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Encyclopedia > Italian phonology

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The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... Phonetic (pho-NET-ic) is a nationwide voicemail-to-text messaging service available for most digital mobile phones in which a subscriber is provided a custom voice mailbox for the purpose of receiving all incoming voice messages as actual transcribed text for reading via short messaging (also known as SMS... Unicode is an industry standard whose goal is to provide the means by which text of all forms and languages can be encoded for use by computers. ...


Phonology

Vowels

Vowels Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Notes: In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure above the glottis. ... A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... A close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The open-mid vowels make a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... An open vowel is a vowel sound of a type used in most spoken languages. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ...

  • In Italian there is no phonemic distinction between long and short vowels. However, vowels in stressed open syllables tend to last longer.
  • The pairs /e/~/ɛ/ and /o/~/ɔ/ only contrast in stressed syllables. In unstressed syllables only /e/ and /o/ are found.
  • Stressed /o/ and unstressed /u/ never found as the last phoneme of a word.
  • When the last phoneme of a word is an unstressed vowel and the first phoneme of the following word is any vowel, the former vowel tends to become non-syllabic. In Italian this phenomenon is called sinalefe and should be taken in account when counting syllables e.g. in poetry.

In spoken language, a phoneme is a basic, theoretical unit of sound that can distinguish words (i. ... In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. ... In linguistics, stress is the emphasis given to some syllables (often no more than one in each word, but in many languages, long words have a secondary stress a few syllables away from the primary stress, as in the words cóunterfòil or còunterintélligence. ... This article discusses the unit of speech. ... A non-syllabic vowel is a vowel that is not the nucleus of a syllable or mora. ... Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is traditionally a written art form (although there is also an ancient and modern poetry which relies mainly upon oral or pictorial representations) in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ...

Consonants

Consonants Bilabial / Labiodental Dental / Alveolar Postalveolar / Palatal (Labial-)velar
Plosive p b k ɡ
Nasal   m   n   ɲ
Trill   r
Fricative f v s z ʃ  
Affricate ts dz
Approximant   j   w
Lateral approximant   l   ʎ

Notes: A consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture of the vocal tract sufficient to cause audible turbulence. ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Labial-velar consonants are doubly articulated at the velum and the lips. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... A stop or plosive or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiced bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless dental plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced dental plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... The bilabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages. ... In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. ... The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages (such as Russian, Spanish, Armenian, and Polish). ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar fricatives are a type of consonantal sound. ... The voiced alveolar fricatives are a type of consonantal sound. ... The voiceless postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Affricate consonants begin like stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ), but release as a fricative such as or (or, a couple languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ... The voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in very many spoken languages. ... The labial-velar approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... The alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The palatal lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ...

  • Unlike in English, /p/, /t/ and /k/ are usually unaspirated. Notice that /t/ and /d/ are dental, not alveolar.
  • Between two vowels, or between a vowel and /l/, /r/, /j/ or /w/, consonants can be both single or geminated. Geminated consonants belong to different syllables (this shortens the preceding vowel) and the first one is unreleased. For example, /fato/ [ˈfaː.t̪o] ~ /fatto/ [ˈfat̪.t̪̚o]. However, /ɲɲ/, /ʃʃ/, /ʎʎ/, /tts/ and /ddz/ are always geminated (except when they follow a consonant, but that is impossible or extremely rare for most of these), and /z/ is always single.
  • The trill /r/ is sometimes simplified to a flap [ɾ] when single.
  • /n/ assimilates the point of articulation of whatever consonant it precedes. For example, /ng/ is realized as [ŋg].

The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-20, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another. ... In speech, consonants may have different places of articulation, generally with full or partial stoppage of the airstream. ...

Non-standard dialects

It is requested that this article (or section of this article) be expanded.

Please remove this notice after the article has been expanded. Details are on this talk page or at Wikipedia:Requests for expansion. Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ...

The above IPA symbols refer to standard Italian, that is the accent used by theatre actors, and when dubbing foreign films in Italian. (Even on Italian films and some TV programmes, sometimes people retain a regional accent, sometimes even on purpose to produce stereotypes; on radio the attempt to speak a neutral accent is more common.) However there are different regional pronunciations, which let people immediately understand where one comes from.


Tuscanian

Historically, Tuscanian dialect was the base for standard Italian. However nowadays some of the most markedly 'regional' peculiarities are not considered standard.

  • Single /p/, /t/, /k/, //, // between two vowels (even across word boundaries) are pronounced as [pʰ], [tʰ̪], [h], [ʃ] and [ʒ] respectively. Example: la casa /la ˈkasa/ [la ˈhaːsa].
  • Stops at the end of a syllable completely assimilate the following consonant. Example: tecnica /ˈtɛknika/ [ˈtʰ̪ɛnniha].

In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... The voiceless glottal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

/s/ ~ /z/

These phonemes are in complementary distribution everywhere except between two vowels within the same word, and even in this environment the minimal pairs are really few (less than a dozen). Even in standard Italian, there are many words in which now dictionaries indicate that both pronunciations are possible. Thus they have merged in many dialects: when between two vowels within the same word, it tends to always be pronounced /z/ in Northern Italy, and /s/ in Central and Southern Italy. Complementary distribution in linguistics refers to the relationship between two elements where one element can be found only in a particular environment and the other element can be found only in the opposite environment. ... In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, which differ in only one phoneme, toneme or chroneme and have a distinct meaning. ...


Gemination of /b/ and //

In popular Central and Southern Italian speech, /b/ and // tend to always be geminated ([b] and [ddʒ]) when between two vowels, a vowel and a semivowel (/j/ or /w/), or a vowel and a liquid (/l/ or /r/). Sometimes this is also used in written language (e.g. writing robba instead of roba) to imply a "popular" language.


Orthography

Main articles: Italian spelling, and [[]], and [[]], and [[]], and [[]]

Italian spelling is quite predictable. ...

Sample texts

From the Bible, Luke 2, 1-7 (for an English version see http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=luke+2) The Bible (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity (The Bible actually refers to...


You can listen to a rendition of this text as recorded by an Italian native speaker from Milan. One should notice that this speaker is at points unable to articulate correctly the rolling R: in Italian, he is said to have an 'R moscia' (soft R). The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages (such as Russian, Spanish, Armenian, and Polish). ...


2:1 In quei giorni, un decreto di Cesare Augusto ordinava che si facesse un censimento di tutta la terra. 2 Questo primo censimento fu fatto quando Quirino era governatore della Siria. 3 Tutti andavano a farsi registrare, ciascuno nella propria città. 4 Anche Giuseppe, che era della casa e della famiglia di Davide, dalla città di Nazaret e dalla Galilea si recò in Giudea nella città di Davide, chiamata Betlemme, 5 per farsi registrare insieme a Maria, sua sposa, che era incinta. 6 Proprio mentre si trovavano lì, venne il tempo per lei di partorire. 7 Mise al mondo il suo promogenito, lo avvolse in fasce e lo depose in una mangiatoia, poiché non c'era posto per loro nella locanda.


Pronunciation:


/in kwei ˈdʒorni un deˈkreːto di ˈtʃeːzare auˈɡusto ordiˈnaːva ke ssi faˈtʃesse un tʃensiˈmento di ˈtutta la ˈtɛrra. ˈkwesto ˈpriːmo tʃensiˈmento fu fˈfatto ˈkwando kwiˈriːno ˈɛːra ɡovernaˈtoːre ˈdella ˈsiːrja. ˈtutti anˈdaːvano a fˈfarsi redʒisˈtraːre, tʃasˈkuːno ˈnella ˈprɔːprja tʃitˈtaː. ˈanke dʒuˈzeppe, ke ˈɛːra ˈdella ˈkaːsa e dˈdella faˈmiʎʎa di ˈdaːvide, ˈdalla tʃitˈtaː di ˈnaddzaret e dˈdalla galiˈlɛːa si reˈkɔː in dʒuˈdɛːa ˈnella tʃitˈtaː di ˈdaːvide, kjaˈmaːta beˈtlemme, per ˈfarsi redʒisˈtraːre inˈsjɛːme a mmaˈriːa, ˈsuːa ˈspɔːza, ke ˈɛːra inˈtʃinta. ˈproːprjo ˈmentre si troˈvaːvano li, ˈvenne il ˈtɛmpo per lɛi di partoˈriːre. ˈmiːze al ˈmondo il ˈsuːo primoˈdʒɛːnito, lo avˈvɔlse in ˈfaʃʃe e llo deˈpoːze in ˈuːna mandʒaˈtoːja, poiˈkɛː non tʃˈɛːra ˈposto per ˈloːro ˈnella loˈkanda./ (Notice that vowel lengths are given for clarity, but they are not needed in a phonemic transcription.)


See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
Italian language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2922 words)
The dialects of Italian identified by the Ethnologue are Tuscan, Abruzzese, Pugliese (Apulian), Umbrian, Laziale, Central Marchigiano, Cicolano-Reatino-Aquilano, and Molisan.
Italian has few diphthongs, and so most unfamiliar diphthongs heard in foreign words (in particular, those with a first vowel that is not "i" or "u", or a first vowel that is stressed), will be assimilated as the corresponding dieresis (i.e., the vowel sounds will be pronounced separately: "strive" and "hive" will rhyme with "naïve").
Italian uses the acute accent over the letter E (as in perché, why/because) to indicate a mid-close vowel, and the grave accent (as in tè, tea) to indicate a mid-open vowel.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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