Italian orthography

Italian orthography uses a variant of the Latin alphabet consisting of 21 letters to write the Italian language.

Alphabet

The base alphabet consists of 21 letters: five vowels (A, E, I, O U) and 16 consonants. The letters J, K, W, X and Y are not part of the proper alphabet, and are used only for loanwords (e.g. 'jeans') and foreign names (with very few exceptions, such as in the native names Jesolo, Bettino Craxi, and Juventus, all of which are derived from regional languages). In addition, grave, acute and circumflex accents may be used to modify vowel letters.

Letter	Name	IPA	Diacritics
A, a	a [a]	/a/	à
B, b	bi [bi]	/b/
C, c	ci [tʃi]	/k/ or /tʃ/
D, d	di [di]	/d/
E, e	e [e]	/e/ or /ɛ/	è, é
F, f	effe [ˈɛffe]	/f/
G, g	gi [dʒi]	/ɡ/ or /dʒ/
H, h	acca [ˈakka]	∅ silent
I, i	i [i]	/i/ or /j/	ì, í, [î]
L, l	elle [ˈɛlle]	/l/
M, m	emme [ˈɛmme]	/m/
N, n	enne [ˈɛnne]	/n/
O, o	o [ɔ]	/o/ or /ɔ/	ò, ó
P, p	pi [pi]	/p/
Q, q	cu [ku]	/k/
R, r	erre [ˈɛrre]	/r/
S, s	esse [ˈɛsse]	/s/ or /z/
T, t	ti [ti]	/t/
U, u	u [u]	/u/ or /w/	ù, ú
V, v	vi [vi], vu [vu]	/v/
Z, z	zeta [ˈdzɛːta]	/ts/ or /dz/

Double consonants are geminated: fatto ([fatto]), palla ([palla]), bevve ([bevve]), etc.

Vowels

The Italian alphabet has five vowel letters, ⟨a e i o u⟩. Of those, only ⟨a⟩ represents one sound value while each of the others has two. In addition, ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩ indicate a different pronunciation of a preceding ⟨c⟩ or ⟨g⟩ (see below).

In stressed syllables, ⟨e⟩ represents both open /ɛ/ and close /e/. Similarly, ⟨o⟩ represents both open /ɔ/ and close /o/ (see the Italian phonology for further details on these sounds). There is typically no orthographic distinction between the open and closed sounds represented, though accent marks are used in certain instances (see below). In unstressed syllables, only the close variants occur except before sonorants.

In addition to representing the respective vowels /i/ and /u/, ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩ also typically represent the semivowels /j/ and /w/, respectively, when unstressed and occurring before another vowel. Many exceptions exist (e.g. attuale, deciduo, deviare, dioscuro, fatuo, iato, inebriare, ingenuo, liana, proficuo, riarso, viaggio). Unstressed ⟨i⟩ may represent that a preceding or following ⟨c⟩ or ⟨g⟩ is 'soft' (dolce).

C and G

Normally, ⟨c⟩ and ⟨g⟩ represent the plosives /k/ and /ɡ/, respectively, unless they precede a front vowel (⟨i⟩ or ⟨e⟩) when they represent the affricates /tʃ/ (like English ch) and /dʒ/ (like English j).

The letter ⟨i⟩ may also function merely as an indicator that the preceding ⟨c⟩ or ⟨g⟩ is soft, e.g. cia (/tʃa/), giu (/dʒu/). When the hard pronunciation occurs before a front vowel, digraphs ⟨ch⟩ and ⟨gh⟩ are used, so that ⟨che⟩ represents /ke/ or /kɛ/ and ⟨chi⟩ represents /ki/ or /kj/. In the evolution of the Latin language, the postalveolar affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ were contextual variants of the velar consonants /k/ and /ɡ/. They eventually came to be full phonemes, and the said orthographic practice was introduced to distinguish them. The phonemicity of the affricates can be demonstrated with the minimal pairs:

	Plosive		Affricate
Before ⟨i⟩, ⟨e⟩	ch	china /ˈkiːna/ 'India ink'	c	Cina /ˈtʃiːna/ 'China'
	gh	ghiro /ˈɡiːro/ 'dormouse'	g	giro /ˈdʒiːro/ 'lap', 'tour'
Elsewhere	c	caramella /karaˈmɛlla/ 'candy'	ci	ciaramella /tʃaraˈmɛlla/ 'shawm'
	g	gallo /ˈɡallo/ 'rooster'	gi	giallo /ˈdʒallo/ 'yellow'

The trigraphs ⟨cch⟩ and ⟨ggh⟩ are used to indicate geminated /k/ and /ɡ/, respectively, when they occur before ⟨i⟩ or ⟨e⟩; e.g. occhi /ˈɔkki/ ('eyes'), agghindare /aɡɡinˈdaːre/ ('to dress up').

⟨G⟩ is also used to mark that a following ⟨l⟩ or ⟨n⟩ is palatal, i.e. /ʎ/ (only before ⟨i⟩) or /ɲ/ (everywhere), respectively (this is not true in words derived from Greek, where ⟨gl⟩ is a plain /ɡl/, like in glicine, 'wisteria').

The digraph ⟨sc⟩ is used before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩ to represent /ʃ/; before other vowels, ⟨sci⟩ is used. Otherwise, ⟨sc⟩ represents /sk/, the ⟨c⟩ of which follows the normal orthographic rules explained above.

	/sk/		/ʃ/
Before ⟨i e⟩	sch	scherno /ˈskerno/	sc	scerno /ˈʃɛrno/
Elsewhere	sc	scalo /ˈskaːlo/	sci	scialo /ˈʃaːlo/

Other than in a few Northern Italian dialects, intervocalic /ʎ/, /ɲ/, and /ʃ/ are always geminated and no orthographic distinction is made to indicate this.

S and Z

⟨s⟩ and ⟨z⟩ are ambiguous to voicing.

⟨s⟩ represents a dental sibilant consonant (/s/ or /z/). However, these two phonemes are in complementary distribution everywhere except between two vowels in the same word and, even in such environments, there are very few minimal pairs.

• It is voiceless (/s/):
  • At the start of a word before a vowel (e.g. Sara /ˈsaːra/) or a voiceless consonant (e.g. [[[wikt:spuntare#Italian|spuntare]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /spunˈtaːre/);
  • After any consonant (e.g. [[[wikt:transitare#Italian|transitare]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /transiˈtaːre/);
  • Before a voiceless consonant (e.g. [[[wikt:raspa#Italian|raspa]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈraspa/);
  • When geminated (i.e. ⟨ss⟩, for example [[[wikt:grosso#Italian|grosso]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈɡrɔsso/);
  • At the start of the second part of a compound word (e.g. [[[wikt:affittasi#Italian|affittasi]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:disotto#Italian|disotto]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:girasole#Italian|girasole]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:prosegue#Italian|prosegue]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:risaputo#Italian|risaputo]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:unisono#Italian|unisono]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:preservare#Italian|preservare]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:riservare#Italian|riservare]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:reggiseno#Italian|reggiseno]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). These words are formed by adding a prefix to a word beginning with /s/.
• It is voiced (/z/) before voiced consonants (e.g. [[[wikt:sbranare#Italian|sbranare]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /zbraˈnaːre/).
• It can be either voiceless or voiced (/s/ or /z/) between vowels; in standard Tuscany-based pronunciation some words are pronounced with /s/ between vowels (e.g. [[[wikt:casa#Italian|casa]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:cosa#Italian|cosa]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:così#Italian|così]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:mese#Italian|mese]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:naso#Italian|naso]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:peso#Italian|peso]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:cinese#Italian|cinese]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:piemontese#Italian|piemontese]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:goloso#Italian|goloso]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)); in Northern Italy (and also increasingly in Tuscany) ⟨s⟩ between vowels is always pronounced with /z/ (with some exceptions) whereas in Southern Italy ⟨s⟩ between vowels is always pronounced with /s/.

⟨z⟩ represents a dental affricate consonant; either /dz/ ([[[wikt:zanzara#Italian|zanzara]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /dzanˈdzaːra/) or /ts/ ([[[wikt:nazione#Italian|nazione]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /natˈtsjoːne/), depending on context, though there are few minimal pairs.

• It is normally voiceless (/ts/):
  • At the start of a word in which the second syllable starts with a voiceless consonant ([[[wikt:zampa#Italian|zampa]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈtsampa/, [[[wikt:zoccolo#Italian|zoccolo]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈtsɔkkolo/), [[[wikt:zufolo#Italian|zufolo]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈtsuːfolo/);
    • Exceptions (because they are of Greek origin): [[[wikt:zaffiro#Italian|zaffiro]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:zefiro#Italian|zefiro]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:zotico#Italian|zotico]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:zeta#Italian|zeta]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:zafferano#Italian|zafferano]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:Zacinto#Italian|Zacinto]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help).
  • When followed by an ⟨i⟩ which is followed, in turn, by another vowel (e.g. [[[wikt:zio#Italian|zio]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈtsiːo/, [[[wikt:agenzia#Italian|agenzia]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /adʒenˈtsiːa/, [[[wikt:grazia#Italian|grazie]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈɡrattsje/);
    • Exceptions: [[[wikt:azienda#Italian|azienda]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /adˈdzjɛnda/, all words derived from words obeying other rules (e.g. [[[wikt:romanziere#Italian|romanziere]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /romanˈdzjɛːre/, which is derived from [[[wikt:romanzo#Italian|romanzo]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help));
  • After the letter ⟨l⟩ (e.g. [[[wikt:alzare#Italian|alzare]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /alˈtsaːre/);
    • Exceptions: [[[wikt:elzeviro#Italian|elzeviro]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /eldzeˈviːro/ and [[[wikt:belzebù#Italian|belzebù]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /beldzeˈbu/;
  • In words ending in -ezza, -ozza or -uzzo (e.g. [[[wikt:grandezza#Italian|grandezza]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ɡranˈdettsa/, [[[wikt:tinozza#Italian|tinozza]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /tiˈnɔttsa/, [[[wikt:spruzzo#Italian|spruzzo]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈspruttso/);
    • Exceptions: [[[wikt:brezza#Italian|brezza]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈbreddza/;
  • In the infinitive ending -azzare (e.g. [[[wikt:ammazzare#Italian|ammazzare]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ammatˈtsaːre/);
  • In the suffixes -anza, -enza and -onzolo (e.g. [[[wikt:usanza#Italian|usanza]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /uˈzantsa/, [[[wikt:credenza#Italian|credenza]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /kreˈdɛntsa/, [[[wikt:ballonzolo#Italian|ballonzolo]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /balˈlontsolo/);
• It is voiced (/dz/):
  • At the start of a word in which the second syllable starts with a voiced consonant (e.g. [[[wikt:zebra#Italian|zebra]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈdzɛːbra/);
    • Exceptions: [[[wikt:zanna#Italian|zanna]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈtsanna/, [[[wikt:zigano#Italian|zigano]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /tsiˈɡaːno/ (derived from the Caucasian term tzigan);
  • At the start of a word when followed by two vowels (e.g. [[[wikt:zaino#Italian|zaino]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈdzaino/);
    • Exceptions: [[[wikt:zio#Italian|zio]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and its derived terms (see above);
  • If it is single (not doubled) and between two single vowels (e.g. [[[wikt:azalea#Italian|azalea]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /addzaˈlɛːa/);
    • Exceptions: [[[wikt:nazismo#Italian|nazismo]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /natˈtsizmo/ (from the German pronunciation of ⟨z⟩);
  • In the verb suffix -izzare (from Greek -ίζειν; e.g. [[[wikt:organizzare#Italian|organizzare]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /orɡanidˈdzaːre/);

Between vowels and/or semivowels (/j/ and /w/), ⟨z⟩ is pronounced as if doubled (/tts/ or /ddz/, e.g. [[[wikt:razzo#Italian|razzo]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈraddzo/). This can be the case even if a single ⟨z⟩ is used, specifically in words ending in -zione, -zioni, -zia, -zie, and -zio (e.g. [[[wikt:vizio#Italian|vizio]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈvittsjo/, [[[wikt:polizia#Italian|polizia]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /politˈtsiːa/).

Other letters

In addition to being used to indicate a hard ⟨c⟩ or ⟨g⟩ before front vowels, ⟨h⟩ is also used to distinguish [[[wikt:ho#Italian|ho]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:hai#Italian|hai]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:ha#Italian|ha]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [[[wikt:hanno#Italian|hanno]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (present indicative of [[[wikt:avere#Italian|avere]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), 'to have') from [[[wikt:o#Italian|o]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ('or'), [[[wikt:ai#Italian|ai]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ('to the', m. pl.), [[[wikt:a#Italian|a]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ('to'), [[[wikt:anno#Italian|anno]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ('year'); since ⟨h⟩ is always silent, there is no difference in the pronunciation of such words. In foreign loanwords, the h is still silent: [[[wikt:hovercraft#Italian|hovercraft]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) /ˈɔverkraft/.

The letters J (I lunga 'long I'), K (cappa), W (V doppia or doppia V 'double V'), X (ics) and Y (ipsilon or I greca 'Greek I') are used for loanwords only, with few exceptions.

Diacritics

The acute accent may be used on ⟨e⟩ and ⟨o⟩ to represent close-mid vowels when they are stressed in a position other than the default second-to-last syllable. This use of accents is generally mandatory only in the final syllable; elsewhere, accents are generally found only in dictionaries. Since final ⟨o⟩ is hardly ever close-mid, ⟨ó⟩ is very rarely encountered in written Italian (e.g. [[[wikt:metró#Italian|metró]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) 'subway', from the original French pronunciation of [[[wikt:métro#French|métro]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) with a final-stressed /o/). The grave accent may be used on ⟨e⟩ and ⟨o⟩ when they represent open-mid vowels. The accents may also be used to differentiate minimal pairs within Italian (for example [[[wikt:pèsca#Italian|pèsca]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) 'peach' vs. [[[wikt:pésca#Italian|pésca]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) 'fishing'), but in practice this is limited to didactic texts. In the case of final ⟨i⟩ and ⟨u⟩, both possibilities are encountered. The by far most common option is the grave accent, though this may be due to the rarity of the acute accent to represent stress; the alternative of employing the acute is in practice limited to erudite texts, but can be justified as both vowels are high (as in Catalan). However, since there are no corresponding low (or lax) vowels to contrast with in Italian, both choices are equally acceptable.

The circumflex accent can be used to mark the contraction of two vowels, especially two i's. For example, it can be used to differentiate words like [[[wikt:geni#Italian|geni]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ('genes', plural of [[[wikt:gene#Italian|gene]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and [[[wikt:genî#Italian|genî]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ('geniuses', plural of [[[wikt:genio#Italian|genio]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)). This is especially seen in older texts, since two homophones are usually distinguished by the context.

External links

• Danesi, Marcel (1996). Italian the Easy way.