Your guide to pronouncing italiano, Bridget-style!

Ciao, it's me, Bridget!  Since it is raining and raining and raining today, it is a great giorno to teach you all about the wonders of the pronuncia of la lingua italiana!  The first thing you should know is that most of the letters are pronounced exactly the way you would expect.  The second thing you should know is that there are certain eccezioni (exceptions).

There is no word for spelling in italiano.  Instead of asking how una parola (word) is spelled, they ask "Come si scrive...?" (How does one write...?)  That is because, unlike in inglese, every word in italiano is pronounced exactly the way it is written.  Here are le vocali and their respective pronunce:

La vocale	Its sound
a	“ah”
e	“ay”
i	“ee”
o	“oh”
u	“ooh”
y	“ee”



So mele (apples) is pronounced "MAY-lay":

Note that y is not used in Italian-origin words, and i is used instead of y and j in words from other lingue.  The letter x is not used either (c is used instead, for example eccezione means exception).

When you combine vowels, the sounds of the individual vowels do not change.  For example, "ao" is "ah"+"oh" which together sound like "ow".  That is why ciao rhymes with "ow"

BUT there is no "ee" sound in ciao.  That is because c is strano (strange).  When c is followed by i or e, it sounds like "ch" as in "chocolate".  Otherwise, c is prounced "k" as in "kidnap"  When c is followed by another c, you pronounce both the way you would pronounce the second c.  So ciao sounds like "chow".

And chiuso (closed) is pronounced "kee-OOH-zo":

And fuochi (fires) is pronounced "FWO-kee":

"Respect the environment, Don't start fires, Don't dump trash"

And "Vicenza" is pronounced "vee-CHAYN-tza"

And I just remembered, when c is followed by i or e and is preceded by s, the sc is pronounced "sh" as in "sheep".  So uscita (exit) is pronounced "ooh-SHEE-ta"

The letter g is a lot like c.  When g is followed by i or e, it sounds like the g in "gem" and otherwise it sounds like the g in "gorilla".  When there are two gs in a row, they both take the sound of the second g.  The word funghi (mushrooms) is pronounced "FOON-ghee":

And videogiochi (videogames) is pronounced "VEE-day-oh-JOH-kee": 

And artigianale (crafted) is pronounced "ar-TEE-jah-NAH-lay":

When the same letter appears twice in a row, you pronounce it due volte (twice).  So successi (successes) is like "sooch-CHESS-see" and della (of the) is "DAYL-la":

And anni (years) is pronounced "AHN-nee":

The letter q is followed by u and together they sound like k, so liquirizia (licorice) is pronounced "LEE-kee-REET-zee-ah":

And most importantly, the word taco is pronounced exactly the same as it is pronounced in inglese.

Ciao tutti (Bye everyone, pronounced "chow TOOT-tee") from me, Bridget!