Italian Pronunciation 3.
Ciao Bello,
Lesson number three… three times and it’s a relationship, haha.
Consonants.
C has two sounds. When followed by e or i it is like the ch in church, otherwise it is like the k in kite. eg.) cEntro (cheen-trroh) - centre, vicino (vee-chee-noh) - near, comprare (kohm-prah-rray) - to buy.
G also has two sounds. When followed by e or i it is like the g in general, otherwise it is like the g in go. eg.) gigante (gee-gan-tay) - giant, generale (jay-nay-rrah-lay) - general, gatto (gah-toh) - cat.
H is never sounded, and except with c and g as above appears in only two or three words. eg.) ha (pronounced ah) - he has.
N followed by a c, g, or q is like the english ng in ing. eg.) banca (bang-ka) - bank, lungo (lung-goh) - long.
R is always trilled. eg.) caro (cah-rroh) - dear.
S has two sounds, unvoiced like the s in taste, and voiced like the s in rose. eg.) unvoiced: spillo (spee-loh) - pin, casa (cah-sah) - house. eg.) voiced: viso (vee-soh) - face, smemorato (smay-moh-rrah-toh) - forgetful.
Z also has two sounds, unvoiced like ts, and voiced like dz. eg.) unvoiced: azione (ah-tsee-oh-nay) - action, zio (tsee-oh) - uncle. eg.) voiced: romanzo (roh-mahn-dzoh) - novel, mezzo (meh-dzoh) - half. To distinguish when the s or z is to be voiced or not in a word, the voiced s and z will be underlined. eg.) viso, romanzo.
Vocabulary List #4
cEntro (cheen-trroh) centre
vicino (vee-chee-noh) near
comprare (kohm-prah-rray) to buy
gigante (gee-gan-tay) giant
generale (jay-nay-rrah-lay) general
gatto (gah-toh) cat
ha (pronounced ah) he has
banca (bang-ka) bank
lungo (lung-goh) long
caro (cah-rroh) dear
spillo (spee-loh) pin
casa (cah-sah) house
viso (vee-soh) face
smemorato (smay-moh-rrah-toh) forgetful
azione (ah-tsee-oh-nay) action
zio (tsee-oh) uncle
romanzo (roh-mahn-dzoh) novel
mezzo (meh-dzoh) half