting to learn Italian and make confusion between "E" and "I"? Or between "CE" and "CHE"?

Are you leaving for Italy? Do you have little time to learn some Italian words that can help you survive a few days in Italy? To order a meal at the restaurant, to take a taxi, to ask for information?

Here is a small practical guide to Italian pronunciation!

THE ACCENTS

Let's start with the accents: the majority of Italian words have the accent on the penultimate syllable, therefore, in Italian words, most of the time, the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable. So, for example, "castello" is pronounced: ca-STEL-lo, "risotto" is pronounced ri-SOT-to, " Venice "is pronounced Ve-NE-zia", “ambasciata" is pronounced am-ba-SCIA-ta (the

"SCIA" is pronounced as in SHower")

THE INTONATION

Intonation plays a very important role in the Italian language.

For example, in English 'Giovanni is at home' is an affirmative sentence. This phrase in order to become interrogative must change the order of the words in: 'is Giovanni at home?' In Italian, on the other hand, word order is less binding, consequently, the intonation becomes indispensable.

The different intonation allows you to distinguish an affirmative sentence from an interrogative one.

For example: 'Giovanni è a casa' is an affirmation and it must be pronounced with a descending intonation. Instead in: 'Giovanni è a casa?' the word order is identical, but the intonation will be ascending because the sentence is interrogative.

THE VOWELS

Let's move on to the vowels. Remember that in Italian there are many vowels and that almost all Italian words end with a vowel and you have to pronounce them all!

But their pronunciation is very simple, compared to English where the same vowels can be pronounced very differently (for example: clOUd vs thrOUgh). In Italian, instead, the vowels are almost always said in the same way!

So remember that:

"A" is pronounced like the "a" in father,

"I" as "ee" in greet or as the "i" in machine,

"U" is pronounced as the "u" in rule

"E" is pronounced open as in bet or closed as in moment

"O" is pronounced open as in office or closed as in ball

CONSONANTS

The consonants, on the other hand, are pronounced very similarly to the English ones, but there are exceptions.

• The letter "C" before "I" or "E" is pronounced as "ch", as in chin or in chess. Try saying "ciao" (hello) and "cena" (dinner)

• "G" before "I" or "E" is pronounced as “g” in ginger or in general. Try saying: "giorno" (day) and "gelato" (ice-cream).

• "H" is always silent but in the "che" or "chi" group modifies the sound of "C" in “k” as in kettle or kid and in the group "ghe" or "ghi" modifies the sound of "G" as in get or give. Try saying "forchetta" (fork), "chiesa" (church), "spaghetti" or "ghiaccio" (ice).

• "Q" is always accompanied by the letter "U", as in "when" and is pronounced as / kw / as in square.

• "Z" may sound like “ds” in lads but also as “ts” in sets: it also depends on the regional pronunciation.

Got that? All very simple, right? Well, Italian is a highly phonetic language, which means that each sound is, almost, always graphically represented by the same combination of letters. More or less: it’s written the way it sounds. This makes it fairly easy for English speakers to learn Italian pronunciation, compared to other languages.

There is something, however, that confuses everything, and is the regional or dialectal pronunciation. Italy, the country with a thousand cities, is also the country with a thousand dialects, but this topic requires another article.

HAVE A LOOK TO MY BLOG, YOU'LL FIND OTHER ARTICLES!

https://timetolearnitalian.wordpress.com/

17 de Dezembro de 2018
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Elena

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Ciao! Benvenuto! My name is Elena, I was born and raised in Italy and I’m a professional teacher with 10 years of experience. I graduated in 'Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures' at the University of Padua and I also hold ITALS Master’s Degree in 'Teaching Italian Language and Culture to Foreigners' from the University of Venice, Ca’ Foscari. I am a qualified teacher and I have students of very different levels and backgrounds from USA, Asia, Africa, South America, East Europe, from every part of the world! I think learning a language should be interactive and engaging so I use a combination of skills and personalise my lessons according to my students needs. So tell me what your goal is and together we will create a plan to help you reach it! In your classes you can focus on any and/or all of the following themes: Grammar, Listening and Reading Comprehension, Accent Reduction , Business Italian, Communication and Speaking Skills, Breaking News for Communication and Discussio...
Flag
Italiano
globe
Itália
time
15
Fala:
Italiano
Nativo
,
Inglês
C1
,
Francês
B1
Ciao! Benvenuto! My name is Elena, I was born and raised in Italy and I’m a professional teacher with 10 years of experience. I graduated in 'Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures' at the University of Padua and I also hold ITALS Master’s Degree in 'Teaching Italian Language and Culture to Foreigners' from the University of Venice, Ca’ Foscari. I am a qualified teacher and I have students of very different levels and backgrounds from USA, Asia, Africa, South America, East Europe, from every part of the world! I think learning a language should be interactive and engaging so I use a combination of skills and personalise my lessons according to my students needs. So tell me what your goal is and together we will create a plan to help you reach it! In your classes you can focus on any and/or all of the following themes: Grammar, Listening and Reading Comprehension, Accent Reduction , Business Italian, Communication and Speaking Skills, Breaking News for Communication and Discussio...
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