Help:IPA/Italian

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Italian on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Italian in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.

For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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The charts below show how the International Phonetic Alphabet represents pronunciations of Standard Italian in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

See Italian phonology and Italian orthography for a more thorough look at the sounds of Italian.

Consonants^[1]
IPA	Examples	English approximation
b	banca, cibo	about
d	dove, idra, dado	today
dz	zaino, azalea, mezzo^[2]^[3]	dads
dʒ	gelo, giù, magia	job
f	fatto, cifra, fon	fast
ɡ	gatto, agro, ghetto, glicosio^[4]	again
k	cosa, acuto, finché, quei, kiwi, koala	scar
l	lato, tela, glicosio^[4]	ladder
ʎ	figli, glielo, maglia^[3]	billion
m	mano, amare^[5]	mother
ɱ	anfibio, invece^[5]	comfort
n	nano, punto, pensare, mangiare^[5]	nest
ŋ	unghia, anche, dunque^[5]	sing
ɲ	gnocco, ogni^[3]^[5]	canyon
p	primo, ampio, apertura	spin
r	Roma, quattro, morte^[6]	trilled r
s	sano, scusa, presentire, pasto^[7]	sorry
ʃ	scena, scià, pesci^[3]	shoe
t	tranne, mito, altro	star
ts	zio, sozzo, marzo^[2]^[3]	cats
tʃ	certo, ciao, farmacia	check
v	vado, povero	vent
z	sbirro, presentare, asma^[7]	amazon
Non-native consonants
h	hobby, hertz^[8]	house
θ	Thatcher, Pérez^[9]	thing
x	jota, Bach, khamsin^[10]	loch (Scottish English)
ʒ	Fuji, garage, casual	vision

Vowels^[11]
IPA	Examples	English approximation
a	alto, sarà	fast (Scottish English)
e	vero, perché	fade
ɛ	etto, cioè	bed
i	viso, sì, zia	ski
o	ombra, otto	story
ɔ	otto, sarò	off
u	usi, ragù, tuo	rule
Non-native vowels
ø	viveur, goethiano, Churchill^[12]	murder (RP)
y	parure, brûlé, Führer^[13]	future (Scottish English)

Semivowels
IPA	Examples	English approximation
j	ieri, saio, più, Jesi	yes
w	uova, guado, qui	wine

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Examples	Explanation
ˈ	Cennini [tʃenˈniːni]	primary stress
ˌ	altamente [ˌaltaˈmente]	secondary stress^[14]
.	continuo [konˈtiːnu.o]	syllable break
ː	primo [ˈpriːmo]	long vowel^[15]

^ Except /z/, all consonants after a vowel and before /r/, /l/, a vowel or a semivowel may be geminated. Gemination in IPA is represented by doubling the consonant (fatto [ˈfatto], mezzo [ˈmɛddzo]), and can usually be told from orthography. After stressed vowels and certain prepositions and conjunctions, word-initial consonants also become geminated (syntactic gemination): va via [ˌva vˈviːa].
^ ^a ^b ⟨z⟩ represents both /ts/ and /dz/. The article on Italian orthography explains how they are used.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e /ts, dz, ʃ, ɲ, ʎ/ are always geminated after a vowel.
^ ^a ^b ⟨gli⟩ represents /ʎ/ or /ʎi/, except in roots of Greek origin, when preceded by another consonant, and in a few other words, where it represents /ɡli/.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e A nasal always assimilates to the place of articulation of the following consonant. It is bilabial [m] before /p, b, m/, labiodental [ɱ] before /f, v/, dental, alveolar or postalveolar [n] before /t, d, ts, dz, tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, l, r/, and velar [ŋ] before /k, ɡ/. Utterance-finally, it is always [n].
^ Non-geminate /r/ is generally realised as a monovibrant trill or flap [ɾ], particularly in unstressed syllables.
^ ^a ^b /s/ and /z/ contrast only intervocalically. Word-initially, after consonants, when geminated, and before voiceless consonants, only [s] is found. Before voiced consonants, only [z] is found.
^ /h/ is usually dropped.
^ /θ/ is usually pronounced as [t] in English loanwords, and [dz], [ts] (if spelled ⟨z⟩) or [s] (if spelled ⟨c⟩ or ⟨z⟩) in Spanish ones.
^ In Spanish loanwords, /x/ is usually pronounced as [h] or [k] or dropped. In German, Arabic and Russian ones, it is usually pronounced [k].
^ Italian contrasts seven monophthongs in stressed syllables. Open-mid vowels /ɛ, ɔ/ can appear only if the syllable is stressed (coperto [koˈpɛrto], quota [ˈkwɔːta]), close-mid vowels /e, o/ are found elsewhere (Boccaccio [bokˈkattʃo], amore [aˈmoːre]). Close and open vowels /i, u, a/ are unchanged in unstressed syllables, but word-final unstressed /i/ may become approximant [j] before vowels, which is known as synalepha (pari età [ˌparj eˈta]).
^ Open-mid [œ] or close-mid [ø] if it is stressed but usually [ø] if it is unstressed. May be replaced by [ɛ] (stressed) or [e] (stressed or unstressed).
^ /y/ is often pronounced as [u] or [ju].
^ Since Italian has no distinction between heavier or lighter vowels (like the English o in conclusion vs o in nomination), a defined secondary stress, even in long words, is extremely rare.
^ Primarily stressed vowels are long in non-final open syllables: fato [ˈfaːto], fatto [ˈfatto].

[1] Except /z/, all consonants after a vowel and before /r/, /l/, a vowel or a semivowel may be geminated. Gemination in IPA is represented by doubling the consonant (fatto [ˈfatto], mezzo [ˈmɛddzo]), and can usually be told from orthography. After stressed vowels and certain prepositions and conjunctions, word-initial consonants also become geminated (syntactic gemination): va via [ˌva vˈviːa].

[z-2] ⟨z⟩ represents both /ts/ and /dz/. The article on Italian orthography explains how they are used.

[geminated-3] /ts, dz, ʃ, ɲ, ʎ/ are always geminated after a vowel.

[gli-4] ⟨gli⟩ represents /ʎ/ or /ʎi/, except in roots of Greek origin, when preceded by another consonant, and in a few other words, where it represents /ɡli/.

[nasal-5] A nasal always assimilates to the place of articulation of the following consonant. It is bilabial [m] before /p, b, m/, labiodental [ɱ] before /f, v/, dental, alveolar or postalveolar [n] before /t, d, ts, dz, tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, l, r/, and velar [ŋ] before /k, ɡ/. Utterance-finally, it is always [n].

[6] Non-geminate /r/ is generally realised as a monovibrant trill or flap [ɾ], particularly in unstressed syllables.

[s-z-7] /s/ and /z/ contrast only intervocalically. Word-initially, after consonants, when geminated, and before voiceless consonants, only [s] is found. Before voiced consonants, only [z] is found.

[8] /h/ is usually dropped.

[9] /θ/ is usually pronounced as [t] in English loanwords, and [dz], [ts] (if spelled ⟨z⟩) or [s] (if spelled ⟨c⟩ or ⟨z⟩) in Spanish ones.

[10] In Spanish loanwords, /x/ is usually pronounced as [h] or [k] or dropped. In German, Arabic and Russian ones, it is usually pronounced [k].

[11] Italian contrasts seven monophthongs in stressed syllables. Open-mid vowels /ɛ, ɔ/ can appear only if the syllable is stressed (coperto [koˈpɛrto], quota [ˈkwɔːta]), close-mid vowels /e, o/ are found elsewhere (Boccaccio [bokˈkattʃo], amore [aˈmoːre]). Close and open vowels /i, u, a/ are unchanged in unstressed syllables, but word-final unstressed /i/ may become approximant [j] before vowels, which is known as synalepha (pari età [ˌparj eˈta]).

[12] Open-mid [œ] or close-mid [ø] if it is stressed but usually [ø] if it is unstressed. May be replaced by [ɛ] (stressed) or [e] (stressed or unstressed).

[13] /y/ is often pronounced as [u] or [ju].

[14] Since Italian has no distinction between heavier or lighter vowels (like the English o in conclusion vs o in nomination), a defined secondary stress, even in long words, is extremely rare.

[15] Primarily stressed vowels are long in non-final open syllables: fato [ˈfaːto], fatto [ˈfatto].

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