Italian

Italian is a Romance language, spoken primarily in Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City, and Malta. There is also a large amount of speakers of Italian in France, Croatia, Ethiopia and Slovenia.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants
	Bilabial		Labiod.		Inter-dental		Alveolar		Post-alv.		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Nasal		m						n				ɲ		ŋ
Plosive	p	b			t̪	d̪							k	g
Fricative			f	v			s	z	ʃ	(ʒ)
Affricate							ʦ	ʣ	ʧ	ʤ
Approximants & glides	(w)											(j)
Trill								r
Flap								ɾ
Lateral Approximant								l/ɫ				ʎ

• Most of the orthographic Italian symbols are the same as their IPA equivalents. These include: b, p, m, n, f, v, t, d, and l.
• c is normally /k/, except when i or e immediately succeed it. ch is pronounced /k/ and is used when i or e do immediately succeed it.
• c is /ʧ/ when i or e immediately succeed it.
• g is normally /g/, except when i or e immediately succeed it. gh is pronounced /g/ and is used when i or e do immediately succeed it.
• g is /ʤ/ when i or e immediately succeed it.
• sc is normally /sk/, except when i or e immediately succeed it. sch is pronounced /sk/ and is used when i or e do immediately succeed it.
• sc is /ʃ/ when i or e immediately succeed it.
• gn is pronounced /ɲ/.
• ng and nc are pronounced /ŋg/ and /ŋk/ respectively, unless directly followed by i or e. In those cases, ng and nc are pronounced /nʤ/ and /nʧ/ respectively. When spelt ngh or nch they are pronounced /ŋg/ and /ŋk/ respectively.
• r is pronounced /r/ or /ɾ/ depending on individual or dialect.
• gli is pronounced /ʎ/.
• The glides /w/ and /j/ are actually mutations of the vowels u and i and are represented by those orthographically. It can occurs with other vowel diphthongs as well.
• z is pronounced /ʦ/ or /ʣ/ depending on the dialect and the word.
• s is pronounced /s/ or /z/ depending on the dialect and the word.

Vowels

Vowels
	Front	Central	Back
	Unround	Unrounded	Rounded
High	i		u
Open-mid	e		o
Close-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Low		a

• Most of the vowels are spelt the way they are in the IPA, so i /i/, e /e/, a /a/, o /o/, and u /u/.
• Stressed è and ò (with or without accents) are pronounced /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ respectively.
• When diphthongised, u and i become similar to /w/ and /j/.