Vowels

• a as in “father”
• e is sometimes like e in “set” and sometimes like a in “spade”
• i as in “macaroni”
• i before an unstressed vowel is like English y
• o is sometimes like o in “so” and sometimes like o in “gore”
• u as in “tune”
• u before an unstressed vowel is like English w
  

Otherwise, when two or more vowels are together, pronounce the sounds of each vowel separately.

Consonants

Most of the consonants are pronounced as they are in American English with these exceptions:

• c before a, o and u like English k
• c before i and e like ch in “cheese”
• ch like English “k”
• g before a, o and u as in “go”
• g before i and e as in “gem”
• gh like g in “go”
• gli like ll in “million”
• gn close to ny in “canyon”
• h is always silent
• r should be trilled
• s is sometimes like English s and sometimes like English z
• sc before a, o and u like sk in “skin”
• sc before i and e like sh in “shin”
• sch like sk in “skin”
• z is sometimes like ts in “bets” and sometimes like ds “beds”
• When ci, gi, and sci are followed by a, o, or u, unless the accent falls on the i, the i is not pronounced. The letter i merely indicates that c, g and sc are pronounced, respectively, like the English ch, g in “gem,” and sh.

Emphasis

Emphasis is somewhat random as in English but usually falls on the second to the last syllable.