Italian
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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.
History
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(h) and nc(h) are pronounced /ŋg/ and /ŋk/ respectively, pending on the rules above about g and c.
- 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/.
