8 Italian pronunciations that English speakers have a hard time pronouncing correctly

All of the world’s languages ​​are made up of phonemes, in other words, the unique units of sound that help us distinguish one word from another. A letter in any given alphabet can represent one or more phonemes.For example, how the English letter A is pronounced in the word ‘Apple’ is pronounced quite differently from the word ‘b’AfAthat”bAme and meAthis’.

Although the alphabet is very similar, Italian has far fewer phonemes than English: 28 to 44 to be exact. However, some of these Italian phonemes do not exist in English, making it difficult to pronounce when we first learn the language.

In this article, we look at eight Italian pronunciations that English speakers have a hard time getting right, even after speaking Italian for many years. Let us know which sounds turn you off in the comments below!

1. Letter R

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet): [r]

Let’s start by defining the phoneme in Italian, alveolar trill, or trill/roll r.In English, the pronunciation of R has many variations in different dialects, but none of them (except Scottish English) correspond to Italian [r]which consists of a series of vibrations of different lengths.

In unstressed syllables and intervowel positions, you may only hear one or two vibrations, while in a diphonic trill consisting of two R’s side by side, you may hear three or more.If there is only one vibration, then [r] become tapping [ɾ] sound.

for Production Italy R, place the tongue directly behind the upper incisors, below the alveolar ridge. With your tongue in a completely flat and relaxed position, let the air flow over the center of your tongue. It’s this airflow that makes the tongue vibrate, so try to avoid tensing or curling your tongue.

2. S+voiced consonants

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet): [z] + voiced consonants

When the letter S is followed by any of the following voiced consonants in Italian – B, D, G, L, R, M, N, V ​​- it starts from a [s] into one [z]. These consonant clusters never occur at the beginning of English words, so they can be uncomfortable to pronounce at first.

3. Letter Z

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet): [t͡s] or [d͡z]

You might assume that the letter Z in Italian is pronounced like its English counterpart, but in reality, it represents two different phonemes called alveolar fricatives, written as [t͡s] or [d͡z] in the International Phonetic Alphabet.the former sounds like TS and “willTS” and the latter sounds like DS In “heaDS“.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any clear rules about when to use [t͡s] relatively [d͡z]. When the first letter is Z, usually voiced [d͡z] prevails, but otherwise the distribution seems to be fairly random. The same applies to words with a double Z. For example:

4. Open and closed E and O

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet): [ɛ] and [e] / [ɔ] and [o]

The letter E in Italian can be pronounced open E (written [ɛ] in IPA) or closed E (writing [e] in the International Phonetic Alphabet).The open sound E is slightly louder than the English short sound E, as seen in belectronicTon or riceelectronicTon. The closed E is not produced as a single vowel in English – it always slides into another vowel (usually [ɪ]) Create Diphthongs words like this Secondyes (written /seɪ/ in IPA) and riceAthis (Written /meɪk/ in the IPA).

The same rules that apply to the Italian letter E also apply to the letter O.Again, we have two pronunciations: the open O (written as [ɔ] in IPA), which sounds like a vowel in the English word pWow and aweand the closed O (written as [o] in IPA), which in English almost always slips into [ʊ] like the word noo (Written /noʊ/ in IPA).

In spoken Italian, an E or O that occurs in an unstressed syllable is always closed (e.g. Wellrelectronic, electronicnobetweenrelectronic, californiaro, oRecordgaso). Otherwise, there are many few rules This determines the distribution of the two Es and Os, not to mention their pronunciation varies from region to region.If you would like more information on when to use open and closed E and O, we encourage you to review our Full article on Italian vowels.

Because closed sounds do not exist as separate phonemes in English, English speakers tend to refer to pure Italian [e] and [o] enter diphthongs [eɪ] and [oʊ]. Compare the Italian correct pronunciation with the following English incorrect pronunciation:

5. Double consonants

Double consonants in Italian are the bane of every learner’s existence, at least at first! Essentially, the pronunciation (or pause depending on the word) of a double consonant is longer than that of a single consonant. Doubling a single consonant can completely change the meaning of a word, and you might make some embarrassing mistakes if you’re not careful! Note that all consonants can be doubled in Italian except the letter H.

In English, we may use double consonants in writing – for example the word “swimming”—but we always pronounce them as if there was only one consonant, not two.

6. Silent stop: [p] [t] and [k]

It’s the smallest difference between the two languages, but if you want to make it easy for Italians to figure out where you’re from, all you have to do is suck out your [p] [t] and [k] sound.

What we mean by aspiration is the forceful expulsion of air that occurs when these consonants occur at the beginning of English words or stressed syllables. Listen to the example below. (Notice [k] Represents hard letter C and letter K. )

In Italian, these consonants are unaspirated, making them sound almost voiced [b] [d] and [g] to the ears of the British.

7. GN

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet): [ɲ]

The GN pronunciation does not exist in English, so it may be difficult to pronounce correctly at first. It is said that GN in Italian is a lot like NY in the word californiathisexist, but this is not quite correct.to make authentic [ɲ] When making a sound, the tip of the tongue needs to be in contact with the back of the lower teeth. Try saying some of the following words to practice your pronunciation:

8. General Ledger

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet): [ʎ]

This is another sound that doesn’t exist in English. If you want to try the pronunciation of GL in Italian, try speaking the English word milliOpen while touching the back of the teeth with the tip of the tongue.

Note that GLI isn’t always pronounced this way.in some words like glycerin (glycerin) and font (font) For example, it is pronounced the same as it is spelled: [gli].