Wikipedia:IPA for Italian
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Italian language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
See Italian phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Italian.
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Consonants[1]
|
| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation |
| b |
banca; cibo |
bike |
| d |
dove; idra |
done |
| dz |
zaino; zelare; mezzo |
dads
|
| dʒ |
giungla; magia; fingere; pagina |
jab |
| f |
fatto; fosforo |
fast |
| ɡ |
gatto; agro; glifo; ghetto |
gas |
| k |
cavolo; acuto; anche; quei; kaiser
|
scar |
| l |
lato; lievemente; pala |
lip |
| ʎ |
gli; glielo; maglia[2]
|
roughly like million
|
| m |
mano; amare; campo; anfibio[3]
|
mother |
| n |
nano; punto; pensare |
nest |
| ŋ |
fango; unghia; panchina; dunque [3]
|
sing
|
| ɲ |
gnocco; ogni[2]
|
roughly like canyon
|
| p |
primo; ampio; copertura |
spin |
| r |
Roma; quattro; morte |
trilled r |
| s |
sano; scatola; presentire; pasto |
sorry |
| ʃ |
scena; sciame; pesci[2]
|
ship |
| t |
tranne; mito; alto |
star |
| ts |
zozzo; canzone; marzo |
cats
|
| tʃ |
Cennini; cinque; ciao; farmacia |
chip |
| v |
vado; povero; watt
|
vent |
| z |
sbavare; presentare; asma |
zipper |
| Semivowels |
| j |
ieri; scoiattolo; più; Jesi; yacht
|
you |
| w |
uovo; fuoco; qui; week-end
|
wine |
|
|
Vowels[4][5]
|
| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation |
| a |
alto; sarà
|
father |
| e |
vero; perché
|
pay |
| ɛ |
elica; cioè
|
bed |
| i |
imposta; colibrì; zie |
see
|
| o |
ombra; come |
sole (for some dialects) |
| ɔ |
otto; posso; sarò
|
law
|
| u |
ultimo; caucciù; tuo |
too
|
| |
| Suprasegmentals |
| IPA |
Examples |
English approximation |
| ˈ |
Cennini [tʃenˈniːni]
|
bottle |
| ˌ |
lievemente [ˌljeveˈmente]
|
intonation |
| . |
tuo [ˈtu.o]
|
moai
|
| ː |
primo [ˈpriːmo]
|
long vowel[6]
|
|
Notes
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^ If the consonants are doubled between vowels, they are geminated. This can also happen between sonorants (genuinely, all consonants can be geminated except for [z]). In IPA, gemination can be represented either by doubling the consonant: fatto [ˈfatto], mezzo [ˈmɛddzo]; or with the length marker ‹ ː ›. Notice as well, syntactic gemination can occur in Italian (e.g. va via [vavˈvi.a]).
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^ a b c /ʎ/, /ɲ/ and /ʃ/ are always geminated word-internally.
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^ a b The nasals always assimilate their place of articulation to that of the following consonant. Thus, the n in /nɡ/, /nk/ is a velar [ŋ], the realization before /v/ or /f/ is a labiodental [ɱ] (though this is transcribed here as [m]), and only [m] is ever found before /p/ or /b/.
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^ Italian contrasts seven stressed monophthongs. In unstressed syllables, mid vowels occur in complementary distribution; with open-mid vowels [ɛ ɔ] appearing before sonorants (e.g. copertura [kopɛrˈtura]), and close-mid vowels [e o] found elsewhere (e.g. posso [ˈpɔsso]). Open and close vowels [a i u] stay unchanged in unstressed syllables, though utterance-final unstress [i] may become an approximant [j] before vowels in a process known as synalepha (syllable merging), e.g. pari età [ˌparjeˈta].
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^ In addition to the pure vowels, there are diphthongs ending in [i] and [u]:
-
[ai] as in baita ('mountain hut')
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[ei] as in potei ('could 1.sg.')
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[ɛi] as in sei ('six')
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[oi] as in voi ('you pl.')
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[ɔi] as in poi ('later')
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[ui] as in lui ('he')
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[au] as in auto ('car')
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[eu] as in pleurite ('pleuritis')
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[ɛu] as in neutro ('neuter')
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^ Stressed vowels are long when in a non-final open syllable: fato [ˈfaːto] ~ fatto [ˈfatto].
See also
