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L’alfabeto italiano

The Italian alphabetCapitolo 1: Lessico

Pagine 7 – 8

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L’italiano

Italian is a phonetic language. This means that it is spoken the way it

is written! In most cases, one letter represents

one sound. Every letter is pronounced except for

H. There are special combinations of

consonants & vowels.

TIP: Learn the sounds of Italian & acquire goodpronunciation by listening closely to & imitatingProfa. Butcher and the native speakers on theListening Comprehension CDs.

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L’alfabeto italiano A B (bi) C (ci) D (di) E F (effe) G (gi) H (acca) I L (elle) M (emme)

N (enne) O P (pi) Q (cu) R (erre) S (esse) T (ti) U V (vu) Z (zeta)

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Le lettere straniere (foreign)

J (i lunga) K (cappa) W (doppia vu) X (ics) Y (ipsilon)

The Italian alphabethas 21 letters, but it

recognizes an extendedset of 5 additional letters

that occur in words of foreign origin.

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I vocali italiani

A E I O U

For the most part,Italian vowels are

pronounced the same.

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La pronuncia

Italian PronunciationCapitolo 1: Lessico

Pagine 7-8

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La pronuncia: consonanti doppie (double consonants)

sete sette pala palla papa pappa moto motto dona donna fato fatto

All Italian consonantsexcept q have acorresponding

double consonant.

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Ripetete ballerina antenna mamma spaghetti zucchini

piccolo confetti Anna motto villa

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Suoni speciali

c: Followed by a, o, u has a hard sound

like cat casa corso musica

Followed by e, i has a soft sound like church

cena ciao arrivederci

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Suoni speciali

ch: Also has a hard sound like chemistry

macchina chittara perché

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Suoni speciali

g: Followed by a, o, u has a hard sound

like go gatto gondola gusto

Followed by e, i has a soft sound like gem

gelato Gina Giorgio

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Suoni speciali

gh: Also has a hard sound like spaghetti

ghiaccio ghetto

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Suoni speciali

gn: Has a sound like the ny in canyon

lasagne bagno

This is like the ñ in Spanish.

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Suoni speciali

gli: Has a sound like the lli in million

(lyee) famiglia luglio moglie

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Suoni speciali

sc: Followed by e, i has a soft sound like

sheriff sceriffo sci sciare

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Suoni speciali

schi: Has a hard sound like ski

maschile maschio

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Suoni speciali

sche: Has a hard sound like skeleton

scheletro pesche