Le consonanti e i gruppi consonantici

Consonants and Consonant Clusters

In Italian we have few sounds and phonemes that can be critical at first. This is because there are some sounds that don't exist in English and some consonants clusters are pronounced differently.

Italian spelling is very regular: each letter, or group of letters, has a predictable sound. Learn the rules below and you will be able to read any Italian word aloud.

Listen to the audio following the example words in the third column of the table below:

* The consonants GL followed by the vowel I usually indicate a single palatal /ʎ/ sound. However, there are words in which GL represents two distinct G and L sounds even if there is an I after them: glicerina (glycerine), glicemia (blood glucose), negligenza (negligence), geroglifico (hieroglyphic), anglicano (Anglican), glicine (wisteria)... Don't worry, they're not many!

ESERCIZI

DOUBLE CONSONANTS

In Italian, double consonants, very common, differ in pronunciation from singles and often alter word meanings; they must be pronounced more forcefully or sustained longer than single ones.
Always pay attention to the correct spelling (and hence the correct pronunciation): failure to do so could result in miscommunication!

Examples:

ano (anus) - anno (year)
capello (hair) - cappello (hat)
caro (dear / expensive) - carro (wagon / chariot)
coro (choir) - corro (I run)
nono (ninth) - nonno (grandfather)
oso (I dare) - osso (bone)
pala (shovel) - palla (ball)
rosa (pink) - rossa (red)
sono (I am / they are) - sonno (sleep)
tori (bulls) - torri (towers)