The Alphabet - L'Alfabeto

It contains twenty–one letters:

(Letters) - (Names of the Letters) - (pronounciation)
a - a - ah
b - bi - bee
c - ci - chee
d - di - dee
e - e - eh
f - effe - ehfffffeh (remember double Consonants sound long)
g - gi - gee
h - acca - ahkkkka
i - i - eeee
l - elle - ehlllleh
m - emme - ehmmmeh
n - enne - ehnnnneh
o - o - o
p - pi - pee
q - cu - coo
r - erre - ehrrrrreh
s - esse - Ehsssssseh
t - ti - tee
u - u - ooooo
v - vu - voo (like zoo)
z - zeta - zehtah

The following five letters are found in foreign words:

Letters Names of the Letters
j - i lunga (It means 'long i') - ee loongah
k - kappa - kahppppah
w - doppia vu (means double v) - dohppppeeah voo
x - ics - eeks
y - ipsilon - eepseelon

Double Consonants

In Italian, all consonants except h can be doubled.

Double consonants (le consonanti doppie) are pronounced much more forcefully than single consonants. With double f, l, m, n, r, s, and v, the sound is prolonged.

With double b, c, d, g, p, and t, the stop is stronger than for the single consonant.

The double z is pronounced almost the same as single z.

Double s is always unvoiced.

Vowels

a is like a in the English word ah!

e is sometimes like e in the English word they without the y. Sometimes, the closed e sounds like in the word met.

i is like i in machine.

o is sometimes like o in the English word oh!. Sometimes it sounds like o in or.

u is like u in rule.

Consonants

c before a, o, and u, and ch, which is used only before the letters e and I, is like the English sound k in kite.

c before e or i is like the English sound ch in chest.

g before a, o, and u, and the gh, used only before the e and i, is a hard g sound, as in the English word go.

g before e or i is like the sound j in jam.

gli is approximately like ll sound in million, keeping the tongue flat at the bottom of the mouth.

gn is approximately like ny in canyon, again, keeping the tongue flat at the bottom of the mouth. (think of the word lasagna.)

h is always silent.

qu is always pronounced like the English word coo, like when a baby coos.

r is different from the English r; It needs to sound like a car motor, a rolled, vibrating r.

s is sometimes like the English s in house and sometimes (but always before b, d, g, l, m, n, r, and v) like the English s in rose, lize a z sound.

sc before a, o, or u AND sch occurs only before e or i, is pronounced like sk in ask.

sc before e or i is like the English sound sh in fish.

z sometimes has a ts sound, as in bets, and sometimes it has a ds sound like in threads.


(b, d, f, l, m, n, p, t, v) are pronounced as in English but they are sharp and hard, with no breathiness.

Questions?

Feel free to ask any questions on the subject. Remember Italian is a phonetic language. Once you know how to pronounce the letter, the words are easy to learn.