Italian language and Italian grammar The Italian language and the five vowels<\/strong> Italian words known all over the world<\/strong> Alphabet, vowels and consonants of the Italian language Same words with two or more meanings in the Italian language<\/strong> The 16 consonants are expressed with 21 phonemes<\/strong> The letters G + L<\/strong> The letters G + N<\/strong> The letter H<\/strong> (in Italian it is pronounced acca) The letter Q <\/strong>(in Italian it is pronounced qu) The pronunciation of double consonants<\/strong> Interrogative sentence<\/strong> Divide words into syllables<\/strong> Carlo Lipparini Do you want to know how long it takes to learn and speak Italian?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Do you want to learn and speak Italian in Florence with our courses?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThe Italian language<\/strong>, like any other language, has its own characteristics and difficulties.
\nThe Italian grammar<\/strong>, compared to other languages, has a medium difficulty, while the pronunciation<\/strong> is less complicated. Most vowels and consonants always have the same pronunciation.<\/p>\n
\nMaking a comparison with English, the most spoken language in the world and the easiest one due to its simple grammatical construction, the 5 vowels have about twenty phonemes, while Italian has only seven. Furthermore, unlike English, if the accent of the two additional Italian phonemes (E and O closed or open) are pronounced wrong, the meaning of the word can be understood anyway.
\nFor this reason, speaking Italian<\/strong> is easy.<\/strong> Easier than many other languages.<\/p>\n
\nThe fact that many Italian words are known all over the world is surely a further help. Think of these Italian words.
\nGreetings: ciao, buongiorno, arrivederci
\nFoods: pizza, pasta, spaghetti, cappuccino, espresso, tiramis\u00f9
\nFood brands: Nutella, Barilla, Lavazza, Campari, Martini
\nLuxury cars: Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati
\nFamous Italians: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo
\nFamous designers: Armani, Prada, Gucci,
\nFamous wines: Chianti, Prosecco, Brunello<\/p>\n
\nThe alphabet of the Italian language<\/strong> is composed of 21 letters (5 vowels and 16 consonants).
\nCompared to the most spoken language in the world, English, there are no letters J, K, W, X, Y.
\nThe only Italian words where these consonants can be founded are of foreign origin, mostly from English (examples: Jazz, kit, web, pixel, yogurt), and to a minimum part deriving from the Latin (for example extra). Some very few exceptions concern the common names of persons (for example Jacopo), surnames (for example Bixio), and some cities (for example Jesolo).
\nThe 21 letters correspond to 21 graphemes (writing) and 28 phonemes (pronunciation).
\nThe 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) are expressed with 7 phonemes.
\nWhile the vowels a, i, u, always have the same open sound, the vowels e and o can have an open or closed accent.
\nExamples of the letter “e” with a grave and acute accent<\/strong>:
\n<\/span>the conjugation to the third person singular of the verb to be “\u00e8” or the third person singular feminine “lei” has a grave accent so an open pronunciation, while the conjunction “e” and the interrogative adverb “perch\u00e9” have an acute accent so a closed pronunciation.
\n<\/span>Examples of the letter “o” with a grave and acute accent:
\n<\/span><\/strong>the color \u201crosa\u201d or the number \u201cotto\u201d has an acute accent and therefore an open pronunciation, while the color \u201crosso\u201d or the \u201csole\u201d has an acute accent then a closed pronunciation.
\nThe accent is written only if it falls into the last vowel (citt\u00e0, caff\u00e8, cos\u00ec, per\u00f2, virt\u00f9).<\/p>\n
\nAs in other languages, even in the Italian language there are some equal words that have two or more meanings, these words are divided into homonyms, homographs, and homophones.
\nHomonymous words<\/strong> are written and pronounced in the same way but have different meanings.
\nThree examples:
\nvado a letto<\/strong> \/ ho letto<\/strong> un libro
\nuna parte<\/strong> della citt\u00e0 \/ lui parte<\/strong> per Firenze
\nlo stato<\/strong> italiano \/ lui \u00e8 stato<\/strong> a Roma
\nHomographic words<\/strong> are written in the same way but have a different pronunciation and different meanings. The different pronunciation is due to the grave (open) or acute (closed) accent in the same vowel or to the position of the accent in a different vowel of the word.
\nThree examples:
\nlui legge<\/strong> il giornale \/ la legge<\/strong> italiana
\nla pesca<\/strong> sull’albero \/ la pesca<\/strong> nel fiume
\nil numero venti<\/strong> \/ i venti<\/strong> forti
\nHomophonic words<\/strong> are pronounced the same way but have a different writing with a different meaning.
\nThree examples:
\nlui ha<\/strong> una penna \/ vado a<\/strong> scuola
\nloro hanno<\/strong> i libri \/ l\u2019anno<\/strong> scorso
\nla<\/strong> casa bella \/ l\u00e0<\/strong> c\u2019\u00e8 un bar aperto
\nSummary:
\nHomonyms: same writing, same pronunciation, different meaning.
\nHomographs: same writing, different pronunciation, different meaning.
\nHomophones: different writing, same pronunciation, different meaning.<\/p>\n
\nThe letters C and G can have a hard or soft sound.
\nHard sound: CA-GA, CO-GO, CU-GU<\/strong>
\nIf they are followed by the vowels A, O, U, they sound hard.
\nExamples of hard sound: CA casa, GA gatto, CO corso, GO gomma, CU cultura, GU guida
\nHard sound: CHI-GHI, CHE-GHE<\/strong>
\nIf the letters C and G are followed by the letter H and then by the vowels E, I, the sound is hard.
\nExamples of sound hard: CHI chimica, GHI ghisa, CHE chela, GHE ghetto
\nSoft sound: CE-GE, CI-GI<\/strong>
\nIf they are followed by vowels E, I, they have a soft sound.
\nExamples of soft sound: CE cena, GE gelo, CI cibo, GI giro,
\nNote: there are no Italian words with CHA, GHA, CHO, GHO, CHU, GHU.
\nThe soft sound is always expressed with CI, GI, CE, GE.
\nExamples: CIA ciao, GIA giardino, CIO cioccolato, GIO giovane, CIU ciuffo, GIU giusto
\nThe letter C and G preceded by the letter S can have a hard or soft sound.
\nIf they are followed by the vowels A, O, U, they have a hard sound.
\nHard sound: SCA-SGA, SCO-SGO, SCU-SGU<\/strong>
\nIf they are followed by the vowels A, O, U, they have a hard sound.
\nExamples of hard sound: SCA scarpa, SCO scopa, SCU scuola
\nHard sound: SCHE-SCHE<\/strong>
\nIf the letters C and G are followed by the letter H and then by the vowels E, I, the sound is hard.
\nExamples: SCHE schema, SCHI schifo
\nSoft sound: SCI-SCE<\/strong>
\nIf they are followed by vowels E, I, the sound is soft.
\nExamples of soft sound: SCE scena, SCI scienza<\/p>\n
\nHard sound: GLA-GLE-GLO-GLU<\/strong>
\nThe letter G followed by the letter L can have a hard or soft sound.
\nWhen GL is followed by vowels A, E, O, U it always has a hard sound.
\nExamples: Gladiatore, inglese, gloria, glucosio.
\nSoft sound: GLI<\/strong>
\nUsually when GL is followed by the vowel I, it has a soft sound.
\nExamples: Aglio, famiglia, foglia, foglia, bottiglia.
\nThere are exceptions with a hard GLI sound.
\nExamples: Glicerina, glicine, anglicano, negligente.<\/p>\n
\nSoft sound: GN<\/strong>
\nThe letter G followed by the letter N always has a soft sound.
\nExamples: sognare, ingegnere, dignitoso, cognome, ognuno.<\/p>\n
\nThe letter H has no pronunciation<\/strong>, it is useful to diversify some words with the same pronunciation but with a different meaning (\u201ca\u201d preposition, \u201cha\u201d verb to have). In other cases, the presence of the letter H changes both the meaning and the pronunciation (\u201cci\u201d pronome personale, \u201cchi\u201d pronome relativo).<\/p>\n
\nThe letter Q is always followed by the vowel U, and always has the same hard pronunciation as the letter C.
\nExamples: casa, scuola, corpo, quota, quadro, quattro<\/p>\n
\nWhen the consonants are double, the pronunciation of the double consonant is lengthened.
\nIt is appropriate to give the correct pronunciation and strengthen the double consonant to avoid misunderstandings and complicated situations.
\nLet’s make some examples of words that totally change meaning if the consonant is double: ano \u2013 anno, cane \u2013 canne, capelli \u2013 cappelli, caro \u2013 carro, casa \u2013 cassa, fata \u2013 fatta, nono \u2013 nonno, note \u2013 notte, pala \u2013 palla, pena \u2013 penna, peli \u2013 pelli, sete \u2013 sette, sono \u2013 sonno.<\/p>\n
\nThe interrogative sentence differs from the affirmative sentence by lengthening and raising the last vowel tone.
\nNegative sentence<\/strong>
\nThe negative sentence differs from the affirmative only with the addition of the denial \u201cnon\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nA tip: the simple division of the word into syllables facilitates the correct pronunciation.
\nExamples: ca-sa, la-vo-ro, stu-di-o, pen-na, al-fa-be-to, let-to, scrit-to, sor-pre-sa, fa-cil-men-te.<\/p>\n
\ndirector – Istituto Il David<\/p>\n