Language Learning 101 discussion

Like many languages, if you don't pronounce Italian right, you'll probably confuse a lot of people.

Usually, things are spelled just the way they are pronounced. But you have to follow the rules:

1) All nouns are pronounced! And most of them are long, not short.
For example...
Calda - Hot; Pronounced 'caaahlda', not 'caylda'
Dove - Where; pronounced 'dov-eh', not 'dov' (like the bird)

2) C is a complicated letter in Italian!
A: 'CH' is pronounced 'KH'
Bicchiere - Glass; pronounced 'bee-kyer-ee', not 'bichi-er'
Che - What; pronounced 'khe', like Spanish 'que'

B: 'CI' is pronounced 'CHI'
Cina - China; pronounced 'Cheena', not 'Sina' or 'Khina'
Difficile - Difficult; pronounced 'dee-fee-chee-lay', not 'di-fih-sile'
Medici - Family name, or plural of 'doctor' - pronounced me-di-chi- (people may pronounce the family name meDIci, but it's really mediCI)

C: 'CE' is pronounced 'CHE'
Piacere - A pleasure; pronounced 'pee-ah-cher-ay', not 'pee-a-ser'
Concerto - Concert/Concerto; pronounced 'con-cher-to' like (in English) 'Concerto in A Minor for Violin'

D: Che/Chi
See above for the Ch thing. Just to note - if you come across this, it's ch-i or ch-e, not ch as in English.
Chi - who; pronounced kee
Che - what; pronounced keh

3) GLI!!!
Gli is one of the most annoying things in Italian. You think it's like the TV show, but it's not. It's sort of like ll in Spanish, but not really. Gli is pronounced sort of like lyee, with more emphasis on the y, so it's sort of in the back of your throat.
For example...

Ciglio - Eyelash; pronounced 'chi-llye-oh', not 'chi-glee-oh'.
Gli - 'the' (one of the many ways - this is for masculine plural starting with a vowel or s+consonant); pronounced 'yee'.

4) S+Consonants
This is the least confusing, but it's quite annoying. In Italian, there are lots of s and consonants. You just pronounce them as they're written. For example -

Sforza - Family name (the Sforzas were like the Medici of Milan); pronounced sfor-zah
Sveglio - Awake/I wake myself; pronounced 'sve-lio'

5) Double z's [zz]
Double z's are pronounced 'tz', while single z's are pronounced 'z'

Pazzo - crazy; pronounced 'patz-oh'
Belezza - beauty; pronounced 'bel-ehtz-ah'

6) Accents
Accents are quite popular in Italian. That's just where the emphasis on the word is. For example

Onestà - honesty; pronounced 'ohn-es-TAH', not 'ohn-EST-ah'
Città - city; pronounced 'chi-TAH' not 'CHI-tah'

7) The H (in the beginning of a word) is Silent
H's are silent! For example-
Hanno - they have; pronounced 'anno', not 'han-no'.


Ok, that's it for now! Good luck pronouncing your words :)

Cool.

I thought Medicci was written with double cc but it's the pronunciation. I said the words like I was reading spanish adding de ch sound and making the words sound longer than in spanish. Maybe it worked lol

Nope, it's Medici. Probably because there was once a guy who was a doctor and called himself Medico. And his children were 'dei Medici' - of doctors.