Guide to Italian Pronunciation 

 

for Singers

 

by Cliff Lamere     Jan 1999, revised Mar 2010

 

 

This guide is meant to help singers pronounce Italian words in Italian songs, opera solos and opera choruses.  A simplified version of this guide was originally constructed as a handout for use by the Octavo Singers of Schenectady, NY in January 1999.  This expanded revision presents the information in a format that is easier to use and that is compatible in style with my Guide to German Pronunciation for Singers.

 

Caution:  This is written for American singers in the United States.  If you find written information online about how to pronounce Italian, it will often be written by someone who speaks British English.  Those descriptions of how to pronounce this language will confuse American singers.

 

Unless they are at the beginning of a sentence, all words in Italian begin with a lower case letter except the names of 1) people, 2) locations, and 3) countries.  The vast majority of Italian words end in a vowel, except those of foreign origin (like sport and yogurt).

 

 

Understanding the Sound Descriptions Used in this Webpage

American English

Description I Use

Sounds Like

 

 

ah

like o in Hot

aw

as in Saw

ai

as in Main

ee

as in Seen

eh

as in Set

ih

as in Sit

oh

as in Hope

oo

as in Soon

ow

as in Cow

oy

as in Toy

uh

as in But

 

 

 

I T A L I A N   V O W E L S

 

 

Vowels

Vowel

American

English

Sound

Example

(English Word)

Italian Example

(Meaning)

In American English,

Sounds Like:

 

 

 

 

 

A

ah

as in Father

cantare - madre - animale

(to sing - mother - animal)

feminine words end in A.

Cahn-TAHR-eh ~ MAH-dreh ~ ah-nee-MAH-leh

A

(last letter of a word)

ah, uh

Should sound like ah, but usually said like 

A in Ago.

ama - banana

(loves - banana)

AH-muh ~ bah-NAH-nuh

E

long

ai

like ai in Paid

me - fede

(me - faith)

mai ~ FAI-deh

E

short

eh

as in Get

lento - cinque

(slow - five)

LEN-toh ~ CHEEN-kweh

I

ee

as in Machine

libro - idea

(book - idea)

LEE-broh ~ EE-dai-uh ~ 

O

long

oh

as in Cone

vino - dono

(wine - gift)

masculine words most often end in O.

VEE-noh ~ DOH-noh

O

short

aw

as in Cost

notte - gomma

(night - rubber)

NAW-teh ~ GAW-muh

U

oo

as in Rude

luna - uva

(moon - grapes)

LOO-nuh ~ OO-vuh

 

 

Most Italian words end in a vowel.

In double vowels, each vowel is pronounced separately. 

Due sounds like DOO-eh.  Grazie sounds like GRAHT-see-eh.

 

 

I T A L I A N   C O N S O N A N T S

 

The following consonants have about the same sound as in English.

 

B   D   F   L   M   N   P   Q   T   V

 

The following English letters are missing from the Italian alphabet (but may appear in foreign words like yogurt).

 

J   K   W   X   Y

 

 

Consonants Which May Sound Different in Italian

Single Consonant

American

English

Sound

Comment

Italian Example

(Meaning)

In American English,

Sounds Like:

 

 

 

 

 

C

K

as in Cat

(before a, o, u and before consonants)

cane - cantante - capo

(dog - singer - head)

CAH-neh ~ cahn-TAHN-teh ~ KAH-poh

CH

as in Cello

(before i or e)

croce - cucina - dieci

(cross - kitchen - ten)

CROH-cheh ~ koo-CHEE-nuh ~ dee-EH-chee

G

G

as in Go

(before a, o, u)

gatto - grosso

(cat - large)

GAH-toh ~ GRAW-soh

J

as in Gin, Gem

(before i or e)

gioco - giorno

(game - day)

JAW-coh ~ JOR-noh

H

silent

as in Hour

(99% of words containing H are of foreign origin)

hotel - hobby

(hotel - hobby)

oh-TEL ~ AW-bee

R

R, but rolled

---

---

---

S

S

as in Soprano

si - sempre

(yes - always)

see ~ SEM-preh

Z

as in Rose or Easy

(when it is between two vowels or when it precedes B, D, G, L, M, N, R, V)

musica - rosa

(music - rose)

MOO-zee-kuh ~ ROH-zuh

Z

DS

like ds in Beds

 and Kids

zebra - pranzo

(zebra - lunch)

DSEHB-ruh ~ PRAHN-dsoh

TS

like ts in Cats

and Tsunami

grazie - pizza

(thank you - pizza)

GRAH-tsee-uh ~ PEE-tsuh

Z

seldom this sound

Vincenzo

vin-CHEHN-zoh

 

 

Multiple Letters

Multiple Letters 

American

English

Sound

Comment

Italian Example

(Meaning)

In American English,

Sounds Like:

 

In the letter combinations below, the I and H are silent, but they allow the preceding letter(s) in the combination to have a sound not possible otherwise (due to the vowel that follows the combination).

 

CH

K

 

as in Character

CH is always
before e or i.
H is silent, but allows K instead of CH sound (as in cello). 

chianti - chiaro
(Chianti - clear)

kee-AHN-tee ~ kee-AH-roh

CI

CH

I is silent,

but allows a CH instead of K sound

before a, o, and u

ciambella - ciao

(ring - hello)

chahm-BELL-uh ~ CHAH-oh

(said quickly, ciao sounds like chow, as in cow)

GH

G (hard)

 

as in Ghost

GH is always

before an e or i.

H is silent, but allows G instead of J sound .

spaghetti - ghetto

(spaghetti - ghetto)

spah-GET-ee ~ GEHT-oh

GI

J

I is silent,

but allows a J instead of G sound

before a, o, and u

 giorno - Giovanni

(day - John)

JOR-noh ~ jo-VAH-nee

GGI

J

I is silent,

but allows a J instead of G sound

before a, o, and u

viaggio - viaggiare

(I travel - to travel)

vee-AH-joh ~ vee-ah-JAH-reh

GLI

sounds like LI
in million

 

figlio - aglio - famiglia
(son - garlic - family)

FEEL-yoh ~ AHL-yoh ~ fam-EEL-yuh

GN

NY
as in Lasagne

sounds like NY in Canyon

agnello - bagno - legno
(lamb - bath - wood)

AHN-yell-oh ~ BAHN-yoh ~ LEHN-yoh

SC

SK

as in Skunk

before a, o, and u

scusi - scuola 

(excuse me - school)

SKOO-zee

 skoo-AW-luh

(quickly, SKWAW-luh)

SH

like SH in Ship
before e or i

uscita

(exit)

oo-SHEE-tuh

SCH

SK

as in School
before e or i

(H is silent)

moschea
(mosque)

maw-SKAI-uh

SCI

SH

I is silent,
but allows an SH instead of SK sound
before a, o, and u

lasciare - scienza
(to leave - science)

lah-SHAH-reh ~ SHEHN-tsu

 

_____________________________________________

 

Hear Italian Pronounced on YouTube  (extremely well done; words or phrases are usually said twice)

Italian Lesson n.1  (alphabet)

Italian Lesson n.2  (words)

Italian Lesson n.3  (basic words & greetings)

Italian Lesson n.4  (personal subject pronouns & the verb "to be")

There are other lessons in learning to speak Italian which are difficult to find.  Although not pertinent to this webpage, they might be very useful to someone interested in learning to speak, not just pronounce, the language.  So, here are other lessons.  5  6  7   8 (numbers 1-100)   9   10   11   12 

To find the rest of the lessons up to 16, search for "Italian Lesson n.13" and higher numbers, with or without the quotation marks.

 

Italian Lessons 101

 

  Lesson 1

  Lesson 2 - Things around the kitchen

  Lesson 3 - The Colors

  Lesson 4 - Differences

  Lesson 5 - Things at the Beach

  Lesson 6 - Things at the Park

 

There are other series of Italian lessons on YouTube.  Just type "Italian lesson" 

and some word like 'time' or 'day' or 'weather' to get lessons of a particular kind.

 

Let me help you learn how to pronounce various languages.

 

   German

   Italian     (this webpage)

   Latin       (comparison of Ecclesiastical Latin and Classical Latin)

   Spanish (American)

 

Visitors since 11 Feb 2011