Italian All-in-One For Dummies (10 page)
Read Italian All-in-One For Dummies Online
Authors: Consumer Dummies
To get the (j) sound before
a, o,
or
u,
you have to insert an
i.
The
i
serves only to indicate the proper sound; you don't pronounce it. Examples include
giacca
(
jahk
-kah) (
jacket
),
gioco
(
joh
-koh) (
game
), and
giudice
(
jooh
-dee-cheh) (
judge
).
Here's another little pattern to help you remember these pronunciations:
ga
mba,
go
mma,
gu
erra,
ghia
ccio, spa
gh
etti = (g)
ge
ntile,
gi
orno,
gia
cca,
gio
co,
giu
dice = (j)
The consonant “h”
The consonant
h
has only one function: namely, to change the sound of
c
and
g
before the vowels
e
and
i,
as described earlier. It also appears in foreign expressions such as
hostess, hit parade,
and
hobby,
and in some forms of the verb
avere
(ah-
veh
-reh) (
to have
), but it's always silent.
The consonant “q”
Q
exists only in connection with
u
followed by another vowel; that is, you always find
qu.
The
q
is pronounced like (k), and
qu
is, therefore, pronounced (kw). Examples include
quattro
(
kwaht
-troh) (
four
),
questo
(
kwehs
-toh) (
this
), and
quadro
(
kwah
-droh) (
painting; framed art
).
The consonant “r”
The Italian
r
is not pronounced with the tongue in the back, as it is in English, but trilled at the
alveolar ridge,
which is the front part of your palate, right behind your front teeth. You have to practice it. In the beginning, you may not find this pronunciation manageable, but practice makes perfect!
Here are some words to help you practice:
radio
(
rah
-dee-oh) (
radio
)
per favore
(pehr fah-
voh
-reh) (
please
)
prego
(
preh
-goh) (
you're welcome
)
Using gestures
Italians love to emphasize their words with gestures. For example, they use gestures to express the following feelings:
Ho fame
(oh
fah
-meh) (
I'm hungry
),
Me ne vado
(meh neh
vah
-doh) (
I'm leaving
), and
E chi se ne importa?
(eh kee seh neh eem-
pohr
-tah?) (
Who cares?
). Needless to say, a flood of rude gestures exist as well.
Unfortunately, describing gestures in words is too difficult, because Italian body language is a science and is hard for non-Italians to copy. You also have to make the right facial expressions when performing these gestures. These gestures generally come naturally and spontaneously, and you're sure to see some as you observe Italian life. Still, there are some practical, useful gestures that you may want to make when you're with Italians. Greeting and saying goodbye, for example, are accompanied by a common gesture â hugging and kissing. Italians seek direct contact when greeting one another. When you're not very familiar with a person, you shake hands. But when you know a person well or you have an immediate good feeling, you kiss cheek to cheek; that is, you don't really touch with your lips, but only with your cheek.
The consonant “s”
S
is sometimes pronounced as the English
s,
as in
so.
In this case, the pronunciation is (s). When in between vowels, it's pronounced like the English
z,
as in
zero;
in these cases, you'll see (z) as the pronunciation. Examples include
pasta
(
pahs
-tah) (
pasta
),
solo
(
soh
-loh) (
only
),
chiesa
(
kyeh
-zah) (
church
), and
gelosia
(jeh-loh-
zee
-ah) (
jealousy
).
The consonant “z”
A single
z
is pronounced (dz) â the sound is very similar to the English
z
in
zero,
with a (d) sound added at the beginning, as in
zero
(
dzehr
-oh) (
zero
). Just try it. When the
z
is doubled, you pronounce it more sharply, like (t-ts), as in
tazza
(
taht
-tsah) (
cup; mug
). Furthermore, when
z
is followed by the letter
i,
it also has a (ts) sound, like in the word
nazione
(nah-
tsyoh
-neh) (
nation
).
Double consonants
When you encounter double consonants in Italian, you have to pronounce each instance of the consonant or lengthen the sound. The difficult part is that there's no pause between the consonants.
Doubling the consonant usually changes the meaning of the word. So, to make sure that your Italian is understandable, emphasize doubled consonants well. To help you pronounce words with double consonants correctly, the pronunciations include the first consonant at the end of one syllable and the other one at the beginning of the following one, as in these examples:
nono
(
noh
-noh) (
ninth
)
nonno
(
nohn
-noh) (
grandfather
)
pala
(
pah
-lah) (
shovel
)
palla
(
pahl
-lah) (
ball
)
Try it once again:
bello
(
behl
-loh) (
beautiful
)